I once sued my former landlord. As a result, I had to sit through many housing cases (neither of us was represented by a lawyer, so we were put at the end of the docket... that was unjust, but it was equally unjust to both of us). In the end I won (though it was a long and drawn out process- something that impacts landlords and tenants equally), I felt like the rulings, whichever way they ended up going, were pretty fair based on the facts presented. If anything, the judge was more favorable to tenants.

I follow various landlord forums because I feel like one day I may want to start a business related to it. Landlords worry most of all about tenants destroying a building, and having no legal recourse. With eviction courts shutdown, many have had tenants just stop paying rent- often times when the tenants still have their income, some times more income than they had before. The tenants in many cases won't communicate with the landlords about the situation.

Obviously, you mileage may vary depending on where you are, and I have had my share of problems with lying, slumlords (like the one I sued)- but that isn't the majority of them. Most are just trying to run a business.