This website was created by Ken Carlson, who has specialized in helping tenants for over 45 years, since 1980, after graduating from UC Berkeley and Loyola Law schools.
Our Purpose
The purpose of this website is to empower you with the knowledge and strategy to accomplish what you want. The Game Board, Pre-Consultation Videos, and downloadable paperwork are intended to give you the reassurance that your suspicions that what the landlord is doing was wrong, and what you can do about it. We know what you need to know, so we tell it to you for free up front. Then, it’s up to you whether you want to take action.
Keeping Costs Down
Our clients may not qualify for Legal Aid, but can’t afford a full-time lawyer, either. Most of our clients qualify for court fee waivers. Keeping that in mind, caltenantlaw.com is designed to keep your costs to a minimum:
Low overhead, lower costs. Cutting overhead expenses of a law office, by just having the website, allows us to charge you less. We use phone, email, website downloads, and other technology instead. All of our attorneys and staff work from home, so they have no commuting costs, either.
You represent yourself — with us behind you. You officially represent yourself, even though the judge and lawyers will know that we are behind you, writing all of your paperwork and advising you. That avoids the landlord strategy of running up your legal bill to where you can’t afford to fight.
You control the cost. You control the cost of our services by selecting what you want us to do. Some things are necessary, but others are optional. Some things you can do yourself, like filing court papers, or you can pay to have us do it for you. You decide how to stay in your budget.
Free Pre-Consultation Videos. Free videos are available for you to learn about your rights, the next step, and so much more. Rather than pay to have a lawyer tell you the same information, you can watch the videos, rewind and save them for free. The videos may not answer the particulars of your situation, but at least they narrow down what a lawyer needs to tell you.
Free downloads. Free downloads like the habitability worksheet, the Game Board, small claims complaint, and temporary relocation agreements, help you take effective action right away.
Full attorney representation when needed. If you absolutely need to have an attorney officially act for you in your case, we will make best efforts to accommodate you. Many court hearings are now done online, like Zoom, or one of our associate lawyers may be able to personally attend the courtroom hearing if that is required. It is much more expensive than your representing yourself, but if you can afford it and it is worth the expense, we will try to accommodate you.
Taken altogether, caltenantlaw.com is the most popular choice among tenants because of our free information, actual cost, deep knowledge, and accessibility. We are here to empower tenants.
Costs and Fees
We provide as much general information as we can for free on the pages of this site. For paid services, we have the Legal Hotline, paperwork preparation, consultation, and more. We do everything but go to court, and for that we can arrange a lawyer for you if you wish. Our overhead is low, so we pass the savings on to you. Our rate of $330 per hour for more than 45 years of expertise is the best deal around.
For almost all of the actual services, there is a set price. Like a vending machine, you pay for X and you get X, so that the total cost is entirely up to you. We work within your budget. The initial consultation is only $165 for half an hour of fact-filled discussion. The most common reaction at the end of the initial consultation is, “That’s the best money I’ve ever spent.”
