Delaware · Security Deposit Form Guide

Free Delaware Security Deposit Itemization Statement

Build a compliant Delaware itemized statement of deductions under 25 Del. C. 5514. List each item of damage and its estimated repair cost, let the generator subtract the total from the deposit, and deliver the itemized list within 20 days of move-out, or the deduction right is treated as waived and the tenant can recover double the amount wrongfully withheld.

25 Del. C. 5514 20-day deadline Double damages Auto-calc PDF

A Delaware security deposit itemization is the written, line-by-line accounting a landlord prepares at the end of a tenancy that lists each item of damage, the estimated cost of repairing it, the total of those deductions, and the resulting refund or balance. Under 25 Del. C. 5514, within twenty days after the rental agreement terminates or expires the landlord must give the tenant an itemized list of damages with the estimated repair cost for each item and tender the difference between the deposit and those costs. Miss that deadline and the statute treats it as an acknowledgment that no damages are due, and a landlord who wrongfully withholds owes the tenant double the amount kept. Our Delaware security deposit laws guide covers the wider framework, and the tenant screening laws by state hub helps you place tenants who leave the unit in good condition in the first place.

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Video: a plain-language walkthrough of the Delaware deposit itemization – the 20-day itemized-list deadline, the acknowledgment consequence of missing it, and the double-damages penalty.

Key Takeaways: Delaware Deposit Itemization

• Twenty days, one deadline. Within 20 days of the rental agreement ending, the landlord must deliver an itemized list of damages with the estimated repair cost for each item and tender the balance of the deposit.
• Miss it and the deductions are waived. Failing to provide the itemized list within 20 days is treated as an acknowledgment that no payment for damages is due.
• Wrongful withholding costs double. A landlord who fails to remit the deposit or the difference within 20 days owes the tenant double the amount wrongfully withheld.
• One month’s rent is the deposit cap. On a lease of a year or more the deposit may not exceed one month’s rent, and the deposit must sit in a Delaware escrow account.

Generate Your Delaware Itemization Statement

Complete the form below to build an itemized statement of deductions ready to print, sign, and mail with your refund. Enter the deposit, add any interest or credit owed to the tenant, itemize each deduction with a specific description and its estimated repair cost, and the generator subtracts the total deductions from the deposit and shows either the refund due to the tenant or the balance owed by the tenant when the deductions run higher. Because Delaware’s core statutory duty is the 25 Del. C. 5514 itemized list of damages, the document lays out each line item, the total, and the resulting figure so the twenty-day duty is met on its face. Every figure you enter flows straight into the statement, and the math updates as you type.

Delaware’s Distinctive Deposit Itemization Framework

Delaware’s deposit rules are built around a single, strict deadline and a documentation duty rather than the branching notice procedures some states use. The governing statute is 25 Del. C. 5514, the security-deposit section of the Delaware Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, and its structure rewards a landlord who moves quickly and documents thoroughly. There is one clock, and it runs from the day the tenancy ends: within twenty days the landlord must both account for any damage in an itemized written list and hand back the balance of the deposit. The elegance of the Delaware rule is also its trap, because the twenty-day duty and the penalty for missing it are unusually blunt. The itemization statement is the instrument that carries the whole duty, because it is the itemized list of damages itself.

The itemized list is the heart of the statute. It is not enough to keep part of the deposit and mail a check; the landlord must state, item by item, what was damaged and the estimated cost of repairing each item, then tender the difference between the deposit and those costs. If the landlord makes no claim, the same twenty-day window applies to returning the full deposit, and the itemization simply records a zero-deduction accounting. The generator above produces the correct statement for either path, and the sections below walk through the deadline, the itemized-list requirement, the double-damages penalty, the deposit cap, and the escrow-account rule that together define Delaware’s approach.

What the Itemization Statement Does

The itemization statement is the document that proves the landlord did what 25 Del. C. 5514 requires. When no claim is made, the statement records that the full deposit was returned within the twenty-day window with no deductions taken. When a claim is made, the statement carries the statutory itemized list: it must describe each item of damage, state the estimated cost of repairing it, total the deductions, and show the resulting figure so the tenant can see exactly how the deposit was applied. It is a companion to, and often the enclosure inside, a Delaware security deposit return letter: the letter transmits, the itemization accounts.

The document does three things at once. It satisfies the statutory duty to give the tenant an itemized accounting within twenty days. It gives the tenant a concrete, line-by-line record to review and, if warranted, to challenge. And it creates a dated, provably delivered record that answers a later double-damages claim, because 25 Del. C. 5514(g)(1) lets a tenant recover twice the amount wrongfully withheld, and a well-documented itemization is the landlord’s best defense against that exposure. The math on the statement is the landlord’s contemporaneous position on what the deposit covered and what, if anything, remains due either way.

The 20-Day Itemized List and Balance

Under 25 Del. C. 5514(f), within twenty days after the termination or expiration of any rental agreement, the landlord must provide the tenant with an itemized list of damages to the premises and the estimated cost of repair for each, and must tender payment for the difference between the security deposit and those repair costs. The clock runs from the date the tenancy ends and possession is surrendered, not from the date the tenant provides a forwarding address, so a landlord who waits for an address before preparing the accounting can run out of time before the address ever arrives. If the landlord is keeping nothing, the full deposit is likewise due within the same twenty days, and the itemization records a no-deduction return.

The Acknowledgment Consequence of Missing the Deadline

Delaware attaches a distinctive consequence to a late itemized list. Under 25 Del. C. 5514(f), if the landlord fails to provide the itemized list within twenty days, that failure constitutes an acknowledgment by the landlord that no payment for damages is due. In other words, blowing the deadline does not merely delay the deductions; it waives them. A landlord who had a legitimate repair claim but missed the twenty-day window is treated by the statute as having conceded that nothing is owed for damage, and the full deposit must go back. This is why the value of an itemization is inseparable from its timing: a perfect accounting delivered on day twenty-one carries no legal weight against the deposit.

The Double-Damages Penalty

The double-damages rule is what gives the twenty-day deadline its teeth. Under 25 Del. C. 5514(g)(1), failure to remit the security deposit, or the difference between the deposit and the amount set forth in the list of damages, within twenty days from the expiration or termination of the rental agreement entitles the tenant to double the amount wrongfully withheld. The penalty is measured against the amount wrongfully withheld rather than the entire deposit, but in practice a landlord who misses the deadline can be ordered to return the whole deposit and then pay twice the sum that was improperly kept. Combined with the acknowledgment rule, a careless or undocumented withholding in Delaware can be costly, and the itemization is the record that separates a defensible deduction from a wrongful one.

The One-Month Deposit Cap and the Escrow Account

Delaware also regulates the front end of the deposit. Under 25 Del. C. 5514(a), a landlord may not require a security deposit greater than one month’s rent where the rental agreement is for one year or more. On a month-to-month tenancy or a tenancy of undefined term, once the tenancy has lasted one year the landlord must immediately return, as a credit to the tenant, any deposit amount over one month’s rent. A separate pet deposit is permitted and is likewise capped at one month’s rent under 25 Del. C. 5514(i). The statute also requires the landlord to hold each deposit in an escrow bank account in a federally insured banking institution with an office that accepts deposits within Delaware, and to disclose that account’s location to the tenant, so commingling the deposit with the landlord’s own money is itself a violation. An itemization that starts from an unlawfully large deposit inherits that defect, so confirm the deposit was lawful before you apply deductions against it.

Wear and Tear Versus Damage

Delaware limits deductions to actual damage beyond ordinary wear and tear. Ordinary deterioration from normal, expected use is not deductible: faded paint, minor carpet wear in walking paths, small scuff marks near door handles, and minor nail holes from hanging pictures fall on the wear-and-tear side. Damage is harm beyond ordinary use – large holes in walls, carpet stains or burns, broken fixtures, pet urine damage, smoke damage, missing items, or deliberate alterations. Only damage is deductible, and it must appear on the itemized list with an estimated repair cost. The move-in and move-out condition records and dated photographs are the evidence that separates one from the other, which is why a thorough Delaware move-in and move-out checklist is the upstream document that makes a defensible itemization possible.

How the Auto-Calculation Works

The generator treats the itemization as a simple ledger. It starts with the deposit plus any interest or credit owed to the tenant, sums the itemized deductions across the eight line items, and subtracts one from the other. When the deposit plus credit exceeds the deductions, the statement reports a refund due to the tenant. When the deductions exactly equal the deposit plus credit, it reports a zero balance. And when the deductions exceed the deposit plus credit, it reports an additional balance owed by the tenant rather than a refund. Consider a deposit of one thousand five hundred dollars with twenty-two dollars and fifty cents of credit, against deductions of nine hundred fifty dollars, two hundred eighty dollars, and one hundred twenty dollars: the total deductions are one thousand three hundred fifty dollars, and the refund is one hundred seventy-two dollars and fifty cents. Reverse the weight – a deposit of eight hundred dollars against deductions of six hundred dollars and four hundred fifty dollars – and the tenant instead owes two hundred fifty dollars, which the landlord must pursue as a separate money claim rather than by holding a deposit that is already spent.

What to Send With the Itemization

A complete deposit-disposition package usually includes:

• The itemization statement with the itemized list – generated above, signed and dated.
• The refund check – for the calculated balance, if any.
• The estimated cost of repair for each item – specific enough that the tenant can evaluate it.
• The move-in and move-out condition records – they establish baseline condition against end-of-tenancy condition.
• Dated move-out photographs – paired with the condition record.
• A copy of the lease – for any deposit provisions it contains.

Mail the package to the last known or forwarding address, keep proof of the mailing date against the twenty-day clock, and retain copies of everything for at least five years.

Delaware Deadline and Consequence Reference

Always confirm the current statute text before you finalize an itemization, because the General Assembly has amended the deposit provisions over time; verify against the primary source at the Delaware Code, 25 Del. C. 5514.

Party Rights and Remedies

The itemization is where the landlord’s and the tenant’s rights meet, and 25 Del. C. 5514 gives each side a defined role. The landlord’s right is to deduct the documented cost of repairing actual damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, but only if that right is exercised through a timely itemized list. The tenant’s right is to receive that itemized list and the balance within twenty days, to review each line item, and to recover double the amount wrongfully withheld when the landlord keeps money it cannot justify or misses the deadline. Neither right exists in the abstract; both are triggered and shaped by the itemization document and its timing.

For the tenant, the double-damages remedy under 25 Del. C. 5514(g)(1) is the enforcement lever. A tenant who receives no itemization, or an itemization that pads deductions with wear and tear or undocumented charges, can pursue the wrongfully withheld amount and double it. Because the penalty attaches to the amount wrongfully withheld and not the whole deposit, a partly-justified deduction limits the exposure to the unjustified portion, which is exactly why a careful, receipt-backed itemization protects the landlord: it shrinks the pool of money a court could find was wrongfully withheld. A tenant who disputes an itemization should do so in writing, keep a copy, and preserve the tenant’s own move-out photographs.

For the landlord, the corresponding right is to have a timely, documented itemization treated as the good-faith accounting it is. A landlord who itemizes within twenty days, ties each deduction to a specific item of damage and an estimated repair cost, and keeps the receipts has met the statute on its face and has a strong answer to a double-damages claim. The remedy the statute withholds from a careless landlord – the deduction itself – is preserved for the careful one. The screening decision that put a reliable tenant in the unit is the upstream control that keeps most itemizations short, and our overview of how to screen tenants step by step walks through it.

Common Landlord Mistakes in Delaware

The most-litigated Delaware deposit disputes share a short list of errors:

• Sending a refund check without the required itemized list of damages and estimated repair costs.
• Missing the twenty-day deadline and thereby acknowledging that no payment for damages is due.
• Withholding an amount that cannot be documented, exposing the landlord to double the sum wrongfully withheld.
• Starting the clock from the forwarding-address date rather than the date the tenancy ended.
• Charging normal wear and tear, which Delaware does not allow, against the deposit.
• Commingling the deposit instead of holding it in the required Delaware escrow account.
• Requiring a deposit larger than one month’s rent on a lease of a year or more, which taints the accounting from the start.

Best Practices for a Defensible Itemization

A Delaware itemization survives a challenge on the strength of its documentation and its timing. The best practice is to build the accounting the moment possession returns, not to let it drift toward the deadline. Walk the unit against the move-in condition record on the day the tenant leaves, photograph every item you intend to charge, gather a written estimate or a paid invoice for each repair, and enter each item on the itemization with a description specific enough that a stranger could tell what was damaged and why the cost is reasonable. Vague entries such as “cleaning” or “repairs” invite dispute; “professional carpet cleaning to remove pet urine staining in the second bedroom” does not.

Tie every deduction to a dollar figure you can prove. Where you have a paid invoice, use the invoice amount; where you have only an estimate, say so and keep the estimate. Do not round up, do not bundle several small repairs into one large unexplained line, and do not include any item that reads as ordinary wear and tear. Because the double-damages penalty attaches only to the amount wrongfully withheld, a conservative, well-supported itemization limits your exposure even if a tenant challenges one line, since the unchallenged lines stand. When in doubt about whether an item is damage or wear and tear, the safer course is to release it rather than to risk the entire deduction and the fee exposure.

Deliver the itemization the same way you would serve anything a court could later ask you to prove: by a method that fixes the date. Certified mail with return receipt to the forwarding or last known address establishes both that you met the twenty-day deadline and where the accounting went. Keep the green card, the itemization, the photographs, the invoices, and a copy of the lease together for at least five years. Finally, keep the itemization and the transmittal separate in your file even if you mail them together, so the accounting stands on its own if the return letter is ever misplaced. A thorough review of the wider Delaware landlord-tenant laws rounds out the framework the itemization sits inside.

Worked Delaware Itemization Scenarios

Because the twenty-day math is the same in every case, the difference between a defensible itemization and a costly one lies in how each scenario is documented. The four situations below are the ones Delaware landlords meet most often, and each maps directly onto a category in the generator above.

Scenario One – Full Return, No Deductions

The tenant leaves the unit clean and undamaged, owes no rent, and provides a forwarding address. The landlord holds a deposit of one thousand two hundred dollars. Here the itemization records a zero-deduction accounting: the deposit-plus-credit line and the refund line show the same figure, one thousand two hundred dollars, and the statement documents that the full deposit was returned within the twenty-day window. Even in a clean return the itemization has value, because it creates a dated record that the deposit went back on time and forecloses any later claim that the landlord sat on the money. Choose the full-refund category, leave the deduction rows blank, and the generator prints a clean, no-claim statement.

Scenario Two – Partial Refund With Documented Damage

The tenant leaves pet urine staining in one bedroom and a cracked interior door, and the landlord holds a deposit of one thousand five hundred dollars plus twenty-two dollars and fifty cents of credit. Two documented deductions – nine hundred fifty dollars for the unpaid final month, two hundred eighty dollars for professional carpet treatment, and one hundred twenty dollars to patch and repaint – total one thousand three hundred fifty dollars, leaving a refund of one hundred seventy-two dollars and fifty cents. Each line names a specific item and its estimated repair cost, each is backed by an invoice or written estimate, and none reads as ordinary wear and tear. This is the paradigmatic Delaware itemization: specific, receipt-backed, and delivered on time, so that even if the tenant challenges one line the rest stands and the double-damages exposure is limited to any single disputed amount.

Scenario Three – Deductions Exceed the Deposit

Sometimes the damage and unpaid rent run past the deposit. Suppose the landlord holds a deposit of eight hundred dollars against a damaged subfloor estimated at six hundred dollars and unpaid rent of four hundred fifty dollars, a total of one thousand fifty dollars. The itemization shows a balance owed by the tenant of two hundred fifty dollars rather than a refund. The important point of Delaware practice here is that the twenty-day itemized-list duty still applies: the landlord must still provide the itemized list on time, and the excess is pursued as a separate money claim – a suit in Justice of the Peace Court, for example – not by holding a deposit that has already been fully applied. The generator prints the balance-owed figure so the tenant sees exactly how the deposit was consumed and what remains claimed.

Scenario Four – No Forwarding Address

The tenant moves out and leaves no forwarding address. The twenty-day clock still runs from the date the tenancy ended, so the landlord cannot wait. The defensible course is to prepare the itemization on time, mail it and any balance to the tenant’s last known address – which after move-out is frequently the rental unit itself with mail forwarding in place – and keep proof of the mailing. Do not treat the missing address as a reason to pause; a landlord who delays the itemization while waiting for an address risks missing the deadline and triggering both the acknowledgment rule and the double-damages penalty. The generator lets you record the last known address and the mailing method so the file shows a good-faith, on-time effort.

Escrow, Interest, and Disclosure Under 25 Del. C. 5514

The itemization sits at the end of a chain of duties that begins the day the deposit is collected, and a defect early in that chain can undermine the accounting at the end. Under 25 Del. C. 5514, the landlord must place each security deposit in an escrow bank account in a federally insured banking institution with an office that accepts deposits within Delaware, and must disclose the location of that account to the tenant. A landlord who commingles the deposit with operating funds has violated the statute independently of anything that happens at move-out, and a tenant who can show commingling has a separate grievance quite apart from the deduction dispute. When you build the itemization, confirm that the deposit you are accounting for was actually held where the statute requires; an accounting that starts from an unlawfully held deposit invites a broader challenge.

Delaware also treats the deposit as the tenant’s money held in trust rather than the landlord’s to use, which is why the escrow requirement and the twenty-day return duty reinforce each other. The statute’s structure assumes the funds are sitting untouched in the escrow account and can be returned promptly; a landlord who has spent the deposit during the tenancy will find the twenty-day tender difficult to meet and the double-damages exposure very real. Treat the deposit as segregated from the first day, keep the escrow account records, and the twenty-day itemization becomes a simple matter of accounting for money that is already set aside rather than scrambling to reassemble it.

When a Delaware deposit dispute does reach a courtroom, it usually lands in the Justice of the Peace Court, the state’s small-claims forum for landlord-tenant money disputes, and the itemization is the single most important exhibit either side brings. For the landlord, a timely, specific, receipt-backed itemization is the affirmative proof that the deduction was earned and the deadline met; for the tenant, the absence of an itemization, a late one, or one padded with wear-and-tear charges is the foundation of a double-damages claim under 25 Del. C. 5514(g)(1). The court will look first at whether the itemized list was provided within twenty days, then at whether each deduction describes actual damage beyond ordinary wear and tear with a reasonable estimated cost. This is why the discipline of the itemization matters long before any dispute: the document you generate at move-out is the document a judge reads months later, and its specificity, its supporting receipts, and its provable mailing date are what carry the day. Keep the itemization, the photographs, and the mailing receipt filed together so the package is ready if a claim is ever filed.

Because the deposit cap and the escrow rule are front-end obligations, the itemization is also a natural moment to confirm the deposit itself complied with 25 Del. C. 5514(a). On a lease of one year or more, the deposit may not exceed one month’s rent; on a longer month-to-month tenancy, any excess over one month’s rent should already have been credited back to the tenant after the first year. If you discover at move-out that you held more than the statute allowed, the surplus is not yours to apply against damage – it should be returned regardless – so reconcile the lawful deposit amount before you run the deduction math. A clean chain from a lawful deposit, held in the required escrow account, disclosed to the tenant, and returned or itemized within twenty days is the pattern the statute rewards and the pattern the generator is built to document.

Tenant Screening as Prevention

The cleanest move-outs come from tenants who were screened thoroughly at the application stage. A verifiable income, a steady payment history, and a clean eviction record are the strongest predictors of a unit returned in good condition – which means a simple full return inside the twenty-day window, no itemized damage claim, and no double-damages exposure. Screening is the upstream control that keeps the deposit accounting simple. Our overview of how to screen tenants step by step walks through the process, and the broader tenant screening laws by state guide covers the rules that apply when you pull a report.

Delaware Security Deposit Itemization: FAQ

What is a Delaware security deposit itemization statement?

It is the written, line-by-line accounting a Delaware landlord prepares at the end of a tenancy that lists each item of damage to the premises, the estimated cost of repairing each item, the total of those deductions, and the resulting refund or balance. Under 25 Del. C. 5514(f), within 20 days after the rental agreement terminates or expires the landlord must provide the tenant with this itemized list of damages and the estimated cost of repair for each, then tender the difference between the deposit and those repair costs. The itemization is the document that satisfies that statutory duty.

How is a Delaware itemization different from a return letter?

They are two parts of the same 20-day duty and work best together. The itemization statement is the accounting itself: the schedule of damages, the estimated repair cost for each, the total deductions, and the math that produces the refund or the balance owed. The return letter is the cover document that transmits that accounting to the tenant along with any refund check. This page builds the itemization; our Delaware security deposit return letter form builds the cover letter, and many landlords send both.

How many days does a Delaware landlord have to itemize the deposit?

Twenty days. Under 25 Del. C. 5514(f), within 20 days after the termination or expiration of the rental agreement the landlord must provide the tenant with an itemized list of damages to the premises with the estimated cost of repair for each item and tender the balance of the deposit. The clock runs from the date the tenancy ends, not from the date the tenant provides a forwarding address.

What happens if a Delaware landlord misses the 20-day deadline?

Two consequences stack. Under 25 Del. C. 5514(f), failing to provide the itemized list within 20 days is treated as an acknowledgment by the landlord that no payment for damages is due, so the deduction right is lost. Under 25 Del. C. 5514(g)(1), failing to remit the deposit or the difference within 20 days entitles the tenant to double the amount wrongfully withheld. A landlord who blows the deadline can therefore owe the full deposit back and then twice the sum wrongfully kept.

What is the double-damages penalty in Delaware?

Under 25 Del. C. 5514(g)(1), failure to remit the security deposit, or the difference between the deposit and the amount set forth in the list of damages, within 20 days from the expiration or termination of the rental agreement entitles the tenant to double the amount wrongfully withheld. The penalty is measured against the amount wrongfully withheld, not the entire deposit, but combined with the acknowledgment rule it makes a careless or undocumented withholding expensive.

What can a Delaware landlord itemize against the security deposit?

Deductions are generally limited to unpaid rent, the cost of repairing damage to the premises caused by the tenant or the tenant’s guests beyond ordinary wear and tear, and other amounts the lease authorizes consistent with 25 Del. C. 5514. Ordinary wear and tear is not deductible. Faded paint, minor carpet wear in walking paths, small nail holes, and light scuffing from normal use fall on the wear-and-tear side and cannot be charged against the deposit.

How much can a Delaware landlord charge as a security deposit?

Under 25 Del. C. 5514(a), a landlord may not require a security deposit greater than one month’s rent where the rental agreement is for one year or more. On a month-to-month tenancy or a tenancy of undefined term, once the tenancy has lasted one year the landlord must immediately return, as a credit to the tenant, any deposit amount over one month’s rent. A separate pet deposit is allowed and is capped at one month’s rent under 25 Del. C. 5514(i).

Where must a Delaware landlord hold the security deposit?

Under 25 Del. C. 5514, the landlord must place each security deposit in an escrow bank account in a federally insured banking institution with an office that accepts deposits within Delaware. The landlord must also disclose the location of that account to the tenant. Commingling the deposit with the landlord’s own funds instead of holding it in the required escrow account is a common source of dispute at move-out.

Does a Delaware itemization have to be sent by certified mail?

The statute directs the itemized list and balance to the tenant and does not mandate a specific carrier the way some states require certified mail for a formal notice. Because a Delaware tenant can recover double the amount wrongfully withheld, however, sending the itemization by certified mail with return receipt to the forwarding or last known address is the defensible practice: it fixes the delivery date against the 20-day clock and proves the landlord acted in time.

What if the deductions exceed the deposit in Delaware?

The itemization still runs the same math and shows a balance owed by the tenant rather than a refund. The generator on this page handles that case: when the total itemized deductions exceed the deposit plus any credit, it reports an additional balance owed by the tenant instead of a refund due. Delaware’s 20-day itemized-list duty applies regardless of whether the result is a refund or a balance owed, so provide the itemization on time either way, and recover any excess as a separate money claim rather than by holding a deposit you no longer have.

How long should I keep the Delaware itemization and supporting documents?

Keep the signed itemization, the deduction receipts and repair invoices, the move-in and move-out condition records and dated photos, the mailing receipt, and a copy of the lease for at least five years from the end of the tenancy. Delaware’s limitations period for a written-contract claim runs several years, so a five-year retention window comfortably covers a deposit dispute and preserves the proof the double-damages statute makes so valuable.

Related Delaware Deposit and Rental Guides

• Delaware security deposit laws – the full framework behind this itemization.
• Delaware deposit return letter – the cover letter that transmits this itemization.
• Delaware move-in and move-out checklist – the baseline that justifies a deduction.
• Delaware landlord-tenant laws – the wider statutory picture for the state.
• Delaware residential lease agreement – the contract that sets the deposit terms.
• Tenant screening laws by state – screen the tenant before they move in.
• How to screen tenants – the step-by-step screening process.

Screen Delaware Tenants Before You Hand Over Keys

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About the Author

Published by Tenant Screening Background Check · Editorial Team

Established 2004. Our editorial team has spent two decades helping landlords and property managers run lawful, FCRA-compliant tenant screening across all 50 states. We translate state landlord-tenant codes and federal screening rules into processes you can actually follow.

Updated 2026

Legal Disclaimer

This form and guide are for general informational purposes only and are not legal advice. Delaware security deposit law is strict on timing; a late or incomplete itemized list can be treated as an acknowledgment that no damages are due, and a wrongful withholding can expose a landlord to double the amount wrongfully withheld. Review the Delaware Code, 25 Del. C. 5514 and consult a licensed Delaware landlord-tenant attorney before withholding any part of a deposit. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.