I have just rented a townhouse in Florida. 2 weeks after I signed the
lease, I walked in to the kitchen and the ceramic tile had
peaked/buckled from the middle of the kitchen floor about 9 ft into the dining
room. The insurance inspector came and inspected the floor, said he was
not aware of any sink holes in the area, and thinks it could be the
foundation has shifted, he is supposed to have an engineer our to inspect
the home. The home was just built 2 1/2 yrs ago. There is cracking in
other units in the same home. What would cause this? Is it possible
the pipes leaked under the foundation? If is the foundation shifting is
that what caused this to happen in the middle of the room instead of
from the walls into the room?

amc618

It's called tenting and is usually caused by the tile being cut too tightly to the walls or the perimeter has been grouted against the base board. I.E. no room for the walls to expand and contract as walls are known to do. Look at the back of a tile. If the floors clean and the thinset is completely on the tile. Tenting.
Nothing on the tile / thinset on the floor; poor bond, probably skimmed over before tile was set.