I agree rents will probably come down, as they do in any economic down turn, but not because of some exploitative relationship between landlord and renter as yo

I agree rents will probably come down, as they do in any economic down turn, but not because of some exploitative relationship between landlord and renter as you imply. It's all supply and demand. Lower economic activity translates to lower demand. I'd also say that to imply that a landlord doesn't provide a service is total nonsense. There are plenty of reasons why people and companies might prefer to rent instead of buy the least of which is that a tenant doesn't have a long term financial commitment or principal / property value risk. There are many companies that even take their wholly owned property and sell it so they can lease it back in a triple net leasing arrangement because it benefits them to not have capital locked up in real estate value.