People searching for a “free mold lawyer” are usually asking something more specific: can I afford to do anything about this at all?
For most California tenant mold and habitability matters, the answer is yes, and the reason is how these cases are billed. Here is what actually happens to the money.
Free consultation is not the same as free representation
Two different things get called “free,” and conflating them leads to unpleasant surprises.
A free consultation means no charge to have your situation reviewed and to be told whether you have something worth pursuing. Nearly every tenant-side firm offers this, including ours.
A contingency fee is the arrangement that makes the case itself affordable: the attorney is paid a percentage of what is recovered, and if nothing is recovered, no attorney’s fee is owed. You are not writing monthly cheques while the case runs.
Neither means the matter is free in every sense. The distinction that catches people out is the next one.
Fees and costs are not the same thing
This is the single most important paragraph on this page.
- The fee is what the attorney is paid for the work — the percentage.
- Costs are what the case spends: court filing fees, deposition transcripts, expert inspections, air sampling, medical records, service of process.
Those are separate, and how they are handled varies between firms. Some advance costs and recover them from the settlement. Some expect the client to fund them. Some deduct costs before calculating the fee, some after — and that ordering changes what you actually receive, sometimes substantially.
Ask how costs are handled, and ask whether you owe them if the case does not succeed. It is a fair question and any competent firm will answer it directly.
What California law requires to be in writing
California does not leave this to trust. Business and Professions Code section 6147 requires that a contingency fee agreement be in writing, and that a duplicate copy signed by both the attorney and the client be given to the client when the contract is made.
That written contract must state, among other things:
- The contingency fee rate you and the attorney have agreed
- How disbursements and costs incurred in the case will affect both the fee and your recovery
- Whether you could be required to pay the attorney for related matters not covered by the agreement
If a firm is reluctant to put the rate and the cost treatment in writing before you sign, that tells you something useful.
Why mold and habitability work on contingency
Contingency suits these cases because the client is usually a tenant who has just paid for a hotel, replaced furniture, or missed work — and because the claim, if it succeeds, produces a recovery the fee can come out of.
It also aligns the incentives honestly. A firm paid only on recovery has no reason to take a matter it does not believe in, and no reason to let one drift.
That is also why a reputable firm will turn cases away. If someone tells you every matter is worth pursuing, be careful.
Not everything is contingency
Contingency fits claims that produce a recovery. It does not fit work that produces a document or an outcome instead.
At our firm, mold, habitability and personal injury matters are handled on contingency. Commercial lease review and negotiation, contract work and real estate matters are billed hourly or at a flat fee, agreed in writing before any work starts. Any firm that tells you a lease review is on contingency has not thought about it.
Questions worth asking any firm you call
- What is the contingency rate, and does it change if the case goes into litigation or to trial?
- Who advances the costs, and do I owe them if we do not recover?
- Are costs deducted before or after the fee is calculated?
- Who will actually handle my matter day to day?
- What do you think this case is realistically worth, and what are the weaknesses?
Question five is the revealing one. An honest answer includes the problems with your case, not only its merits.
A word on what no one can tell you upfront
Nobody can responsibly promise you a number before reviewing the documents. Mold and habitability outcomes depend on how long the landlord knew, how well the condition was documented, what the conditions did to the people living there, and what insurance sits behind it. Any firm quoting you a figure on a first phone call is guessing.
What you can get on a first call is a straight answer about whether the matter is worth anyone’s time.
Talk to us
We represent tenants and homeowners in mold and habitability matters across California — tenants only, never landlords. These matters are handled on contingency, so there is no attorney’s fee unless we recover for you. Clients are responsible for case costs. The consultation is free, and we will tell you honestly if we do not think a matter is worth pursuing.
Call (310) 556-9692 or text (805) 429-2304. You may also want to read whether you need a lawyer at all and what makes a rental legally uninhabitable in California.
This article is general information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Fee arrangements vary between firms and matters; nothing here is a quote or an offer of representation. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
TALK TO A LOS ANGELES ATTORNEY
Tell us what is happening and we will get back to you. Your consultation is free, and we will tell you honestly whether we think you have a case worth pursuing.
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