Security Deposit Not Returned in Delaware: What Can I Do?
This page covers your security deposit when your rental agreement ends in Delaware. It explains the 20-day deadline and the damage list. It also covers what your landlord may take out and what you can get if the landlord breaks the rules.
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A security deposit is any deposit you give your landlord to hold for the term of the rental agreement or part of it. A pet deposit is not a security deposit.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Your landlord may not be entitled to all or part of your security deposit. If so, the landlord must send it to you within 20 days after your rental agreement expires or ends.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Your landlord may use the deposit for real damage you caused. That means damage beyond normal wear and tear (wear from ordinary and reasonable use). It also means damage that painting and ordinary cleaning cannot fix.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Your landlord may also use the deposit for all unpaid rent. That includes late charges. It includes rent due for ending the rental agreement early or for abandonment (leaving it for good).
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If you have a pet deposit, your landlord must first take damage caused by an animal from the pet deposit. If the pet deposit is not enough, the landlord may take the rest from the security deposit.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Give your landlord a forwarding address in writing at or before the end of the rental agreement, and keep a copy. Your landlord sends the deposit to the address in your rental agreement or to that forwarding address.
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If you give no forwarding address, your landlord does not have to give you notice. The landlord still owes you any unused part of the deposit. You must make a claim in writing within 1 year after the rental agreement ends or expires.
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Within 20 days after your rental agreement ends or expires, your landlord must give you a list of the damage. The list must show the estimated repair cost for each item. The landlord must also pay you the difference between the deposit and those costs.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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Your landlord may fail to give you the damage list and payment within 20 days after your rental agreement ends or expires. If so, that counts as the landlord agreeing that no payment for damage is due.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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If you accept a payment sent with the damage list, you agree to the damage the landlord listed. You can avoid that by objecting in writing to the amount held back within 10 days after you receive the payment.
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Your landlord may fail to return the deposit within 20 days after the rental agreement ends or expires. The same applies to the difference between the deposit and the damage list. If so, you are entitled to double the amount kept without a legal right to it. Example: if $400 is wrongly kept, double is $800. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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You may ask in writing where your deposit is kept. Your landlord may not tell you within 20 days. If so, the landlord loses the deposit to you. The landlord must then return the full deposit within 20 days from the effective date of that loss. If not, you are entitled to double the deposit. Example: double a $1,000 deposit is $2,000. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.
✓ Sources checked October 2, 2026
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