> Seems reasonable in the context of going to court with a mega-corp landlord, though.

The mega-corp landlords are much more savvy when it comes to dealing with grifters and con artists, to the point that they will usually avoid taking them on as tenants (e.g. via extensive background checks). Small-time landlords are getting savvier, but not at the same speed.

> Which is increasingly common.

And given the above, they will be probably become the norm in a decade or so.

Perhaps there ought to be an adjustment to the regulation that differentiates between megacorp landlords and the small landlords who only own a few properties. Maybe some threshold below which both sides qualify for right-to-counsel.

How convenient that existing laws only "seem reasonable" in a world where mega-corps own all real estate

On the contrary. For some reason petite landed gentry get a pass on cruel methods of extracting value for laborers, but when faceless mega-corps do it we suddenly sprout a non-sociopathic value system out of nowhere.