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A serial squatter was sentenced to 20 years for fraud after she’d been evicted nearly three dozen times and racked up thousands in property damage under multiple aliases in Texas and Colorado for decades.
Heather Ruybal was slapped with the maximum sentence in Dallas on Aug. 31, after she was found guilty July 27 of felony fraud for using a false name and writing a bad check to lease a house in 2023, Denver7 reported.
“This is what she did for a living. Moved into individuals’ homes knowing that she wasn’t going to pay her rent, then exploit the eviction process,” Moore told the outlet, adding that her track record showed she had “no remorse” for her crimes.
Last month, Ruybal was convicted of using her father’s identity to rent the home in Rowlett, Texas, under the alias Heather Schwab, then never paid a dime in rent after moving into the residence, Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Amber Moore said.
Ruybal was also ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution to the victim, Jessica Davis, who rented her the Rowlett, Texas, property through a listing on Zillow.
Ruybal had rented the home under the name “Rayes Ruybal,” the name of her father, according to Davis.
When Ruybal finally moved out after months, Davis said the four-bedroom “dream” home reeked of urine and cigarette smoke and was littered with trash, food and debris throughout.
“Both of the toilets are clogged with mounds of toilet paper and other seemingly fluids,” Davis previously told Fox News.
Davis ultimately lost her home after she was unable to make mortgage payments due to the lost rental income, Denver7 reported.
The harsh sentencing came after prosecutors unearthed Ruybal’s lengthy criminal history, discovering she had been a serial fraud offender across Texas and Denver — with nearly three dozen evictions spanning more than two decades.
Moore said the court was able to enhance Ruybal’s punishment based on a prior 2018 conviction in which she also used her father’s and aunt’s identities to obtain a lease in Colorado.
Ruybal was sentenced to six years in prison in Colorado but served just over three years before her release.
“We wanted the court to make sure the judge understands that she’s basically a career criminal,” Moore told the outlet.
Another Colorado landlord, Stephanie Williams, told Denver7 that Ruybal allegedly contaminated her property with methamphetamine after renting her home to Ruybal in 2024.
Williams also said Ruybal had moved out but kept paying rent until March, discovering Ruybal’s son had been living there without permission while Ruybal lived in Castle Rock, where she also stopped paying rent around the same time.
Back in Texas, Moore said Ruybal will likely serve at least five years of her 20-year sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
“I hope it sends a message that her time is up,” Moore said. “No longer is she going to be able to do something like this and get away with it.”
Ruybal is also facing felony charges in Denver after being accused of stealing more than $500,000 from a former employer, Denver7 reported.
Ruybal allegedly spent nearly two years at an unidentified company as a payroll manager and bookkeeper, funneling payments to fictitious employees and a shell company — all linked to her own bank accounts, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Denver7.
She made her initial court appearance for that fraud case on Tuesday.
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