Can a Landlord Evict Without a Court Order in Delaware? Lockouts and Treble Damages

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

A Delaware landlord who locks a tenant out without a court order owes treble damages. Here is what the statute says the tenant can recover and how a lawful eviction ends.

Can a Delaware landlord lock a tenant out?

No, not without a court order. If a tenant is removed or excluded from the premises by the landlord or its agent, except under color of a valid court order authorizing it, the tenant may recover possession or terminate the rental agreement (25 Del. C. 5313).

What can the tenant recover?

The tenant may also recover treble the damages sustained or an amount equal to 3 times the per diem rent for the period the tenant was excluded, whichever is greater, and the costs of the suit, excluding attorneys’ fees (5313). The Delaware Courts’ guide gives the example of a landlord who changes the locks and keeps the tenant out without a court order (Delaware Courts guide).

How does a tenant file?

By a summary possession action in the Justice of the Peace Court: a tenant who has been wrongfully put or kept out of the rental unit can be the plaintiff, and the complaint states the facts and the rent per day. If the other side is causing substantial or irreparable harm, a party can apply for a forthwith summons so the case is heard sooner (25 Del. C. 5115, per the Courts’ guide).

How does a lawful eviction end?

With a judgment and a writ of possession directed to a constable or sheriff, who must give at least 24 hours’ notice to the people to be removed and execute it between sunrise and sunset (25 Del. C. 5715(a), (b)). See the Delaware writ of possession.

What about belongings?

If the tenant fails to remove property when the writ is executed, the landlord may remove and store it at the tenant’s expense; it must be stored for 7 days if there is no appeal and 7 days after the decision on an appeal, after which it is deemed abandoned (5715(d), (e); Courts guide).

What should a tenant do after a lockout?

Write down the date and time, take photographs, keep any notice or messages and contact a licensed Delaware attorney, legal aid or the Justice of the Peace Court promptly. The daily amount runs for the period excluded, so a clear start date matters. Use the Delaware eviction notice calculator to check whether any valid notice period had even run.

What a landlord should do instead

Give the notice that fits the reason, wait out the period, file a summary possession action, win a judgment, wait for the appeal period and 10 days, and have a constable execute the writ. The Delaware eviction timeline calculator shows the earliest dates for each step.

Evidence a tenant should keep

Keep the lease, rent receipts, any notice, photographs of changed locks or removed property, messages with the landlord and the names of witnesses, and write down the date and time the exclusion began. The recovery runs per day, so a clear start date matters.

What a landlord can do when a tenant causes harm

A landlord facing substantial or irreparable harm to its property or to others does not have to wait weeks for a hearing: it can apply for a forthwith summons so the case is heard sooner, and where a breach causes or threatens irreparable harm it can terminate on notice and sue for summary possession (25 Del. C. 5115, 5513(b)). It still needs a judgment and a writ to remove the tenant.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• 25 Del. C. 5313: tenant removed or excluded
• 25 Del. C. 5715: writ of possession
• Delaware Courts: summary possession guide

This is general information, not legal advice. It is based on the cited Delaware statutes, rules and court opinions, and every case turns on its own facts. Confirm how the law applies to your situation with a licensed Delaware attorney.