I am a licensed California Contractor. When my tenants cry wolf, I then conduct a "legal" most test/inspection. I section off areas of the wall and using a "hole saw" with a HEPA vacuum attached , I cut out 2" holes from the drywall. Then I look at the drywall backing of the cut out piece for signs of mold. If there's no mold, I use an inspection camera to look inside the walls. I labeled each cut out piece and bag them.

I close off each hole not to allow air or mold spores to enter the room.

I sent off the samples to a lab, or inspect them myself under a special microscope. A lab report will help me in a court case.

In my case, because of the way the tenant allowed moisture to build up in the inside of the room without proper air circulation, the mold on the walls as only surface mold, tested to be non-toxic, not the deadly type. So then I cleaned off the surface mold, using property techniques. I have the recovery equipment to remove mold and my HEPA vacuum is rated for mold, both wet and or dry removal process. Then I have the air tested for mold. Later letting the tenants back in.

Now that I have proof that the mold wasn't the deadly type and it was safely removed, then the tenant has no way to prove damages. Since they didn't inform me of the mold build up or signs of it on a wall, I wasn't liable for punitive damages, only curtain costs.

what do they call the person that comes in last place in law school?

Lawyer

you don't know who you are up against but in CA - you are in the land of fruits and nuts so you probably got one of those

In most cases,

its a Tenant Lifestyle Issue. ( Self-inflicted )

Plenty,

Documentation. (Prior to move-in and at Lease Signing)

This is a good one in my opinion. I've seen this a few times now and have been a bit puzzled by it.

In one apartment a few years back, a couple moved in. It's on a slab so no basement. So this young couple move in and about a month later she has "issues". She calls and says her sink is leaking. Ok fine. While I'm there she pulls the fridge out and says "look - I will clean this all up but there was this green moldy stuff behind it". I've only seen this in a basement before personally. This is on a slab (no basement) but I couldn't understand at the time how it appeared so fast (one month in) and we've NEVER had this issue before.

Long story short - A few months later and we end up with "mold" (black in color) in the corner (top corner, not bottom) of the bedroom and the closet. I go in, have a contractor look at it and he says "clean with bleach and water - it needs ventilation. Not sure why this is happenning". He goes into the attic and notices that there is only one vent in the front - nothing in the back so he adds that - thinking that air is possibly getting trapped.

A few months later (she wants out and is about 2-3 months shy of the lease ending) and she starts complaining about the green mold again - ALL OVER THEIR STUFF in the closet.

I honestly thought we were in a pickle with this because something was just going on with the apartment. I purchased a dehumidifier and had that running (while they were there). I don't think they kept it running because all she did was complain about the green stuff. I finally just gave her the happy clause and said "just move".

I kept the apartment empty for about a month just running the dehumidifier and doing some very light work in there (just to see if things were not right). NO ISSUES whatsoever. Placed a tenant the next month - NO ISSUES (he was there about a year and a half). I would do periodic inspections just to make sure (I do anyway - but I wanted to be sure there were no issues with this apartment). NOTHING.

Can people 'cause mold'?

I also had a family in a different apartment (with a basement) on the first floor. Clean (enough) but whenever I was in the apartment - windows or doors were NEVER open (nice days, etc) and during the winter it was VERY WARM (at one point when we were doing an inspection with the Fire Dept one of the guys looked at the thermostat and said "wow - it's 74 in here"). We were all sweating.

Anyway - when they left there was appeared to be mold on the walls - right where you are indicating - where the mattress was rubbing on the walls. At first I thought it was from their sheets (they had black sheets or a blanket - whatever from my recollection). However, I noticed it where the baby's crib was too. It was not in all of the bedrooms - just theirs and in the living room where the couch was.

So again - can people cause mold? What the heck is this?

If that lawyer takes you to court, bring your documentation as RB mentioned and present your case, acording the procedure. It sounds like you did everything correctly. cjl notes some awfully telling experiences that will hopefully light a fire.