Money. They're saving money. They aren't thinking about the tenants at all, they're saving money by not dealing with it properly. The only reason they're dealing with it at all is to get new tenants in, and charge them more than they could if the renters could see there was a problem before moving in.

Can you full ass a job?

Never understood the light switch and outlet cover paint-over, because those are easily removable. They complicate surface geometry such that you save little to no time by painting over them, in the present, yet increase fire hazard and ensure every related service request is more expensive and guaranteed to damage the wall, in the future.