The landlord is entering into the agreement for purposes of financial gain. The tenant is entering into the relationship for basic shelter. Failure to enter into such an agreement has far more urgent and dire consequences for the tenant than for the landlord. So when you say:

I live in a state where tenants actually hold more of the power.

I can only respond: "There is no such state." The basic concept of "renting" is fundamentally unbalanced. Some states have taken greater steps than others to lighten the landlord's thumb on the scale, but the landlord-bias is intrinsic to the arrangement.

I’m talking about actual abuse.

Which is, indeed, a big fucking problem that probably has some market effects. But the unjustified jump in rent and housing prices is primarily due to widespread institutional investment in residential property. Algorithmic pricing collusion is also playing a major role in rental hikes, far exceeding any effect arising from abusive tenants.