Where Delaware landlord-tenant law comes from
Delaware landlord-tenant law sits in Title 25 of the Delaware Code, Part III, the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code. Chapter 51 covers general rules and notices, Chapter 55 covers rent, deposits, entry and tenant obligations, and Chapter 57 sets the summary possession process used to evict.
Eviction cases are heard in the Justice of the Peace Court, which runs a residential eviction diversion program that nearly every residential case must pass through before trial.
Delaware landlord-tenant rules at a glance
The table sets out the rules as of October 2026.
| Rule | Delaware requirement | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ending a month-to-month tenancy | 60 days’ written notice, counted from the first of the month after notice | 25 Del. C. 5106(d) |
| Ending a fixed-term lease | Landlord gives 60 days’ written notice before the term ends | 5106(c) |
| Rent increase at renewal | 60 days’ written notice before the lease expires | 5107(a) |
| Nonpayment of rent | Written demand giving at least 7 days to pay before filing | 5502 |
| Security deposit cap | One month’s rent on leases of a year or more; furnished units exempt | 5514 |
| Deposit return | Within 20 days after the tenancy ends, with an itemized list | 5514(e), (f) |
| Late fees | Up to 5% of monthly rent, only after rent is more than 5 days late | 5501(d) |
| Entry notice | 48 hours; between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. | 5509 |
How much notice does a landlord have to give in Delaware?
Sixty days for most apartment tenancies. A month-to-month tenancy ends on 60 days’ written notice from either side, and the 60 days start on the first day of the month after the tenant actually receives the notice. A notice handed over on March 10 therefore starts running on April 1, so the tenancy cannot end before the end of May.
For a fixed-term lease, you must give 60 days’ written notice before the end date if you do not plan to renew. If neither side gives notice at least 60 days before a lease of a year or more ends, it rolls into a month-to-month tenancy under section 5108.
To raise rent or change the deposit at renewal, section 5107 requires 60 days’ written notice before the lease expires, stating the new amounts and when they start. The tenant then has until 45 days before the end of the term to say they are leaving; otherwise the new terms are treated as accepted.
For a broken lease rule other than rent, section 5513 requires written notice and at least 7 days to fix the problem before you can file, except where the tenant’s conduct causes irreparable harm or involves certain criminal convictions.
Security deposits in Delaware
The deposit on an unfurnished apartment is capped at one month’s rent when the lease runs a year or longer. On a month-to-month tenancy the cap applies once the tenant has stayed a year, and any excess must be credited back. You may also take a separate pet deposit of up to one month’s rent.
Section 5514(b) requires the money to sit in an escrow account at a federally insured institution with an office in Delaware that accepts deposits. If you fail to say where the account is within 20 days of a written request, or use a bank that does not qualify, the tenant gets the whole deposit.
Return the deposit, less any damages, within 20 days after the tenancy ends, with an itemized list of deductions. A landlord who misses the deadline owes double the amount wrongfully withheld.
- A surety bond can be offered in place of part of a deposit, but bond plus deposit cannot exceed one month’s rent and you cannot require a bond instead of a deposit.
- Application fees are limited to the greater of 10% of monthly rent or $50.
- If a deposit increase at renewal is more than 10% of monthly rent, the tenant can pay it over the lease term, or over four months on a month-to-month.
Late fees and entry rules
A late fee in Delaware cannot exceed 5% of the monthly rent, and you cannot charge it until the rent is more than five days late. If you do not keep an office in the county where tenants can pay in person, the grace period stretches by another three days.
You need to give 48 hours’ notice before entering an occupied unit, and routine entry must be between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. The notice rule does not apply to emergencies or to repairs the tenant asked for. Only prospective tenants or buyers can waive it, in a signed document, which matters when you are showing units to a buyer during a sale.
The eviction process in Delaware
Delaware evictions are called summary possession actions and are filed in the Justice of the Peace Court in the county where the building sits. The steps for a nonpayment case run as follows.
- Serve a written demand for the past-due rent giving the tenant at least seven days to pay. If the tenant pays in full before you file, you cannot sue on that nonpayment.
- File the complaint. You must document compliance with the lead-based paint rules in Chapter 54, unless the case is about refused access.
- Serve the complaint and hearing notice at least 5 and no more than 30 days before the hearing.
- Mediate. Under section 5702A, trial cannot begin until the landlord has gone through the court’s eviction diversion mediation, finished at least 48 hours before trial, unless the tenant does not engage within 15 days of service.
- Trial. Continuances are limited to 10 days unless both sides agree, and either side can ask for a six-person jury.
- Appeal window. Either side has 5 days after judgment to ask for a new trial before a panel of three justices of the peace, who decide within 15 days.
- Writ of possession. It issues once the appeal period ends, and the constable must give at least 24 hours’ notice before carrying out the eviction between sunrise and sunset.
The 2026 right of redemption
Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 116, signed August 18, 2026 and in effect from September 1, 2026, changed nonpayment cases in three ways. It lengthened the pay-or-file demand from five days to seven, it ended the landlord’s option to terminate the lease for nonpayment instead of filing, and it added a right of redemption in new section 5716A.
Redemption lets a tenant stop an eviction based only on nonpayment by paying everything owed: past-due rent, any rent that has come due since, and court-awarded costs and fees. The tenant can pay at any stage, up to the moment the eviction is carried out. If you have not yet won a judgment you must withdraw the case; if you have, the court vacates it and cancels the writ. Partial payments do not count, and a tenant who has had two or more nonpayment judgments in the 18 months before the case began cannot use it; a judgment vacated through redemption still counts toward that limit.
You can limit how tenants pay to the methods in the lease, and after judgment you can insist on a certified check or money order. Because a tenant can redeem right up to the eviction, keep your ledger current and be ready to state the full amount owed on short notice.
Is there rent control in Delaware?
No. Delaware has no statewide rent control or rent cap on apartments, and the Landlord-Tenant Code limits how you raise rent, through the 60-day renewal notice, not how much. House Bill 455, which would have capped renewal increases at 5% statewide for ten years, died in the House Housing Committee when the 2023-2024 session ended.
Manufactured home lot rents are handled under a separate chapter of Title 25 and are not covered here. Rent-limit proposals return in most sessions, so check the current General Assembly before you plan a large increase.
Selling a Delaware building with tenants in place
As a rule, leases stay in force when you sell. The buyer takes the building subject to every current lease and steps into your position as landlord, so tenants keep their rent, term and renewal rights.
The deposit rules do not spell out how deposits move at closing, which makes the contract and closing statement the place to handle it. Transfer the deposits, and the escrow account records, to the buyer at settlement and give each tenant written notice of the new owner and where the deposit is now held. If any tenant has a surety bond, section 5514A(j) says the new landlord must accept it and cannot demand an extra deposit during the current lease term.
The Code also requires leases to name the owner or a resident agent, so new leases signed after closing should carry the buyer’s details. Give the buyer a rent roll, copies of every lease, the deposit ledger and a list of any open summary possession cases.
Other Delaware rules apartment owners should know
Several smaller requirements trip up owners who self-manage.
- Before signing a lease, give prospective tenants the state’s landlord-tenant rights and responsibilities guide and get a signed or electronic acknowledgment; give it again at each renewal of a year or more (section 5124).
- If your lease ties the deposit refund to returning keys, it must set out a clear key-return procedure and cannot require keys back before the lease ends (section 5125).
- Source of income is a protected class under section 5116, though you can still screen for income and credit in a commercially reasonable way.
- Further amendments to the Code, including changes to which arrangements it covers, take effect March 8, 2027.
Selling a Delaware apartment building
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Delaware, occupied or not, including buildings with arrears or open cases in the Justice of the Peace Court. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. We take over the leases and deposits as they stand.
For the taxes on a sale, see Delaware capital gains tax on real estate and our page on the 1031 exchange in Delaware. For carrying costs, see the property tax rate in Delaware.
