Other side of coin here.......
I'm not saying we are perfect renters......but actually, yeah I am.....we are out there!
+1
DW and I have been home owners for many years but originally did rent a flat on Da Nortwest side of Sheeee..... Caaaaa.... Go when we first married. It was a one bedroom in a 4-flat, 2nd floor. The owner resided there with his family in a 3 bedroom unit on the 1st floor. They were great folks, easy to get along with and always kept things in tip-top shape. If something was wrong, they made it a top priority to fix it NOW! I had better electrical skills than the owner and gladly helped him out on a few projects around the building, gratis. DW, a special ed teacher, tutored one of their kids who had some learning issues, also gratis. We were never late paying rent, kept our place in immaculate condition and got along with the other tenants.
Unfortunately, the owner was transferred and decided to sell the building rather than be an absentee landlord. The new owner was a jerk. He and his wife lived in the 1st floor 3 bedroom and his MIL lived in the 2nd floor 3 bedroom. Another kidless couple lived in the 1st floor 1 bedroom and DW and I continued in our place on the 2nd floor.
This guy, a young Chicago cop, was not mechanically inclined and his MIL, who seemed to run things, was an unbelievable cheapskate and always suggested that any needed repairs (for example, the compressor in the refrigerator went out) must be our fault and we should pay. We walked in on the MIL in our apartment several times (which she said she had a right to do) "checking on things." There was evidence that drawers had been opened, clothes moved in the closet, things moved around in the refrigerator and other creepy stuff.
Our 2 year lease had about a year to go when the "owners from hell" took over and we started house hunting as soon as we discovered that not all owners were fair players. At the end, the owner managed to act surprised when we announced we wouldn't be signing a new lease. And we never were able to get our security deposit back. They said the previous owner had not turned it over to them....... Sigh......
If we ever decide to rent again, I'd be interested in finding out how to reduce "jerk-owner" risk. Avoid small buildings and rent from a corporation in a complex? Keep the lease short? Get professional help in marking up the lease guaranteeing some level of maintenance expectations and privacy? Just assume any security deposits will never be seen again?
We're really landlord-phobic now. This all happened decades ago and the foul memory sticks like it was yesterday.