The rental housing situation is one that I’ve been watching with a high level of interest.

Not so much from an economic perspective, but more out of an interest in the people side — the growing divide in the relationship between tenants and landlords.

Boiled down, it seems simple. One group of people needs a place to live. Another group of people has housing that others can rent.

In a perfect world, pair those two together, and — voila! — people have housing and landlords have income from their investments.

But, like nearly everything, it is not that easy, once you add the other dynamics.

First, there are dynamics like taxes, inflation, rental property requirements, insurance, and basic property maintenance. For the most part, those can be estimated and worked into the cost of the rental.

Then add the people factors and things get much more complicated. Pets, kids, personalities, attitudes, expectations, hobbies, health, lifestyles, etc.

Right now, and for the better part of the last several years, there appear to be a lot of struggles from those looking to rent. There is nothing available. It is difficult to find a rental that allows pets. Rental rates are too high.

I feel for them. If I know someone well enough to refer them as a good tenant, I’ve connected them with my network of landlords. It has been difficult to find openings.

Then I talk to my contacts who are in the rental business, with either a few properties or many, and I hear the stories and see the photos.

Time and time again, tenants destroy rental units. I’ve seen photos of units that had to be approached with a shovel and trash bags after a tenant vacated the property just to get the initial layer of trash off the floor. I’ve heard stories of drug paraphernalia and even the sad stories about finding deceased people in properties after they overdosed on drugs. I’ve seen photos of damage caused by pets, like torn or stained flooring, chewed trim, and even animal waste being left on the floor, assumingly at times while people still lived in the property.

Those are some of the worst things that I have seen, and you’d think those are stories that are rare, but, unfortunately, each of those situations have happened more than once to landlords I know.

Then there are the stories of things that aren’t as bad but are still disrespectful on the tenants’ part. Broken doors, broken blinds, burn holes in carpet, filthy kitchens and bathrooms, years of dust packed into corners and on windowsills.

I wish I was saying that a few people were painting this gross picture, making it seem like a lot more people were like this than really are. Unfortunately, I’m not. Those stories are common across landlords.

Those people are not what you might call absent landlords. Those are typical rental units that start out in decent shape, pass all regular inspections, and have upgrades as necessary to keep things in livable, updated condition. The rents are fair to the market.

Although I know rentals are difficult to find, I can’t feel bad for renters who are struggling to find a place to live unless I know them personally and know they would be a good renter.

My heart goes out to those who are homeless. Homelessness is a problem, but no one should treat a rental property like many I have seen and heard stories about. Repeated experiences like that are a good reason for property owners to want to get out of the rental business, leaving properties to go back to single-family homes or to end up in the hands of property managers who only care about making a dollar and do not attempt to keep the unit in decent shape.

There are plenty of good tenants out there. Just like there are both good and bad landlords.

But remember, tenants, the rental world is a small world.

Property owners know each other. They talk about experiences they have with renters. Remember, too, that they are not property owners for charity. They need to make money from their investments. When a property is left needing repairs or cleaning beyond the typical expectations, it costs more. When that happens again and again, prices must go up to cover those expenses.

The best thing you can do as a tenant is to be a good one that your landlord would be happy to house again. Treat the place like it is your own. Treat the place like it is the only place you have to live, because, in this current environment, it truly might be.

Jackie Krawczak is president of Jackie Krawczak LLC. Her column runs every three weeks on Thursdays. Follow Jackie on Twitter @jkrawczak.