There are thousands of these stories from both landlords who thought they’d get easy money and those who were coerced; they almost all end the way yours do. Trying to get rid of the leeches was an absolute nightmare and sometimes they got really desperate. I read of at least one landlord was suspected of arson when his Sec-8 apartment burned to the ground after months of appeals failed...unfortunately one of the roaches’ illegitimate babies died in the fire so it’s also a homicide case. :(
The ONLY landlord I ever heard of who got off good in the end had an arrangement where almost only retirement-aged people were moved in, and since they were too old/decrepit to do much damage he made out sweet. The residents were almost to the last person bilking local/state/federal governments for a ton of different benefits, but that’s another story.
Basically, the government is in charge of your apartment. They will dictate what the rent is (good luck increasing it). Also, a tenant can damage an apartment while they are living there and the landlord will be forced to fix and pay for it. the tenant has no motivation to take care of the apartment.
Also, the units are inspected often by the housing authority and, once again, you have to immediately fix any damages that the tenant might have done.