Delaware Mold Law: Tenant Rights, Disclosure & Insurance
Does Delaware license mold work?
None. Delaware does not license or certify mold assessors or mold remediators. The Environmental Law Institute's 2024 mold-law database lists only two Delaware provisions - 14 Del. C. 2307 (school facilities evaluation instrument addressing visible mold or mildew) and 6 Del. C. 2570-2578 (seller property condition disclosure) - and no licensing program. Delaware's Division of Public Health operates an Occupational Health Program that assesses workplace hazards including mold, created by 2005 House Bill 219 and codified at 29 Del. C. 7980, but it is an assessment/consultation program, not a licensing scheme. Mold contractors need only a general Delaware business license.
Habitability: what landlords must provide
Statutory, codified in the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code. 25 Del. C. 5305(a) requires the landlord to, among other things, 'Provide a rental unit which shall not endanger the health, welfare or safety of the tenants or occupants and which is fit for the purpose for which it is expressly rented,' comply with applicable building and housing codes, maintain common areas, make all necessary repairs, and keep utilities and facilities in good working order. MOLD IS NOT NAMED anywhere in the Landlord-Tenant Code; mold claims proceed through the general 'shall not endanger the health, welfare or safety' and 'fit for the purpose' language. Related provisions: 25 Del. C. 5306 (tenant remedies relating to the rental agreement) and 25 Del. C. 5308 (wrongful failure to supply essential services). (25 Del. C. 5305(a); 25 Del. C. 5306; 25 Del. C. 5308)
Notice and repair timeline
Tenant must give WRITTEN notice. 25 Del. C. 5307: where the landlord fails to repair, maintain, or keep the premises sanitary, the landlord must remedy within 30 days from receipt of the notice, or at minimum begin corrective measures within 10 days from receipt of the notice; only then does the repair-and-deduct remedy arise. 25 Del. C. 5306 gives the landlord 15 days from written notice to remedy a material breach before the tenant may terminate. 25 Del. C. 5308 provides a 48-hour trigger where the landlord substantially fails to supply hot water, heat, water or electricity.
Tenant remedies
(1) Repair and deduct - 25 Del. C. 5307 permits the tenant, after the 10/30-day notice periods run, to have the work done and deduct 'a reasonable sum, not exceeding $400, or 1/2 of 1 month's rent, whichever is less,' with receipts required; unavailable if the tenant caused the condition or is delinquent in rent. (2) Termination - 25 Del. C. 5306 permits termination if a material breach is not remedied within 15 days of written notice; immediate termination is available where the condition renders the unit uninhabitable or poses an imminent health/safety threat. (3) Essential services - 25 Del. C. 5308 permits, after 48 hours, immediate termination of the rental agreement, or substitute housing/services with recovery of cost. (4) Constructive eviction remains available at common law. Delaware has NO general statutory rent-withholding remedy; the repair-and-deduct cap ($400 or half a month's rent) makes it a poor fit for a substantial mold remediation, which typically pushes tenants toward termination or affirmative damages claims.
Selling a home: mold disclosure
Yes. Delaware's Buyer Property Protection Act, 6 Del. C. 2572(a), requires the seller to disclose to the buyer 'all material defects of that property that are known at the time the property is offered for sale or that are known prior to the time of final settlement,' in writing before the seller signs the listing agreement, updated for material changes before closing. 6 Del. C. 2578 authorizes the Delaware Real Estate Commission to promulgate the form; the statutory text itself mandates only sprinkler, street-repaving and radon items, but the Commission's Seller's Disclosure of Real Property Condition Report (approved effective 7/1/2023) asks expressly at Q52 'Has the property ever been tested for mold? If yes, provide the test results,' at Q74 about non-plumbing water leakage, at Q89 about 'water leakage, accumulation, or dampness within the basement, crawlspace, or other interior areas,' at Q90 about repairs to control water or dampness, and at Q51 about testing for toxic or hazardous substances. Known mold must be disclosed as a material defect regardless of form wording. (6 Del. C. 2572(a); 6 Del. C. 2578; DREC Seller's Disclosure of Real Property Condition Report (eff. 7/1/2023), Qs 51, 52, 74, 89, 90)
Deadlines to bring a claim
Personal injury: 2 years - 10 Del. C. 8119, 'No action for the recovery of damages upon a claim for alleged personal injuries shall be brought after the expiration of 2 years from the date upon which it is claimed that such alleged injuries were sustained.' Injury to PERSONAL property and wrongful death: 2 years - 10 Del. C. 8107. Damage to REAL property: Delaware has no section expressly naming injury to real property; such claims are generally brought under the 3-year period in 10 Del. C. 8106, which covers trespass and serves as the general 3-year limitation. Delaware applies a time-of-discovery rule for inherently unknowable injuries. Builder/design claims may also implicate 10 Del. C. 8127 (6-year period for actions arising out of construction of an improvement to real property).
Insurance treatment of mold
No Delaware mold statute, regulation, or Insurance Department bulletin identified. The Department of Insurance's official consumer publication 'The Instant Insurance Guide: Home' does not mention mold at all. Delaware has not adopted minimum mold sublimits of the Connecticut type. Mold sublimits and 'fungi, wet rot, dry rot and bacteria' exclusions are therefore contractual, and Delaware courts have enforced them: in Atwell v. RHIS, Inc. (Del. 2009) the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the insurer because the homeowners policy unambiguously excluded mold and subsurface water damage. The Mealey's survey also reports McNight [sic] v. USAA Cas. Ins. Co., 871 A.2d 446 (Del. Super. Ct. 2005), enforcing policy mold limits of $2,500 for property damage and $2,000 for loss of use, but this citation could not be independently verified.
Leading cases
Atwell v. RHIS, Inc. (Del. 2009) - purchasers' home suffered 'significant damage from dry rot, mold, bacterial growth, and excessive humidity' after subsurface water infiltrated underground ductwork that the home inspector negligently misidentified; the Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the insurer on the mold and subsurface-water exclusions, but reversed and remanded for a new trial against the home inspection company because of improper closing argument on the effect of a co-defendant's settlement. Reporter citation is reported inconsistently in secondary sources (974 A.2d 148 vs. 957 A.2d 1194) and was not resolved. McNight/McKnight v. USAA Cas. Ins. Co., 871 A.2d 446 (Del. Super. Ct. 2005) (mold sublimits) - reported by the Mealey's survey, unverified.