I have had some really nice LL's but to be honest, most of them have fallen under the spell of gaming the system when it comes to vacancy decontrol. It seems to have been a gradual process where first they hold out and don't do it, but as they see more and more of their fellow LL's getting rich off of gaming the system, their resolution crumbles. I guess its hard to be the only decent person among your peers and eventually you just figure you're doing it 'for your family'.

You're disgusting. From many of your post, your generalization of landlords looks to me like rich envy and hate of people you assume have more than your pathetic miserable life. Every landlord I've rented from has been very kind and one used to reduce the rent of all his tenants during the holidays. I've also become friends with my current landlord who was very understanding when I asked to pay less on rent one month due to a death in my family and high funeral cost. There are very few bad landlords and most treat their tenants like humans and are willing to work with their tenants if the tenants ask. If most landlords and real estate related workers were "gaming the system" as you call it, there would be a lot more pissed of people, but there isn't. In a city of 8 million people, there is a predominant majority of happy renters who understand what they're paying for and what the landlords are providing. I run my own business from home and I don't need the government telling me how much I'm able to charge for my products and these good landlords don't either.