My experience with corporate landlords is the complete opposite of yours. You call the office and they tell you to call the manager. You call the manager and they tell you to call the office. You call the office back and the call gets disconnected. You drive down to the office and they are "in a meeting". Letters and emails are ignored. The only way to get them to do anything is to sue them. Apparently this tanks your "shadow credit score" though.
The individual landlords I have rented from were always much more flexible and accommodating. When I call them they are responsive. They treat you like another person instead of a number on a spreadsheet. They actually cared about their property and would do even preventative maintenance.
As for the first statement it is my experience with my current landlord. Their negligence resulted in the death of an infant and they still refuse to change their policies.
As for the second statement see this image from the article.
The individual landlords I have rented from were always much more flexible and accommodating. When I call them they are responsive. They treat you like another person instead of a number on a spreadsheet. They actually cared about their property and would do even preventative maintenance.