The "programs" introduced by the government, and imposed on landlords, screwed up the rental marketplace, as expected. People stopped paying rent. Now they are months behind and can't pay it, but the landlords can't throw these goldbricks out on their asses, as should happen, because the government is stopping them. So landlords are losing money, and buildings are being left to deteriorate. What most people don't realize is that landlords, most of them, live from month to month on the rents they collect. They use the rents to pay their mortgages and make repairs and absorb costs imposed on them by stupid or criminal tenants. If there is any left over -- and there is never much -- it goes into a fund to pay for unexpected expenses. The game is to build equity. Only when a building mortgage is completely paid off can a landlord actually make a small profit for his years of investment and labor and heartache, and paying off a mortgage can take decades.