Woman sentenced for Silicon Valley rental scam that allowed her to live rent-free

A woman who lived for years in expensive Silicon Valley properties without paying rent by repeatedly defrauding landlords and refusing to pay rent has been sentenced to 28 months in prison, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office said Rebecca Violette, aka Rebekah Violette, a 62-year-old Menlo Park resident, posed as a wealthy investor when filling out rental applications, lying about her income and eviction history.

Violette wrote bad checks to cover the first and last months' rent payments. Once she took possession of the property, she refused to pay the rent, forcing the landlords to go through a lengthy and costly process to evict her, the prosecutor's office said.

Violette has been running this scam for the past decade on multiple properties and has already been prosecuted, convicted, and sent to prison for her actions.

She pleaded guilty to three counts of grand larceny, three counts of passing bad checks and one count of attempted grand larceny, the latter charge coming after a potential landlord Googled her name and learned of her previous scams before handing over the property, according to the prosecutor's office.

“Tenants and landlords alike should be cautious. Anyone can fall victim to a well-oiled scheme,” Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a prepared statement. “We encourage landlords to conduct thorough background checks before renting to anyone.”

On June 26, a judge sentenced Violette to two years and four months in prison. She will serve one year in prison, followed by one year and four months of mandatory supervision.

In 2014, Bay Area News Group reported that Violette was sentenced for the same type of fraud to two years and eight months in prison, followed by 16 months of supervised release.