Tenant Responsibility or Wear & Tear?

[Kathy Benavidez]

We had tenants move in a few months ago. 

Yesterday they sent the following picture claiming that that was there since they moved in. (During the last walk through with previous tenants, that was not there at all). The new tenant did say she showered and/or took a bath daily and that it’s gotten bigger every time she’s got out of the tub.

I spoke with a friend and she said her child had caused something similar when he was bathed in the tub and water would spill over (and she was too tired to clean it up). She caught it before it got as bad as the photo but she did have get it replaced/fixed. I spoke to a floor specialist (that she used) and he said that was due to excessive moisture. 

My question is, who is responsible for that? Would it be considered normal wear and tear or is this something excessive that the tenants have caused due to carelessness? She said it stinks and smells like urine as well. They do have a cat and dog. The house is professionally cleaned after each tenant leaves and the house is also inspected after each cleaning service is completed (to make sure it was cleaned well). So the house is inspected at least twice after the previous tenants leave. Before they moved in, it was inspected more than that because we just had new floors put in (not in the bathroom but the rest of the house).

She also stated that the TP holder and the towel holder in the bathroom are loose/ and coming off. Again, during the walk through from the last inspection, they were fine/working/not falling off or were loose. We don’t mind replacing that but I’m just concerned at this point that the tenants are not taking care of the property/maintaining the property and expecting us to fix everything by claiming wear and tear. These are just a couple of issues that have risen during their stay. They’ve only been there a few months as well, so these issues are starting to concern me.

Thanks in advanced.