Right of Redemption


(This information is not binding on the court if incorrect or misunderstood. This information is not legal advice and is not a substitute for seeking legal advice from an attorney. If you need help in obtaining an attorney, go to the Legal HelpLink webpage or dial 211 for assistance.)


What is Right of Redemption?

Right of Redemption allows tenants being evicted for failure to pay rent to remain in their rental units if all amounts owed are paid prior to the eviction. Tenants that are facing eviction can pay all past due amounts, including all rent due under the terms of the lease plus all court-awarded costs and fees, to the landlord at any time before an eviction is scheduled to take place. Either the tenant or someone on the tenant’s behalf can pay all amounts owed to be eligible for redemption. By making full payment of all amounts owed, tenants eligible for redemption no longer face the risk of eviction.

Payments for past due rent can be made at any time prior to the actual execution of the writ of possession. This includes all payments made:

  • Before an action is filed
  • Before a hearing is held
  • After a hearing is held and before a judgment is entered
  • After a judgment is entered and before the writ of possession is posted
  • After the writ of possession is posted and before the eviction takes place

To be eligible for redemption, the tenant or someone on the tenant’s behalf must pay all past due amounts. Partial payments that do not add up to the full amount owed do not make a tenant eligible for redemption. Additionally, a tenant must not have 2 or more judgments based on failure to pay rent within 18 months of the start of the current action against them. If a tenant or someone on a tenant’s behalf has paid all past due amounts to the landlord and is eligible for redemption:

  • The landlord must withdraw the action for summary possession if a judgment has not been entered; or
  • The Court must vacate the judgment for possession entered and cancel any writ issued on such judgment.

Right of redemption applies to summary possession actions on the sole basis of non-payment of rent. This right does not apply to actions that involve other causes of action, such as a violation of rules as set by the rental agreement.


What Has Changed in the Landlord-Tenant Code Due to Right of Redemption?

Right of redemption created substantial revisions to the Landlord-Tenant Code which affects both landlords and tenants.

SS 1 to SB 116 changes landlord remedies for failure to pay rent under 25 Del. C. § 5502. First, demand notices sent by landlords for past-due rent are now required to give tenants at least seven (7) days, instead of five (5) days, to tender all past due payments before a landlord may initiate an action for summary possession. Second, landlords may no longer terminate the lease if tenants do not cure non-payment of rent after the required time has passed. If a tenant does not pay past-due amounts as listed on the demand notice, a landlord may simply initiate a summary possession action in the Court to terminate the lease. Additionally, landlords are no longer entitled to reservation of rights. On a non-payment of rent case, landlords may not initiate an action for summary possession or maintain that action in the Court if a tenant pays all rent due under the terms of the lease. Finally, landlords are entitled to restrict the method of payment but cannot refuse to accept rental payments from a tenant or on behalf of a tenant.

The new addition to the Landlord-Tenant Code, 25 Del. C. § 5716A, creates a right of redemption for tenants based on failure to pay rent. If a landlord is awarded a judgment of possession by the Court, eligible tenants can remain in the property by paying all past due amounts to the landlord or the landlord’s agent. A tenant’s right of redemption applies at any time before the eviction is executed (before the lockout occurs). Landlords, upon receiving a full payment of past due amounts, must notify the Court or constable to prevent the eviction from taking place. Additionally, landlords, after the request for writ of possession has been filed with the Court, must notify the Court upon receiving any payment (including partial payment). Under this law, landlords must make all reasonable efforts to prevent the eviction from taking place if the judgment is based on failure to pay rent and the tenant pays all past due amounts. Once the Court receives notice of redemption and receives sufficient evidence of payments made by the tenant, the Court will vacate any judgment of possession relating to failure to pay rent and cancel any writs issued on such judgment.


What a Landlord Needs to Know:

  • Landlords may not terminate a tenant’s lease if past-due rent is not paid after the required time given on a demand notice has passed.
  • Landlords are no longer entitled to reservation of rights.
    • If payments are made before an action has been filed, the landlord cannot initiate an action for non-payment of rent
    • If payments are made after an action has been filed, the landlord cannot continue an action for non-payment of rent
  • Demand notices may not be sent by the landlord until after the date late fees may be imposed under the Delaware Landlord Tenant Code
  • Landlords are required to notify the Court when full payment has been made by the tenant(s) at any time prior to the actual execution of the writ
  • Landlords are required to notify the Court when partial payment has been made by the tenant(s) after the request for writ of possession has been filed

What a Tenant Needs to Know:

  • On a court action based solely on non-payment of rent, full payments may be made to the landlord at any time prior to the actual execution of the writ of possession for a tenant to be eligible for redemption
  • Only full payments or partial payments that add up to the full amount owed, including all rent due under the terms of the lease, plus all court-awarded costs and fees, will allow the tenant to exercise their right of redemption.
  • Not all tenants are eligible for right of redemption:
    • If a tenant has 2 or more judgments entered against them for non-payment of rent in an 18-month period, the tenant is not eligible for redemption