We have a national housing shortage to the tune of 5 million units and at the moment the hole gets still bigger.

Your landlord sounds like a flake, a self-managing hobby landlord who hasn't realized he shouldn't be self-managing if he can't shut his stupid hole when the chips are down and not make empty threats.

create an amendment to your lease agreement that requests all holes will be patched up at move out date and tenants are solely responsible for tv/mount will be properly installed. request for receipt/payment in the amendment. no biggie. i allow this all the time. 

Drill a hole directly above the slot for the key and you destroy the locks integrity. 

I’ve seen holes burned through walls due to a crimp connection within the wall made improperly by a qualified electrician.

@Hayden Charles LangenburgNot to be an A-hole, but you've already lost so much money by looking for two years.

Ask yourself - at every step of the way - what the worst-case scenario is and then plug the holes before your luck runs out.

To explain what I see is a lot of potential investors and investors with limited exposure go down a rabbit hole and spend countless dollars they do not have because someone is trying to sell asset protection to them.  

Broken bathroom sink with 4" hole in it. 

that @Robin Simon mentioned filled in a huge hole.