Motley: You are ever-so-right.  These laws were, as you say, written to protect tenants from us nasty landlords.  If someone starts to tell me a "nasty landlord" story, I always say "OK, tell me the story", then I'll tell you ten stories about "nasty tenants"...and they will come from just my own experience.  Being a landlord is a very tough job.  You want to help people out while at the same time, protecting your investment, your hard work in maintaining the property, and the income you make from your investment and that hard work.  That's not easy.........