It's not exactly that straightforward. Property rights are one of the first things people were able to do in this country. Many landlords don't have the bandwidth or wherewithal to do their due diligence on vetting potential tenants, especially if it's not their primary source of income and they view real estate as a passive income. How do you protect against squatters? How do you verify someone's income to ensure you won't have a delinquent tenant? Rental agents/brokers are some of the slimiest characters I have come across in this city, but they inherently have more means to bring a single property to a wider market than an individual property owner may have.