Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
My girlfriend was displaced from her apartment here in San Diego, California due to a mold issue. Originally the mold remediation was to have taken 10 days. Finding a place to stay for 10 days was fairly easy. Now we are on day 23 and they say they intend to have the repairs complete my Oct 01, 2010 (30 days). We'll see.
What kind of compensation should my girlfriend expect from the apartment manager? They have agreed to compensate her for the one month that my girlfriend has not been living there. What about the inconvenience of my girlfriend and her three daughters (a family of four) living out of suitcases?
Do you have any suggestions or can you recommend anyone in the San Diego area we should contact?
I thank you in advance for your time and any help you can provide!
1 Answer from Attorneys
First, she should not be charged any rent for any period of time when the unit is not habitable. Second, she could keep a strict itemized list of all of her costs during the period when she was forced out, including lodging, extra laundry/cleaning costs (if she had a wash/dryer in her unit) and related costs. The landlord should compensate her for everything that resulted from the tenant being forced out, and should not be charging ANY rent for all of the days where the unit was not habitable.