Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

You need to either find a local housing agency (start with the City or County in which you live's code enforcement department) or hire an attorney to make the landlord understand that these conditions are not acceptable. In some instances, the City or County code enforcement in response to a complaint from a tenant will come out, inspect the apartment and issue a notice to the landlord to fix the problems. Not all Cities or Counties will do this because these days they don't have the budget to do much of a job protecting their citizens. You may have to find a private tenant rights attorney, and go after the landlord through that attorney. What you have to be careful of, and understand that the landlord might attempt to retaliate against you if you complain by evicting you. This is not legal (generally speaking), but unless you can fight it with legal cause, you could be evicted for just standing up for your rights. This is why a lawyer on your side is going to be critical. Good luck.

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