landlord really is a derogatory term, they should be referred to as “housing providers”.

"Housing hoarders" seems more apt. Landlord is a euphemism

No one “hoards” housing, they buy it then rent it out for others to use.

That is hoarding, with the intent of parasitically using it to benefit from the misfortune of others.

No, hoarding is accumulating for the sake of accumulating. A housing provider offers a service, 12 month leases on places to live temporarily. It is a cutthroat low margin business, very few people are truly getting rich being small time providers, most are just breaking even and banking on their asset appreciation.

A "service" that wouldn't be necessary if landlords weren't taking away housing from them in the first place. Mao had the right idea about landlords.

Why is it cheaper than owning a home? Because landlords are driving up the price of homes by using an essential human right as speculative asset and investment class.

The burden is imposed by the "provider", as a result of their greed.

If a central AC unit blows you’re staring at a $4-$5k bill, mandatory, or you have no AC.

If your attic gets some mold that will be $8k to get rid of it.

Home insurance, you must pay. Property tax, you also have to pay. Water and electricity too.

Or, you can pay a housing provider a flat monthly fee, and not worry about any of that.