ENCINO : Man to Pay $46,000 in Slumlord Case

A 39-year Encino man pleaded no contest Tuesday to charges brought by prosecutors from the city’s Slum Housing Task Force and was ordered to pay more than $46,000 in fines, costs and delinquent utility bills.

Dan Tepper, who was also placed on three years summary probation, had been charged by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office with 10 violations of fire, building and safety, and health codes at a 24-unit building he owned in Hollywood.

Tepper was ordered by Municipal Court Commissioner Gerald T. Richardson to pay $13,500 in fines and penalty assessments, $2,283 in investigative costs and about $31,200 in overdue utility bills dating from Tepper’s ownership of the building from April, 1990, to December, 1991.

Slumlord charges against Tepper’s wife, Miriam, were dismissed when Tepper entered his plea.

The Teppers are also defendants in a civil lawsuit filed in 1989 by City Atty. James K. Hahn that accuses dozens of individuals and companies of fraud and conspiracy in connection with a network of slum housing.

The couple were named in this lawsuit because they owned a 167-unit hotel near downtown Los Angeles and “other slum properties,” according to Hahn’s office.