Water damage new or old?

[Account Closed]

Hello, I bought a property last year from a friend. Didn’t do an inspection prior to purchase. Took his word and only had an appraiser go in and take picture’s. Anyways, I have a tenant who called and told me a toilet bolt was completely destroyed and fell out during cleaning. Here’s the kicker…she claims her and her kids have been battling Covid back to back for the past month and she went to deep clean and noticed the water stains on the floor. She tried to clean them up thinking her mats stained the bathroom vinyl. She then said the vinyl began to rip in parts and there is some rot in the bathroom now. Previous landlord didn’t caulk around tub. He chaired most areas of toilet but there is a large amount of caulk around corners of shower by toilet. She said his caulking has always been like that and she laughed about it when she moved in but dealt with. Can I hold her responsible for not reporting the damage right away? She is claiming the toilet is clearly 50years old and the bolt that basically fell out was obviously shot too. (I didn’t see it) she said she automatically threw it away and began cleaning bc she was grossed out. She claims she told me right when she noticed damage and I need to take it up with previous owner bc rot doesn’t happen over night . She is saying clearly the was an issue before she moved in 3 years ago based on the caulk and floor. Vinyl is about 20 years old (and does look rough) but I feel like she should have seen the water damage way before this. What can I do? Can I sue? 

[Andrew S.]

This sounds like totally normal wear and tear - if toilet is really 50 years old you should just replace it.  Same with 20 year old vinyl floor.  If there is a second bathroom in the house, this is a pretty quick and fast fix.