Landlord Sentenced in Swindling Case

A Granada Hills landlord was sentenced to probation and community service Thursday after pleading no contest to charges that he swindled the Los Angeles Housing Authority by demanding extra money from a tenant’s federal emergency funds after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Oxnard resident Janos Dub, 46, pleaded no contest to one count of misdemeanor grand theft in Los Angeles Municipal Court, City Atty. James Hahn said.

The swindle involved the Housing Authority’s earthquake assistance program, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for individuals made homeless by the earthquake.

Between February 1994 and April 1995, Dub demanded and collected nearly $6,000 beyond regular rent from an unnamed husband and wife who moved into a Granada Hills home he owned after their apartment was damaged in the earthquake, the city attorney said.

When the couple were unable to continue paying the rent Dub was demanding, they complained to San Fernando Valley Legal Services Inc. Officials from that agency alerted investigators from the Housing Authority, who launched a probe that revealed the illegal side payments.

Municipal Court Commissioner Kristi Lousteau placed Dub, who is also known as John Dub and John Friend, on three years’ probation and ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service, said Deputy City Atty. Deborah Sanchez, who prosecuted the case. A Feb. 4 hearing was set to determine how much restitution the defendant should pay the Housing Authority.