Renters' Rights · Security Deposit
Security Deposit Laws in Delaware
The most a landlord can charge, how long they have to return it, and what it costs them to keep your money without cause in Delaware.
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What your landlord can hold, and when it's due back
Enter your rent for the Delaware maximum, plus the return-deadline clock.
Estimate only, based on Delaware's statutory cap. Your lease may set a lower deposit, and local ordinances can be stricter. Not legal advice.
The full rules, with the statute
Every requirement and where it comes from in the code.
Exceptions: Under 25 Del. C. 5514(a)(2), a landlord cannot require a security deposit larger than one month's rent when the rental agreement is for one year or more. For a month-to-month or undefined-term tenancy, there is no cap at the start, but 5514(a)(3) requires the landlord to return any amount over one month's rent as a credit to the tenant once the tenancy has lasted one year (counting any surety bond toward that one-month figure). The limits do not apply to furnished rental units (5514(a)(4)). A pet deposit is allowed on top of the security deposit but cannot exceed one month's rent regardless of the lease length (5514(i)(2)).
Penalties & recent changes
What happens if the landlord keeps your deposit wrongfully.
What Delaware renters get wrong
Delaware caps a residential security deposit at one month's rent when the lease runs for a year or more (25 Del. C. 5514). For a month-to-month tenancy there is no cap at the start, but once the tenancy passes one year the landlord has to credit back anything above one month's rent. Delaware also has a strict escrow rule: the deposit must sit in a separate account at a federally insured bank with an office in the state, and the landlord must tell you where that account is. After you move out, the landlord has 20 days to return the deposit and hand over an itemized list of any damages, and missing that 20-day window counts as admitting no damages are owed. If the landlord wrongfully keeps money past 20 days, you can recover double the amount held back.
Common questions
How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Delaware?
For a lease of one year or more, no more than one month's rent (25 Del. C. 5514(a)(2)). For a month-to-month tenancy the landlord can ask for more up front, but once you have rented for a year the landlord must credit back anything over one month's rent. Furnished units are exempt, and a pet deposit can add up to one more month's rent.
Where does my Delaware landlord have to keep my security deposit?
In a separate escrow account at a federally insured bank that has an office accepting deposits in Delaware, labeled as a security deposits account and kept out of the landlord's business funds. The landlord must tell you where the account is. If the landlord never uses a Delaware escrow account, or ignores your written request for the location for 20 days, the landlord forfeits the deposit to you (25 Del. C. 5514(b), (g)(2)).
How long does a Delaware landlord have to return my deposit?
Twenty days after the lease ends. Within that time the landlord must both return any part of the deposit not owed and give you an itemized list of damages with estimated repair costs (25 Del. C. 5514(e), (f)). If the landlord misses the 20-day deadline for the list, the law treats it as an admission that no payment for damages is due.
What can I do if my Delaware landlord wrongfully keeps my deposit?
You can recover double the amount wrongfully withheld if the landlord fails to return the deposit or the balance within 20 days (25 Del. C. 5514(g)(1)). To protect this right, give the landlord a written forwarding address at or before the end of the lease; without it, the landlord is not bound by the 20-day deadline or the double-damages penalty (5514(h)).
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.