Baltimore, MD asked in Landlord - Tenant for Maryland

Q: I was scammed into renting a house. Now I'm being called a squatter. What do I do now? What rights do I have?

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1 Lawyer Answer

A: That sounds very frustrating. This is actually a fairly common scheme. I imagine someone offered you to rent the house, showed it to you, got you to sign a lease and collected rent. Then, when the real owner showed up, you realized that you were scammed.

Unfortunately, legally speaking, you are kinda up the creek. You don't have a legal right to be there. The LL is free to file a wrongful detainer action and move to evict you. You should try to negotiate with the LL and see if you can transition into a proper lease agreement. However, the LL doesn't have to do it.

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