Delaware tenant screening & landlord laws

Delaware law treats a "fee to determine the tenant's credit worthiness" as an application fee, capped at the greater of 10% of the monthly rent or $50 (25 Del. C. § 5514(d)). The landlord must provide a receipt and keep application-fee records for at least two years; overcharging generally entitles the tenant to double damages.

Delaware law does not specifically regulate the use of criminal history in tenant screening. Neither Title 25 (Landlord-Tenant Code) nor Title 6, Chapter 46 (Delaware Fair Housing Act) lists criminal history as a protected class or otherwise limits its use in screening. As in other states, a blanket criminal-history ban could still raise a federal Fair Housing Act disparate-impact concern.

Delaware protects "source of income" as its own class under both the Delaware Fair Housing Act, 6 Del. C. § 4602(29) and § 4603 and the parallel fair housing provisions of the Landlord-Tenant Code, 25 Del. C. § 5116 — broader than federal law, which does not cover source of income at all. Delaware's protection comes with notable carve-outs: a landlord is generally not required to participate in any government-sponsored rental-assistance, voucher, or certificate program, and nonparticipation cannot itself be the basis of a discrimination claim; a landlord participating in such a program may still reserve units for qualifying tenants; and a landlord may still consider income sufficiency/sustainability and credit rating so long as that is applied in a "commercially reasonable manner and without regard to source of income."

Delaware tenant screening is governed at baseline by the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, including the FCRA §615 adverse-action-notice requirement when a landlord denies an applicant based on a consumer report. Delaware has no state-specific addition to that federal adverse-action requirement. Separately, Delaware requires landlords (or real estate service providers) to give prospective tenants a statutory rights-and-responsibilities guide before they sign a rental agreement and obtain acknowledgment of receipt (25 Del. C. § 5124) — a general tenant-rights disclosure, not a screening-specific authorization requirement.

Delaware generally caps security deposits at one month's rent for tenancies of one year or more (25 Del. C. § 5514); this cap does not apply to furnished units, and for month-to-month or undefined-term tenancies the cap applies only after the tenancy has lasted a year (any excess collected during that first year must be credited back once the cap kicks in). Deposits must generally be held in an escrow account at a federally-insured institution. Within 20 days after termination or expiration, the landlord must generally return the deposit or provide an itemized list of damages and pay the difference; failing to do so generally forfeits the landlord's right to withhold anything, and wrongful withholding can generally result in double damages. Pet deposits are separately capped at one month's rent. Tenants may alternatively be offered (but cannot be required to buy) a surety bond in lieu of part or all of the deposit, capped on the same one-month basis (25 Del. C. § 5514A).

Delaware does not have a general statewide rent-control law or a broad "just cause" eviction statute (Title 25 Chapters 51, 55, and 57). Instead, Delaware relies on notice-period and anti-retaliation rules: for month-to-month tenancies either party generally must give 60 days' written notice to terminate, and for fixed terms of a year or more a landlord generally must give 60 days' notice before the term ends to avoid automatic renewal on a month-to-month basis (25 Del. C. §§ 5106–5108). Retaliatory evictions (e.g., after a tenant reports a code violation) are generally prohibited (25 Del. C. § 5516). Since July 1, 2024, Delaware also generally requires landlords to participate in a court-run eviction diversion (mediation) program before a summary-possession hearing can proceed (25 Del. C. § 5702A), with limited exceptions (e.g., alleged substantial/irreparable harm). Delaware has no statewide restriction on reporting eviction case outcomes in tenant screening independent of ordinary court-record rules.

For Wilmington, confirm current city code requirements for registration, licensing, and inspection of residential rental properties, as well as any tenant-screening, criminal-history, or source-of-income rules. Confirm any local tenant-screening rules in Dover and Newark before finalizing a policy. Delaware is organized into 3 counties (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex) alongside incorporated cities and towns; confirm any applicable county rules before relying on a California-style unincorporated-county model.

Does Delaware cap rental application/screening fees? Yes — generally the greater of 10% of monthly rent or $50, with a required receipt.

Is source of income a protected class in Delaware? Yes, under both the Delaware Fair Housing Act and the Landlord-Tenant Code, though landlords are not required to accept vouchers and may still weigh income sufficiency and credit.

How much can a Delaware landlord charge for a security deposit? Generally one month's rent for tenancies of a year or more (furnished units are exempt from this cap).

Does Delaware have rent control or just-cause eviction protection? No; Delaware instead relies on notice-period requirements, anti-retaliation protections, and a mandatory eviction diversion program.

Checkr can help Delaware landlords and property managers run FCRA-compliant tenant screening while keeping Delaware's application-fee cap, source-of-income protections, and security-deposit rules in mind. Get started at tenant.checkr.com/signup to build a screening workflow suited to your properties.

The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.