Or tenants know they are the owner and take advantage of that. 

Cheap homes for an area are cheap for a reason - low to no demand from local investors or owners. 

Not a home owners, or landlord.

Housing is apparently a human right that's owed from the owner to the renter.

They're not out to just make money, but take care of homeowners, business owners, partners, etc and their well-being. 

California is the only state that has essentially put a rent control type of restriction on home owner insurance premiums.

So the added cashflow to property owners it they are willing to become the developer and increase density that tactic could help more owners stay than could otherwise afford to stay. 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

But for many people, it is one of a number of sources of deal flow, to add to MLS listings, wholesalers, direct owner outreach, auction, etc.Assuming you are specifically talking about sheriff auctions, just make sure you familiarize yourself with the general procedures for the auction.  

I am the owner actually.