Landlords provide a service. One of a home to rent. It’s no different to renting a car in that sense. They certainly don’t do nothing. They’re responsible for the maintenance of the property (well they are in the UK, I am assuming you’re from the US by your use of the words ass and paycheck). Were cars as scarce as homes and people still needed them as much as they do now you’d see the same thing in the car rental market with extortionate fees for a “service” that people demand. But that’s a condition of the market, blame your government for not providing proper social housing to drive down the cost of private accommodation.

But landlords are leeches because I don’t like them is such a simplistic answer to a nuanced question.