Delaware Bill would refund rent payments to tenants if landlords don’t make mandated repairs in 90 day window

DELAWARE- A new bill introduced in the Delaware House seeks to give tenants a way to hold landlords accountable when repairs that threaten the safety of tenants are neglected.

Under House Bill 37, tenants who report their landlords on safety violations or failure to adhere to housing standards could make rent payments to Delaware Courts rather than directly to the landlord.

The courts would hold those payments in escrow, for up to 90 days, at which time the payments would be returned to the tenants if repairs were not a maid to the property that addressed the safety concerns.

Representative Sherry Dorsey Walker says this way protects tenants and keeps their payments going while giving violating landlords real consequences for keeping people in dangerous conditions.

“This will in many ways start discouraging bad actors among landlords again there are good landlords and we are grateful for them but those that are not good must be weeded out of the system,” Dorsey Walker said.

Representative Dorsey Walker says the idea for the bill came from a series of landlord cases in the Wilmington area but says she has received constituent calls from across Delaware with similar issues.

The measure has yet to have a vote scheduled in the house.