My landlord hit me with rent increase the moment he could (and I consider myself good tenant by the author's definition).
And why wouldn't he?
First, at least in my case, landlord (person who owns the building and gets the money) is a different person than building manager (which takes all the heat from annoying tenants and, I imagine, is employed by a landlord) and they have full-time maintenance person anyway, so there's no feedback loop.
Second, if I decide to move, it'll cost me several thousands bucks and will be a hassle, assuming I'll find a better deal elsewhere, so there's a strong disincentive for tentants, good or bad, to move just to get lower rent.
Third, as much as we like to think that we e.g. value peace of mind over money, money is very easy to quantify while peace of mind is not, which is why money usually wins in contests like this.
The only reason for a landlord to keep rent low is to maintain low vacancy ratio and that is dictated by the overall market.