Security Deposit Law
What Delaware landlords must do with security deposits — the cap, interest, return deadline, account rules, and penalties — with citations to the statute itself.
Verified as of June 11, 2026
This page is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change — verify with the cited sources or an attorney.
Deposit cap
1 month's rent for leases of a year or more; furnished units are exempt.
Interest
No interest owed on security deposits in Delaware.
Return deadline
Return the deposit (or the balance with an itemized damage list) within 20 days.
Delaware caps the security deposit at one month's rent where the rental agreement is for 1 year or more, and for month-to-month or undefined-term tenancies once the tenancy has lasted 1 year (any excess must then be immediately credited back to the tenant). The cap does not apply to furnished rental units, and federally-assisted housing follows its own regulations. A separate pet deposit of up to one additional month's rent is allowed.
25 Del. C. § 5514 requires the deposit to be held in escrow but contains no provision requiring landlords to pay or credit interest on residential security deposits.
Within 20 days of the expiration or termination of the rental agreement, the landlord must remit the deposit, or provide an itemized list of damages with estimated repair costs and tender the difference. Failure to send the list within 20 days 'shall constitute an acknowledgment by the landlord that no payment for damages is due.' The tenant has 10 days after receiving the tendered payment to object in writing, otherwise acceptance constitutes agreement on the damages.
Each deposit must be placed in an escrow account at a federally-insured banking institution with an office that accepts deposits in Delaware. The account must be designated as a security deposits account, must not be used in the operation of any business, and the landlord must disclose its location to the tenant.
Failing to remit the deposit or the balance within 20 days entitles the tenant to double the amount wrongfully withheld. Separately, failing to disclose the account location within 20 days of a tenant's written request, or failing to keep the deposit in a qualifying federally-insured institution, forfeits the entire deposit to the tenant — and failing to return the full deposit within 20 days of that forfeiture entitles the tenant to double the deposit.
None identified. Delaware's Residential Landlord-Tenant Code applies statewide; no Delaware municipality maintains its own residential security deposit ordinance comparable to overlays in cities like Seattle or Portland.
The deposit goes in a dedicated escrow account at a federally-insured bank with a Delaware deposit-taking office, and you must tell the tenant where it's held. The tenant's claim to that money is senior to your creditors, even a bankruptcy trustee.
The deposit may only reimburse actual damage beyond normal wear and tear (and beyond what painting and ordinary cleaning fix), cover rent arrears including late charges, and cover reasonable renovating/re-renting expenses from premature termination (capped at one month's rent for § 5314 terminations).
You may take a pet deposit of up to one month's rent regardless of lease length; animal damage must be deducted from the pet deposit first, then the security deposit. No pet deposit may be charged for a duly certified and trained support animal for a disabled resident.
If the tenant fails to give a forwarding address at or before termination, you're relieved of the notice duty and the double-damages exposure, but you still owe the unused deposit if the tenant claims it in writing within 1 year.
If the lease allows it, you may raise the deposit commensurate with rent; if the increase exceeds 10 percent of monthly rent, it must be prorated over the lease term (or over 4 months for month-to-month tenancies).
A tenant may purchase a surety bond in lieu of all or part of the deposit (you don't have to accept it, and you can't require it); the bond plus any deposit can't exceed one month's rent in aggregate, and the same 20-day itemized-list duty applies.
Failure to deposit in a federally-insured institution with a Delaware office forfeits the entire deposit to the tenant; failing to then return it within 20 days doubles it.
The statute treats silence as an admission that no damage payment is due, and withholding past 20 days entitles the tenant to double the amount wrongfully withheld.
Those deductions are outside the statute's permitted purposes, making the withholding wrongful and exposing you to double damages.
After 1 year you must 'immediately return, as a credit to the tenant, any security deposit amount in excess of 1 month's rent' — keeping the excess is wrongful withholding.
The statute flatly prohibits any pet deposit when the animal is a duly certified and trained support animal for a disabled resident; charging one invites a deposit dispute and fair-housing exposure.
At most one month's rent for a lease of one year or more, and the same one-month cap applies to month-to-month or undefined-term tenancies once they've lasted a year (you must credit back any excess at that point). Furnished rental units are exempt from the cap, and you may also collect a separate pet deposit of up to one month's rent.
20 days from the expiration or termination of the rental agreement. If you're keeping any portion, you must send an itemized list of damages with estimated repair costs within those same 20 days and tender the balance.
Yes. It must sit in a designated escrow security-deposits account at a federally-insured bank with an office that accepts deposits in Delaware, it can't be used in your business, and you must tell the tenant where it's held.
The tenant is entitled to double the amount wrongfully withheld. Separately, commingling the deposit or refusing to disclose the account's location within 20 days of a written request forfeits the entire deposit — and failing to return it within 20 days after that doubles it.
No. Delaware's security deposit statute requires escrow but does not require landlords to pay interest on residential security deposits.
Only three things: actual damage beyond normal wear and tear (or that painting and ordinary cleaning won't fix), rent arrears including late charges, and reasonable renovating and re-renting expenses caused by the tenant's premature termination. Pet damage comes out of the pet deposit first.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change — verify with the cited sources or an attorney.
Statute facts on this page were verified against the cited official sources on June 11, 2026.
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