It's not as bad as they make it out to be. You can hire a property manager who handles applicants/screening (weeds out problems before they start), as well as manages the books for about 10% of the rent. Doing it properly mitigates most of the problems. I have never had a problem myself, and just treat the small issues as a cost of doing business and budget accordingly.

For every outrage-bait story you hear about bad landlords and bad tenants, there are many more where people aren't jerks. For those inexperienced, and even moderately savvy with things, the property manager's services are worth it. The "professional tenants" (ones who apply to squat or cause problems) avoid the companies and experience people, and prey on the naive random person. They also make sure you (and your tenants) are in compliance with all the local laws, and know them well because they deal with it every day. If you ever rent a place out, I highly encourage utilizing a good property manager.