Sink holes have become a major problem in some areas. They can be an even bigger issue for landlords who own property in such high risk areas. Unlike most home owners, landlords aren't liable to visit their property daily unless they already live there, so they depend on tenants to inform them of issues. However tenants aren't always willing to be the bearer of bad news.
While I've never had to deal with a sink hole, I have had issues crop up that would have been far easier to fix if the tenant had informed me immediately of the problem instead of ignoring it for months until it became to dangerous or annoying to live with. I find it helps to make sure that the lease has a clear definition of who is responsible for what issues, that way when cases like this happen your tenant doesn't fear informing you of the problem.
*Cartoon by Peter Morici
* Sink hole info from TVS
