Baltimore contractor known as Squatter King profits from eviction gaps

Baltimore-area property owners who find themselves locked out are turning to Sanchez Deandre Lewis, the contractor known as Mikey, and his WolfPack crew as Maryland’s eviction system moves slowly. WBFF FOX45 identified Lewis in a July 22 video package and said owners call him after they are already locked out, leaving them with few fast options.

Lewis said unauthorized occupants have stopped renovation projects, presented leases that owners and property managers do not recognize, and blocked crews from entering houses they were hired to clean or repair. FOX45 described the approach as pressure rather than physical removal, a sign of how far some owners will go when a property is tied up in a dispute and work on the building cannot proceed.

Maryland law gives those owners little legal room to act on their own. The Maryland People’s Law Library says a guest or squatter who refuses to leave generally has to be removed through the legal process. Maryland District Court began collecting eviction-case data required by state law on Jan. 1, 2023, and launched a public dashboard in May 2023, showing how formal the process has become even as landlords say it remains slow.

For tenants, the state has added protections. Maryland Courts say qualifying tenants may receive free legal help through the Access to Counsel in Evictions program, and the Department of Housing and Community Development said Maryland’s first statewide Tenants’ Bill of Rights took effect Oct. 1, 2025 and must be attached to every residential lease. Those rules matter in Baltimore, where a disputed possession case can freeze a home, delay repairs and leave a block with another vacant-looking property in limbo.

The policy fight over squatters intensified in Annapolis last year. Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office assistant sheriff Nicholas T.R. Blendy testified on Feb. 25, 2025 in support of SB 989, the Real Property - Unauthorized Occupants - Sheriff’s Property Registry and Removal bill. A WUSA9 segment posted April 18, 2025 said Sen. Ron Watson’s bill to speed eviction processes for wrongfully detained properties had passed, while WBFF reported that Maryland lawmakers advanced legislation targeting squatters and fraudulent leases.

Baltimore City also has its own enforcement machinery in view of the problem, including a public eviction-status page from the Sheriff’s Office. In a city where owners say renovations can stall and legal tenants can get caught in disputes over who belongs inside, private operators like Lewis have found a market in the gap between a complaint and a court order.