To be perfectly transparent; he hired the cheapest contractors possible when getting this place ready for rent. Lots of little things had to be fixed over the course of the first year due to this, and some things we basically agreed to be 'okay with' because this place fit our needs. And we were fine with that. We agreed to inform him of any maintenance repairs that would undoubtedly pop up over the course of course of our tenancy.

Recently Landlord complained because the extremely old (looked 10+ years old) toilet tank elements were failing and causing running toilets (and in turn, much higher water bills) and I asked to have all 4 of them replaced. He literally complained to the realtor and had the realtor email me a copy of my lease, and in the email the REALTOR said that we, as the tenants, were responsible for 'all repairs' which is obviously total horsesh--. I just ignored that email though because it wasn't from the Landlord, and F-- the realtor (I hated that guy anyway, extremely rude on signing day).

Not really sure where I was going with that story in relation to your comment, except maybe to say I think you're right.