Rental House, disaster shower

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It wouldn't surprise me if there wasn't a bunch of mold and rot behind the walls there. The surround has gaps, and someone attempted a really poor application of caulk. My guess is that they also don't have the elbow (an dog-ear el) in the wall anchored so that the handles and spout could move in and out, making a decent looking seal tough to impossible.

Being a rental, I don't think I'd want to touch it. Asthetically, it's really poor, and functionally, may not be good, either.

There are spouts you can buy that would go flush to the surround but you'd have to clean off the pipe (can't have paint or caulk on it). The only way to fix the handles or showerhead would be to replace them.

It's unlikely that the valves are anti-scald, and it looks like they were replaced after that requirement came into effect. Now, there are probably still millions of showers out there without the anti-scald feature, but technically, it was probably not done with a permit or an inspection, was done after that was a requirement, and thus, is illegal. It only becomes potentially unsafe if there's issues with the plumbing supply lines and pressure (say, flushing the toilet drops the cold water pressure a lot and the shower becomes quite hot while the toilet refills). This isn't a certainty, but happens, thus the requirement to protect you from the potential effects.

There are missing "sleeves" under the handles and the spout would require repositioning to stop leaks at those 3 points. Having the faucet right at the "ledge" makes it very difficult to make a leakproof connection there. Whether there are other leaks or not would not be obvious until you fix those.

Your owner is a slumlord. I hope you are getting a deeply discounted rent to live in that rat-trap

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quote; I just can't fathom why someone would leave it in such a condition!

1. because the wall installer did not care enough to question the faucet's location before he drilled the holes.
2. because they did not know how to correct it after the wall was installed and the "ledge" was where it is.
3. When the "plumber" saw the mess they had created, he quit. The owner then finished the installation but did not know how to make the pieces work correctly, so he ended up with what you see there.

Two pieces of advice: First, don't try to fix anything. It isn't yours, and even if the slumlord says to go ahead, you almost certainly will be in to a very major job that the slumlord won't want to pay for. Second, start looking for another place to live ASAP. The chances that this is the only problem in the house is slim to none. Who knows what may be cobbled up with the wiring creating a fire hazard. Next time, look at what you are getting into a little closer.