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Delaware landlord entry laws

How much notice your landlord owes you before coming in, when they may enter without it, and what Delaware law lets you do about it.

Notice required

48 hours

At least 48 hours' notice of the landlord's intent to enter, except for repairs the tenant requested.

25 Del. C. § 5509

When they may enter

Entry only between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.

When they may enter without notice

In an emergency the landlord may enter at any time.

What you can do about a violation

Repeated demands for unreasonable entry, or any actual unreasonable entry the tenant did not consent to, may be treated as grounds for terminating the rental agreement, and a court may issue an injunction. The landlord is also liable for theft, casualty or other harm proximately resulting from an entry made without consent or through their negligence. Any lease clause waiving this is void.

25 Del. C. § 5510

What to do right now

Delaware compensates harm that results from an entry — theft, damage — rather than the intrusion itself, so document anything that went missing or was damaged.

Put it in writing

We'll write a letter citing 25 Del. C. § 5509, listing each entry with its date and time, and stating what the statute provides. Free to generate and download.

Write my Delaware entry letter

Other Delaware tenant rights

Landlords who get one of these wrong often get another wrong too.

Delaware security deposit lawHow long your landlord has to return it, and what they owe if they don't.Delaware rent late fee lawsWhat a landlord may charge for late rent, and when they may charge it.Delaware landlord repair lawsWhat your landlord must fix, how long they get, and your options if they don't.

How this page was checked

  • Read from the source. Every deadline, cap and penalty here was taken from Delaware's published text — the statute, session law or administrative code itself.
  • No legal-information websites. Commercial summaries were used only to find a provision, never as authority for it. An automated check fails our build if any state we serve cites a secondary source.
  • Locked against drift. The verified figures are pinned by regression tests, so a later edit cannot quietly change a deadline or a penalty.
  • Last verified August 21, 2026. Laws change — confirm the current text before relying on it.

General information, not legal advice. We are not a law firm.

Compare all 51 jurisdictions — notice periods range from 12 hours to 72, and thirteen states have no rule at all.