Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

If the repairs are ordered by the local health department, you may be entitled to additional compensation. Otherwise you are limited to rent abatement (free rent) for the time you are out of the property, unless your lease provides otherwise.

If the landlord knew or reasonably should have known of the mold problem before renting the place to you and you did not know, then you might have a separate tort cause of action against him for negligence and, thus, be able to recover some or all of your expenses. If you have renter's insurance it might cover some of your losses. Find out from the landlord what type of insurance coverage they have, as if they are being paid for loss of rental income then you should not be paying the rent and it might, but probably does not, cover some of your other damages.