People misjudge the landlord market there are yes tons of huge corporations or “family businesses” with a portfolio where a default doesn’t really matter but the vast majority are people with 1-2 additional properties that feel like forgiving rent will make them not be able to make the mortgage against the property and then they’d default.
So the “heartless” landlord situation may be a bit more nuanced than these articles seem to indicate. Where it’s legal to evict, landlords might be looking at their own finances and feeling like they don’t have a choice either.