From what you have written, it seems as though the landlord was the former owner of the home that you are renting who improperly entered into a lease with you for the premises when he was no longer on legal title to the property.If that is the situation where the unit you are renting is bank owned property and has always been bank owned property while you occupied it, you have a basis for a lawsuit against the former owner (landlord) for fraud.The former owner if he had no legal title to the unit you rented had no legal basis for entering into a written or oral contract with you to lease the premises. Possibly your recourse would be in small claims court to get back the rents you paid to the former owner which should have gone to the bank.