Delaware Landlord Tenant Law

Frequently Asked Questions About Delaware Landlord Tenant Law

What is Delaware Landlord Tenant Law?

Delaware Landlord Tenant Law regulates relations between landlords and tenants in the state of Delaware. This is, after all, a curious relationship in which both parties are mutually dependent on each other, but both are vulnerable to the other’s carelessness. Delaware Landlord Tenant Law attempts to make sure each group treats the other fairly by establishing what fair is.

There are two sources for Delaware Landlord Tenant Law. The first and the most important is the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, which applies to both private commercial landlords and to the actions of supplies of subsidized housing rentals. The other source is the Mobile Home Lots and Leases Act.

What does Delaware Landlord Tenant Law say about security deposits?

The amount that your landlord can charge you as a security deposit depends, according to Delaware Landlord Tenant Law, upon the length of your lease. If your lease for one year or more, then your landlord cannot charge you more than one month’s rent as a security deposit.

However, there is not such limit if the lease is for less than one year according to Delaware Landlord Tenant Law. This does lead to the somewhat bizarre legal situation of a landlord charging for more than one month’s rent as a security deposit, and then their tenant staying for more than one year. After the first year of rental is over, according to Delaware Landlord Tenant Law, the landlord must refund the tenant the portion of their security deposit which was in excess of one month’s rent.

Once you pay your landlord your security deposit, they are supposed to put it into an escrow account according to Delaware Landlord Tenant Law. The location of the escrow account must be revealed to you if you inquire, but the landlord may take up to twenty days to tell you the location of the escrow account. Delaware Landlord Tenant Law says that if the landlord does not reveal the location, then they automatically forfeit their rights to the security deposit.

What does Delaware Landlord Tenant Law say about application fees?

Delaware Landlord Tenant Law does allow for landlords to charge their clients an application fee, which is different from a security deposit. An application fees is meant to allow a landlord to determine the credit of a prospective tenant. According to Delaware Landlord Tenant Law, this application fee may not exceed 10% of the monthly rent, and, if the monthly rent is more than $500, then the most than an application fee can be is $50.

What does Delaware Landlord Tenant Law say about evictions?

Quite a bit, of course, but the most important thing to take away is that a landlord who evicts a tenant without a valid court order from the Justices of the Peace is in violation of Delaware Landlord Tenant Law. Before taking court action, a landlord must send the tenant a termination notice, or else they cannot proceed with eviction according to Delaware Landlord Tenant Law.