Rental Fraud Suspects Plead Guilty, Ordered to Pay Approximately $60,000 in Restitution

The two suspects who are accused of out of nearly $59,000 in unpaid rent since 2008 plead guilty on March 1.

Timothy August, 35, of San Jose plead guilty to 17 felonies including second degree burglary, grand theft, passing bad checks, and extortion. His co-defendant Monica Perretta, 31, of San Jose also plead guilty to five counts of felony grand theft.

According to a release, August and Perretta will be sentenced on April 3 at 9:00 a.m. at the Santa Clara County Superior Court. August to one year in jail followed by five years of probation and Perretta to one year in jail followed by three years of probation. 

The two are ordered to pay approximately $60,000 in restitution to all five of the defrauded landlords and three former housemates as part of their probation conditions. 

"I’m glad the defrauded landlords brought this case to our attention," said Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Victor Chen of the Major Fraud Unit in a release. "The defendants would never have stopped on their own.”

The two suspects have been allegedly swindling landlords for five rental properties in Campbell, San Jose and Morgan Hill out of rent.

It was after the district attorney's office was tipped off by Campbell landlord Patrick Mallory that the various fraud cases began to show a connection.

According to Chen, the couple would start off by renting a home with a monthly rent of between $2,000 and $2,600. They would secure a rental agreement, usually a one-year lease, by providing fraudulent W-2s and credit reports, and stay there for about four to six months without paying rent.

From there, Chen said the two would give the homeowner a personal check for first month's rent and the security deposit. This check would bounce, then the two would stall until the landlord would begin the eviction process.

However, as soon as the landlord began this process, the DAs Office stated in a release, one of the suspects would then file for bankruptcy to stay the eviction, usually tacking on another six to eight weeks of unpaid rent.

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