Lawmakers press stiffer penalties for package theft, counterfeit leases and squatting after widespread complaints
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Summary
Delegates introduced several bills raising fines and felony penalties for porch piracy and online‑facilitated squatting, and sought increased victim notifications; proponents said online services sell fake leases and enable repeated occupations, opponents warned of criminalizing victims and urged focus on platform accountability.
A cluster of bills introduced to the House Judiciary Committee would strengthen penalties and court tools for package theft, false lease schemes and squatting after witnesses described repeated incidents that fall into a commercialized fraud network.
Delegate Conaway described multiple bills that together would elevate some package‑theft offenses to felonies (maximums up to five years), increase fines (for example, raising a misdemeanor fine from $15 to $500 for taking but not opening packages), authorize restitution and permit courts to impose stay‑away orders. "What we're trying to do is get people to stop stealing your packages," Conaway said.
Proponents of a related bill, HB 765, urged the committee to criminalize the manufacture and sale of counterfeit leases. Landlords, rehabbers and neighbors testified that online actors sell fake leases and coach would‑be squatters to present forged documents to police, leaving property owners to pursue lengthy wrongful‑detainer actions. "It took about three months to get the squatters out," one rehabber said, adding the occupation cost him roughly $13,000.
Opponents — including the Public Justice Center and the Public Defender — warned the committee the bills risk criminalizing people who were duped into leasing or occupying property and urged focusing enforcement on those who manufacture and sell fake documents and on holding platforms accountable. The Public Justice Center urged the committee to let expedited wrongful‑detainer reforms take effect before adding new criminal penalties.
Separately, Delegate Tolles and others described the Porch Piracy Act as a quality‑of‑life measure supported in other states and said the legislature has repeatedly adjusted posture and enforcement tools. The committee did not vote on any of the bills at the hearing; sponsors signaled openness to amendments addressing mens rea and platform responsibilities.
