No, that's just not true. You are trying to win through sheer force of linguistic bullshit. Landlords are LITERALLY not in the middle of any transaction between producer and consumer. They are BEHIND the producer.

Look at it from the flow of money. I get money from my wage. I go to a shop. I give the shop my money and receive a commodity. I do that every day, once per day. On the 30th day, the shop owner takes some of my money that I gave them, and some of the money other people gave them, and gives a specific amount to the landlord.

A middle man, on the other hand, is IN THE MIDDLE. The SHOP is a middle man for the PRODUCER. I go to the shop and buy a toy made by Hasbro, the shop owner takes my money and buys a replacement for that toy from Hasbro. The toy is made by Hasbro and used by me but the shop is in the middle of the transaction. The more toys I buy from Hasbro, the more the middle man makes. This is NOT the case with a landlord who IS NOT IN THE MIDDLE and therefore receives a fixed amount from the shop regardless of how much I spend because the landlord has no idea how much I spend at the shop because the landlord is NOT IN THE MIDDLE.