What a Landlord Cannot Do in Delaware
The main limits Delaware law puts on landlords — lockouts and utility shutoffs, entering without notice, retaliation, deposits, fees and discrimination — each with the statute or official source.
In short: a Delaware landlord cannot evict without a court order, cannot punish a tenant for asserting legal rights where state law protects them, and must follow the state's rules on entry, deposits and fees shown below.
| Lockouts & utility shutoffs | Without a valid court order, a landlord may not oust or exclude the tenant. Tenant may recover possession or terminate, and recover the greater of treble damages or 3 times per diem rent for the exclusion period, plus costs (not attorney fees). Landlord may not shut off utility service for nonpayment of rent or utility charges or for any other breach. Re-verified 2026-10-27. Source: 25 Del. C. §§ 5313, 5312(e) |
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| Landlord entry notice | At least 48 hours' notice, entry only between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., except for tenant-requested repairs. Emergency entry allowed at any time. Tenant may waive the 48-hour notice only for showings to prospective tenants or buyers, in a signed addendum. Landlord may not abuse access or use it to harass. Re-verified 2026-10-27. Source: 25 Del. C. § 5509 |
| Landlord retaliation | Landlord may not seek possession, force the tenant out, raise rent, or cut services after the tenant in good faith complains of a code violation, a government agency cites a violation, the tenant organizes or leads a tenant organization, or the tenant pursues a legal remedy. Rebuttable presumption if the adverse action is within 90 days. Tenant recovers the greater of 3 months' rent or treble damages, plus costs (not attorney fees). § 5516(d) lists 12 defenses (e.g., good-faith owner occupancy, demolition). Re-verified 2026-10-27. Source: 25 Del. C. § 5516 |
| Security deposit limit | 1 month's rent for leases of 1 year or more, and for month-to-month tenancies once they have lasted 1 year (excess must be credited back). No cap for furnished units or for the first year of a month-to-month tenancy. A separate pet deposit of up to 1 month's rent is allowed (none for a support animal). Tenant may offer a surety bond instead of all or part of the deposit; landlord need not accept; bond plus deposit cannot exceed 1 month's rent (§ 5514A). Deposit must be held in a federally insured escrow account at a bank with a Delaware office (§ 5514(b)). Re-verified 2026-10-27. Source: 25 Del. C. § 5514(a), (i) |
| Penalty for withholding | Double the amount wrongfully withheld if not returned within 20 days. Failure to disclose the escrow account location within 20 days of written request, or using a non-compliant bank, forfeits the deposit to the tenant (double if not then returned within 20 days). Re-verified 2026-10-27. Source: 25 Del. C. § 5514(g) |
| Late fees | Capped at 5% of the monthly rent, and cannot be charged until rent is more than 5 days late. If the landlord has no office in the county where rent can be paid, the due date is extended 3 days. Re-verified 2026-10-27. Source: 25 Del. C. § 5501(d) |
| Rent control / increase limits | No rent control or rent-increase cap in the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code. Rent increases take effect at renewal with 60 days' written notice. Manufactured-home lot rent is governed separately (25 Del. C. Re-verified 2026-10-27. Source: 25 Del. C. §§ 5106, 5107 |
| Statewide ban on refusing Section 8 / source of income | Yes. Statewide ban on refusing to rent, or renting on different terms, because of source of income, defined to include any lawful income and rental payments from any government or private assistance program (covers housing vouchers). Landlords may still apply income-sufficiency and credit criteria in a commercially reasonable way without regard to source. A landlord may deny an application if a public housing authority fails to follow the standardized voucher tenancy-approval sequence. § 5116 (Title 25) at https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c051/sc01/index.html. Owner-occupied buildings of 4 or fewer units are largely exempt from § 4603 (§ 4607(e)); § 4607 has versions effective until and after Dec. 31, 2028. Re-verified 2026-10-27. |
| Cameras & privacy | No landlord-specific statute, but Delaware's privacy law applies directly: it is a crime to install, in any private place, a device for observing, photographing or recording sounds or events without the consent of the persons entitled to privacy there, or to use a device outside a private place to pick up sounds from inside that would not ordinarily be audible. Recording people undressing where they expect privacy, and intercepting private communications without consent, are also crimes. A tenant is the person entitled to privacy in the rented unit, so a landlord may not install recording devices inside it without the tenant's consent. The landlord must give at least 48 hours' notice before entering (except tenant-requested repairs), may enter only 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., and may not use access to harass (§ 5509(b)). Re-verified 2026-10-27. |
| Other rental fees | A landlord may not charge any nonrefundable fee as a condition of occupancy, except optional fees for actual services (e.g., pool or tennis court fee). Late charges are capped at 5% of monthly rent and cannot be imposed until rent is more than 5 days late; if the landlord has no in-county office for payment, the due date is extended 3 days. Cash rent payments require a receipt within 15 days. § 5501 is in chapter 55: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c055/index.html. No total-cost-of-rent or online-payment-fee statute found. Re-verified 2026-10-27. Source: 25 Del. C. §§ 5311, 5501(d)-(e) |
Can I sue my landlord in Delaware? · All Delaware tenant rights
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.