My renters - Lying or telling the Truth??

[Tom Valichka]

Hey BP, I am curious if anyone else has ran into a situation like the one i encountered recently with my renters in a single family home i have near Atlanta. Of course, when i go out of time i get a frantic call from my renters saying there is a good plumbing leak coming from under the sink, water is on the kitchen floor and leaking into the basement. Instantly, i call my plumber and line him up to go out there the next day. Being out of town on business, i could not make it there myself.

My plumber gets to the home and does everything he can think of to fix the problem. Interestingly enough, he calls me back and there is NOTHING wrong. He said he ran all the sinks, dishwasher, flushed every toilet.  An hour later, there was NO LEAK. It has not rained, there was no intrusions from the roof, sidewalls, basement, anything.  He told me he could see in the basement where there had been some water, but it had all been cleaned up or evaporated (unfinished basement thankfully). 

My question to you all is, there was obviously water there at some point, but if there was no leak what happened? Did they spill something? Did they overflow the sink on accident and tell me it was a plumbing issue so they wouldn't pay damages? Did they over flow the dishwasher?  This has been the first incident like this with these folks. Is this going to be a recurring thing? Anyone ever deal with these situations where the renters may be trying to scam their way out of paying damages?  Or am i overreacting and should brush it under the rug?

Thanks for the help in advance!

Tom