Hi all, newer to using reddit but I was hoping to get some legal advice on this stressful situation. We are in California. This is happening to my girlfriend and so some of the info (like conversations with landlord, dr or service people ) are 2nd hand so if something sounds wrong let me know I’ll double check with them.

There are 3 early 20s women living in a townhouse, Ray, Brittany and Taylor. The landlord has always been a bit rude and wants to “fix” everything himself or sends his buddies over which I always had a problem with. Something happened with water heater and the gas was shut off for two weeks. When someone from So Cal Gas (i think?) came to turn it back on he told Brittany that he couldn’t turn the dryer back on because it was leaking toxic gas. (I’m hearing this all from Ray) When Brittany calls landlord he’s rude calls her a clown for hiring someone who doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He says he’ll come over to fix it. He does and is rude but I guess fixes it? Personally I want them to get a professional out to check his work. Then later Taylor goes to Dr and turns out she has lead poisoning! They said if it has waited till after christmas it would’ve been bad. So Brittany ordered lead test strips and tested it on the wall. For context the washer and dryer often caused moisture in the air that would then drip on the walls. She tested one of those drip stains and the test was very positive. She now went to go get tested and Ray and I will too. I told them all they can sleep at mine till it is sorted. Ray called some lead testing places and one got back to her saying it’s unlikely the house has it since it’s newer (I believe built in last 5 years but i’ll see if I can find out) and seemed to be discouraging her from getting the place tested which seems very odd.

Since it’s a newer house it shouldn’t have lead paint. Could it be in the water which is coming out through the dryer?

How much is the landlord reliable for? If we all have poisoning does he have to cover those bills or if they have to move out? What sort of things should they do to protect themselves and make sure he stops taking advantage.