I'm not going to pretend that I'm on the side of the landlords here, but I don't think individuals who own and rent out a few properties are part of the problem. In fact, there should be more people like that.

I think it's the large corporations owning tons of properties across multiple cities or even countries that are the issue. Houses shouldn't be treated as financial products or investment vehicles for massive entities, they are places for people to live. It's insane to have more empty houses than homeless people, there is no justifying that. I think requiring companies to have local offices in the cities they have properties would go a long way to address this.

I'm currently trying to convince the company that manages my current place that yes, they do have our insurance and to please stop charging us fees. They want insurance with both my wife and I 's names on it. I've submitted it 3 times over the last couple of months, and I swear they only read the top name on the paperwork and reject it.