DelawareSB 292153rd General Assembly (2024–2026)SenateWALLET

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 25 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE LANDLORD-TENANT CODE.

Sponsored By: Stephanie L. Hansen (Democratic)

Signed by Governor

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

Housing plans for renters leaving custody

Beginning six months after enactment, these protections cover rental agreements entered into on or after that effective date. They apply when qualifying state reentry funds pay some or all of a tenant’s rent. Qualifying funds include the Bureau of Community Corrections Special Services Fund and the Justice Reinvestment Fund for Reentry Services. Other state funds qualify when eligibility depends on housing needs after release from correctional custody or state children’s services custody. Before or with the first payment, the payment manager must give the landlord fund rules, contact details, and a model housing plan. Contact details must include a phone number and mailing address. The state health department develops the model with advice from the state Justice Department. Before ending a covered lease under the law’s specified termination rules, landlords must help tenants complete a shelter or housing plan. They must also notify the payment source. If landlords know tenants are under Department of Correction supervision, they must notify that department and local law enforcement. Eviction complaints must explain compliance and include copies of required notices; failure to comply is an unlawful consumer practice. Special termination rules for certain owner-occupied single-room rentals apply only when these new protections do not.

Rent relief when assisted landlords break rules

Beginning six months after enactment, landlords who break the reentry housing-plan or notice rules lose qualifying fund payments for one year. The ban starts the day after the person responsible for payments determines that a violation occurred. Written notices must reach the landlord, each fund, and affected assisted tenants within five days. Affected tenants do not owe the fund-paid share of rent and can stay by paying only their own share. They can instead end the lease immediately. They can also choose an end date 30 to 60 days after the first day of the month following notice. Tenants choosing a later date keep the right to end the lease immediately.

Clearer limits on renters’ legal protections

Beginning six months after enactment, the law clarifies which housing arrangements fall outside Delaware’s Residential Landlord-Tenant Code. Exclusions include institutional housing tied to services, including care from a properly licensed health care provider. School-provided and school-operated student housing, Department of Correction institutions, monasteries, and convents are also excluded. So are member housing run for qualifying fraternal organizations and transient lodging in hotels, motels, and legally defined tourist homes. Residents in excluded arrangements do not receive the Code’s protections for those arrangements. But arrangements created to avoid the Code remain covered, limiting providers’ ability to evade tenant protections. The law leaves existing exclusions in paragraphs four through six unchanged, including the exclusion for certified recovery houses.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Stephanie L. Hansen
Democratic • Senate

Cosponsors

Alonna Berry
Democratic • House
Darius J. Brown
Democratic • Senate
Eric Buckson
Republican • Senate
Daniel Cruce
Democratic • Senate
Daniel B. Short
Republican • House
Mara Gorman
Democratic • House
Gerald W. Hocker
Republican • Senate
Kyra L. Hoffner
Democratic • Senate
Russell Huxtable
Democratic • Senate
Kendra Johnson
Democratic • House
Larry Lambert
Democratic • House
Dave G. Lawson
Republican • Senate
S. Elizabeth Lockman
Democratic • Senate
Spiros Mantzavinos
Democratic • Senate
Eric Morrison
Democratic • House
Trey Paradee
Democratic • Senate
Brian Pettyjohn
Republican • Senate
Marie Pinkney
Democratic • Senate
Nicole Poore
Democratic • Senate
Bryant L. Richardson
Republican • Senate
Ray Seigfried
Democratic • Senate
Claire Snyder-Hall
Democratic • House
David P. Sokola
Democratic • Senate
Laura V. Sturgeon
Democratic • Senate
Bryan Townsend
Democratic • Senate
John "Jack" Walsh
Democratic • Senate
David L. Wilson
Republican • Senate

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 61 • No: 0

House vote • 6/24/2026

Passed (SM required)

Yes: 40 • No: 0

Senate vote • 5/19/2026