Local News in Brief : Worker Sentenced in Rental Agency Scam

A key employee of a defunct Van Nuys rental-housing agency was sentenced Tuesday to four years and one month in jail for charging customers up to $100 for listings of residential properties that were already rented or did not exist.

LaMont Cornell Kennedy, 24, of Covina was ordered by Los Angeles Municipal Court Judge Joseph V. Riggio to pay 26 victims $1,550 in restitution. He was placed on five years’ probation and banned from future association with any rental agency that demands fees in advance.

Kennedy was convicted Thursday of 31 misdemeanor charges, ranging from false advertising to offering units for rent without the owners’ permission, in connection with the operation of the Rental Market, which operated at 7417 Van Nuys Blvd. until it was closed last June.

Another employee of the firm, Elayl Shaty, 27, of Van Nuys, is serving a 60-day jail term after pleading no contest to two misdemeanor charges in connection with the scam. A third defendant, Janice Coleman, 27, of Covina, remains a fugitive, said Deputy City Atty. Ruth Kwan.