Landlords, of course, can sue for damages, but it’s almost always in small claims court, and the former tenant is almost always “judgement proof” – no real assets and no real wages to garnish. These same individuals are often the sort of tenant who allows their pets to destroy a home, let cat urine soak into the floor boards, and so on.

Not everyone, of course. and in fact, probably a very small minority of tenants, but it only takes one terrible tenant to utterly destroy a home.