A serial squatter who was evicted from rental homes in Colorado and Texas has a new residence – she was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Dallas following a fraud conviction last month.
Denver7.com reports Heather Ruybal, aka Heather Schwab, was taken into custody after she was convicted last month in a 2023 fraud case where she used her father’s name on a rental home application in Rowlett, Texas. Ruybal also signed her father’s name, but never paid rent.
Ruybal was also ordered to pay $40,000 in restitution to the victim, Jessica Davis, who lost her home because wasn’t able to make mortgage payments due to Ruybal’s shenanigans.
“This is what she did for a living, moved into individuals’ homes knowing that she wasn’t going to pay rent and then exploited the eviction process in order to stay there for several more months,” said Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Amber Moore.
Ruybal was convicted of a similar crime in 2018 after she used her father’s and aunt’s identities to obtain a lease on a Denver-area home. She was sentenced to six years in prison and served over three years for that crime.
Ruybal is also facing criminal charges in Denver, where she is accused of stealing over $500,000 from a previous employer. She is due in court for that case on Tuesday.
Earlier this year, a Denver landlord contacted Denver7.com to report her home was contaminated with methamphetamine after it was rented by Ruybal in 2024. Landlord Stephanie Williams said Ruybal had moved out of the home, but continued to pay rent until March of this year because her son was living there without the landlord’s permission. At the time, Ruybal was living in another Denver-area home where she stopped paying rent.
“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.”
Photo courtesy of Dallas County Jail
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