Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

First, only because you asked, if I were in your shoes, I would never have moved into a place that had that many problems when you moved in. Never move into an apartment that is not 100% in a condition you are willing to accept, as once you move in, landlords will generally never do work that might have been promised.

I'm not sure what case you are asking about. Can you sue the landlord? I'm not sure what the grounds would be, unless the landlord failed to return your security deposit in which case you can sue her, but the judge is going to rule in favor of who he believes. If you cannot prove that the apartment was in essentially the condition it is in today when you moved in, the pressumption will generally be that you caused most of the conditions of which you complain. You need to have some level of proof that when you moved in, it was dirty, an unacceptable. If not, a court might hold that the landlord is allowed to deduct from your security deposit cleaning, repairs, etc... that exceed normal wear and tear. The electric bill, however, is one that you can likely prevail on if you can prove that it actually services all 5 units, and that you were paying for everyone elses' electricity. If I were you, I would consult with a tenant's-rights attorney in your area to go over the facts (you provided a nice summary, but to opine as to whether or not you have a case, an attorney needs a lot more information from you) and determine if you should go forward with anything more-than an action for recovery of the security deposit your landlord will almost certainly keep. I notice that you are in San Clemente, but unfortunately, I do not have a referral to a tenant's rights attorney in this area. You have to remember, when it comes to the question of restitution for the terrible living conditions, your landlord is not necessarily the only party at fault. You moved into a place that was in substandard condition, probably signed a lease that acknowledged that you accepted the property in clean and acceptable condition, and you continued to live there when the landlord refused to fix the problems of which you complain. In the court's eyes, tenants do bear some responsibility when they fail to exercise their right to not move in the first place, or to leave when conditions are unacceptable. I do wish you good luck.

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