I'm a landlord myself and as much as I would dislike hearing that the repair I had made a couple of years ago was not a good one, I would want to know about it. This sort of thing happened to me recently, although not regarding a tub. Sure, I had to shuck out some bucks; but it is worth a lot to keep a good tenant happy. The good ones are hard to find.

It seems obvious that the previous method of dealing with this is not worth repeating. There are companies that can fit the tub for a tough vinyl cover which is made to fit your particular tub. The cost is much cheaper than installing a new tub. However it does cost quite a bit. I'll see if I can dig up some info for ya.