Landlord Won't Make Repairs in Delaware: What Can I Do?
This page covers what your Delaware landlord must keep in working order and what you can do if repairs are not made. It explains asking in writing and having the repair done. It also covers holding back rent when water, heat or electricity stops, and ending the lease. Each step that costs you rent or ends your lease carries a risk.
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Delaware law says your landlord must provide a home that does not endanger (put at risk) your health, welfare or safety. This duty lasts at all times while you rent. The home must be fit for the purpose for which it is expressly rented. Your landlord must make all repairs needed to keep the home in good condition. Good means as good as it was, or ought by law or agreement to have been, when your rental began. Electrical, plumbing and other facilities your landlord supplies must be in good working order.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Ask for repairs in writing. Keep a copy and take dated photos. In Delaware, the rule that lets you take repair costs off your rent starts with a written notice to your landlord. So does the rule on ending your lease over a bad condition.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Say your landlord fails to repair or maintain your home. Or the landlord fails to keep it in a sanitary (healthy and clean) condition, as a law, code or your lease requires. You give written notice. If the landlord does not fix it within 30 days from receiving the notice, you may have the necessary work done in a professional manner. If a court later disagrees, you can owe the rent and face eviction. Get legal help first.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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After you give written notice of a repair problem, your landlord has 10 days from receiving it. In that time the landlord must start reasonable corrective measures (steps to fix the problem). Getting an estimate of the cost is one example. If the landlord does not, you may have the necessary work done in a professional manner. If a court later disagrees, you can owe the rent and face eviction. Get legal help first.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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After the repair work is done, you may take a reasonable sum off your rent. The most is $400 or 1/2 of 1 month's rent, whichever is less. You must give your landlord copies of receipts covering at least the sum you take off. Example: with $700 rent, half is $350, so the most is $350. With $1,200 rent, half is $600, so the most is $400. If a court later disagrees, you can owe the rent and face eviction. Get legal help first.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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If you are late paying rent, you may not use Delaware's rule that lets you take repair costs off your rent. You also may not use it for a condition caused by a lack of due care. That covers you, a family member, or another person on the property with your consent.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Say your landlord substantially fails to provide hot water, heat, water or electricity. This lasts 48 hours or more after you give actual or written notice. You may give written notice and keep 2/3 of the per diem (daily) rent for any period the service is not supplied. The landlord may avoid this by showing it was impossible to perform. Example: $900 rent for 30 days is $30 a day, so you keep $20 a day. If a court later disagrees, you can owe the rent and face eviction. Get legal help first.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Your landlord may ask a court for possession (the right to take back the home). The landlord may claim you held back or took off rent without a legal right. If the court agrees, the landlord gets either possession or the amount held back. If the court finds you acted in bad faith, the landlord gets double that amount. Example: $200 held back becomes $400.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Say a condition deprives (takes away from) you a substantial part of the benefit or enjoyment of your bargain. You may notify your landlord in writing. If the landlord does not fix it within 15 days following receipt of the notice, you may end the lease. If you end it without a legal right, you stay bound by the lease. If a court later disagrees, you can owe the rent and face eviction. Get legal help first.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Say a condition makes your home uninhabitable (not fit to live in). Or say it poses an imminent threat to the health, safety or welfare of you or any member of your family. After giving your landlord notice, you may end the lease at once. You do not have to go to Justice of the Peace Court first. If a court later disagrees, you can owe the rent and face eviction. Get legal help first.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Delaware law prohibits retaliation. Retaliation is when your landlord tries to do one of these things. One is to pursue summary possession (a court case to take back the home) or otherwise make you leave against your will. Another is to demand a rent increase. The third is to decrease services you are entitled to. It counts after, for example, you complained in good faith about a building, housing or other code violation to your landlord or a code authority.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Say your landlord pursues summary possession (a court case to take back the home), demands a rent increase, or decreases services. You prove this happened within 90 days of a complaint or act listed in the law. Then the court presumes (treats it as true unless your landlord proves a defense the law lists) that it is retaliation (getting back at you). One defense is seeking in good faith to recover the home for immediate use as the landlord's own residence.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Say your landlord seeks possession of your home or otherwise tries to push you out against your will. This breaks the retaliation law (the law against getting back at you for using your rights). You may recover 3 months' rent or 3 times your losses, whichever is greater. You may also recover the cost of the suit, but not lawyers' fees. Example: with $1,000 rent, 3 months' rent is $3,000. If your losses are $2,000, 3 times that is $6,000, so you recover $6,000. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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