My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Maryland
I currently live in a house owned by my parents, and to help them out I keep roommates. The basement of the house is a separate area also for rent. Currently I have 2 roommates, and the tenant in the basement moved out recently.
One of my roommates has been asking about the basement for sometime but never with certainty. Once the basement tenant moved out my roommate would spend more and more time in the basement under the excuse of "waiting for laundry" (the W/D are in the basement). She then proposed that instead of the $675 rent for the basement, she would accept the 1 year basement lease for $600/month.
My mother agreed to the offer but the roommate would keep going back and forth on whether she wanted the basement apartment or not. Then one day she said she wanted it but didn't offer any deposit or rent, saying she would have it soon. Then one day I opened the basement apartment to show it to an interested tenant and she was in the basement, in bed with her boyfriend. The interested tenant left saying that she can't see a place with someone still living in it and I was left without any other prospects.
I asked my roommate if she is ready to agree to the lease and pay the security deposit and she said yes. I drew up a lease and I signed on behalf of my mom, and she signed also. I then asked for the deposit and rent and she said she didn't have the money at the moment and she would give it to me in a few hours. I then told her that the lease is invalid if the deposit and rent haven't been paid and she said ok. She went outside and then came back and I asked her if she had the money and she said she didn't and she would give it to me tmw.
The next day she she seemed unsure again and said that if she moves into the basement she wants the remainder of the rent for the room she is occupying currently returned since it was in the middle of the month. I said no, and then she gave me the deposit and rent for the basement. I felt very uneasy about this so I called my mom and she said that she didn't want to give it to her. I returned her money right away.
Since then she has been persistently demanding that she has a right to move in to the basement since she signed the lease and paid within 24 hrs. I keep insisting that since she didn't pay at the time of the signing that lease is not valid.
Am I bound by this lease?

