For nearly two years, Stephanie Williams thought she had a good tenant who paid rent on time, sometimes even a month in advance.In 2024, she leased her west Denver home to a woman who identified herself as Ann Schwab, and everyt hing seemed in order. Williams ran a background check before sending Schwab the lease, and she said it came back clean.But when the rent payments suddenly stopped in March, Williams quickly realized she had bigger problems than just a delinquent tenant.She did some investigating and noticed one of the previous payments had come from a woman by the name of Heather Ruybal. After a Google search, she found an extensive criminal history that included a six-year prison sentence for identity theft in Colorado and more than 20 evictions across both Colorado and Texas. WATCH: Police records show Heather Ruybal is notorious in Colorado and Texas for a flood of evictions over a stretch spanning nearly two decades, Denver7 Investigates found Evicted again: Denver landlord says tenant with long criminal history left her home uninhabitableAs it turned out, Williams' tenant the entire time was a woman notorious in both states for a flood of evictions over a stretch spanning nearly two decades.Literally, my stomach dropped because it just is all over the internet, Williams said. An extensive search of police records show Ruybal has used multiple different names on leases and has been accused of forging records and pay stubs prior to leasing, only to default on her agreements within a few months in most cases.It's a seven-page rap sheet, Williams said. The list goes on and on and on.Other former landlords, such as Kelly Lyons, said that Ruybal has perfected a way to take advantage of the eviction cycle.She has not paid the price, Lyons said.Lyons was managing a rental home owned by his daughter, who had moved out of state. He said he thought he leased to a woman named Ann Ruybal who provided documents that showed she made more than $100,000 per year certainly enough to rent his daughters house in Thornton. But he said the first check Ruybal gave Lyons upon signing the lease was returned a week later and it took months for the eviction to go through.She knows her rights better than the lawyers know her rights, Lyons said. Shes really good.'The worst-case scenario'Some of the court records from previous homes where Ruybal failed to pay rent show that the houses often needed extensive repairs, costing the owners thousands of dollars.Unfortunately for Williams, she soon learned that was also the case with her home. She would come to find out that, despite continuing to pay rent, Ruybal had moved out months earlier. Her 31-year-old son, who was not on the lease, was living there. When Williams called police to have the son trespassed from the property, he ran. An affidavit states he cut off an ankle monitor and was later found in a stolen car and arrested. Hes currently in prison. Court records show he also has a lengthy criminal history with multiple theft and drug charges.Williams returned to the home and found the windows boarded up and drug paraphernalia throughout the house. She documented everything with pictures and had the house tested. The results showed the house was contaminated with methamphetamine. The levels were eight times higher than what is deemed safe by the state.Denvers Department of Health and Environment said it declared the house uninhabitable. Williams said she spent tens of thousands of dollars on mitigation before it was recently found safe to occupy.The worst-case scenario I think pretty much happened to me. So that's where Im at, Williams said. "Its a mess.Criminal chargesDespite years of evictions across two states dating back to 2007, Ruybal seemed to avoid any serious consequences for more than a decade. But in 2018, the law caught up after court records show she used her aunts and fathers names to get a lease in Adams County.She was charged and eventually convicted of identity theft. She was sentenced to six years in prison. The Colorado Department of Corrections confirmed she served just over three years of that sentence and was discharged from parole in 2022.Shortly after that, records show Ruybal rented Lyons home in 2023 and was reported to the police again after failing to pay rent. Adams County prosecutors charged her with theft, but this time, she was sentenced to 18 months probation.I thought that it was going to be jail time," Lyons said. "I think that she should get jail time. I mean, shes done damage to a lot of peoples' homes. Attorney Robert Schifferdecker specializes in landlord-tenant law and said Ruybals first prison stint clearly didnt correct the issue.Shes been able to do this so many times for so many years in so many different places, Schifferdecker said. People like this, they're really just judgment-proof. You can get a money judgment against them, but that doesn't mean you're gonna get any money from them.More pending chargesRuybals legal issues continue as last week, Denver Police featured her on its Facebook page as part of its Mugshot Monday series. The post states that shes wanted for felony theft and a police report states shes accused of stealing nearly $500,000 from her previous employer, where she was working as an accountant.Denver Police said she turned herself in on June 5. She received a $10,000 bond and was released over the weekend. She is due back in court June 22.Denver7 Investigates made multiple attempts to contact Ruybal and called several phone numbers associated with her. The number Williams had when Ruybal was living at her house was disconnected.Her last known address was in Castle Rock, but no one was at the house. Neighbors said she hadnt been seen in a couple weeks and police were at the house the week prior, but there was no answer at the door.Denver7 Investigates also found that she is set for a trial in Dallas next month on fraud charges stemming from a 2023 case where she is accused of using a fake name to obtain a lease. She was slated to have a preliminary hearing on Wednesday.Her attorney in that case told Denver7 Investigates that he was unaware of any charges in Colorado, but said she was innocent of the charges in Texas and was looking forward to her day in court.For Williams, shes maintaining hope that there will be accountability for Ruybal.You've been doing this for too long, and your time's up, she said. ...read more read less