Skip to content
Rent-to-Own Rights

Rent-to-Own Laws in Delaware: Your Rights

Delaware's Lease-Purchase Agreement Act bars a store from breaching the peace to repossess, caps the reinstatement fee at $5 and the late fee at the greater of 10% or $3, and gives you up to 180 days to reinstate once you've paid more than 60%. Missing payments is a civil matter, not a crime.

What Delaware's rental-purchase law generally provides

Can you be charged with a crime?
Not for the debt, but keeping the item and refusing to return it can be charged as theft.
Can they enter your home?
No home entry without your permission
Getting it back (reinstatement)
Yes
Paid enough to own it?
After ~60%: Paying more than 60% toward ownership extends your reinstatement window after returning the item to at least 180 days, instead of 60. You can also buy the item early for 55% of the difference between the total needed to own it and what you've already paid (6 Del. C. §§7607, 7609).
Fee caps
Reinstatement fee capped at $5
Owe a balance after repossession?
Not allowed

These describe what the statute says. Your own contract and the facts of your situation can affect how they apply.

Verified against Delaware Lease-Purchase Agreement Act (6 Del. C. §§ 7601–7616) on .

Delaware’s Lease-Purchase Agreement Act gives rent-to-own customers strong, specific protections, including one of the longest reinstatement windows in the country.

Can the store come into my home?

A lease-purchase agreement in Delaware can’t authorize a breach of the peace in repossession (6 Del. C. §7608), and it can’t require a separate payment beyond your lease payments to acquire ownership. A store that can’t repossess peacefully has to use the courts, not force.

Can I be arrested for not paying?

No. Falling behind is a civil matter. Delaware’s Act does make a willful violation a misdemeanor (§7615), but that targets a lessor who knowingly breaks the law, not a customer who misses payments. Consumers also have a civil remedy of at least $300 or 25% of the payments needed to own the item.

Can I be charged with theft for keeping the item?

Keeping the item is a separate question. Delaware has a theft-of-rented-property crime (11 Del. C. §849). A court may presume an intent to commit theft if a renter fails to return the property within 10 days after the owner sends proper written notice by certified or registered mail once the rental period has ended (the presumption also applies if the renter gave false identification). It is a class A misdemeanor, or a class G felony if the property is worth $1,500 or more.

This is about holding onto the item and ignoring a proper demand, not being behind and trying to catch up. If you decide to walk away, returning the item, or responding to a demand, is what keeps you clear of it.

Reinstatement: up to 180 days

If you return the item, you can reinstate within 60 days if you’d paid less than 60% toward ownership, and at least 180 days if you’d paid more than 60% (§7607). The reinstatement fee is capped at $5. The ownership calculator can help you see which side of the 60% line you’re on.

Fees, and buying it early

Delaware caps the charges that bite: a reinstatement fee of no more than $5, and a late charge of no more than the greater of 10% of the payment or $3 (only after a payment is more than 2 business days late) (§7608). You can also buy the item early for 55% of the difference between the total needed to own it and what you’ve already paid (§7609). Because the agreement renews one period at a time, you can also return the item and stop owing future payments.

Delaware rent-to-own questions

Can a rent-to-own store in Delaware have me arrested for missing payments?
Falling behind on payments is a civil matter, not a crime. Delaware's Act does make a willful violation a misdemeanor (6 Del. C. §7615), but that targets a lessor who knowingly breaks the law, not a customer who falls behind. Consumers also have a civil remedy of at least $300 or 25% of the payments to own it.
Can I be charged with theft for keeping rent-to-own property in Delaware?
Keeping the item is a separate question. Delaware has a theft-of-rented-property crime (11 Del. C. §849): a court may presume an intent to commit theft if a renter fails to return the property within 10 days after the owner sends proper written notice by certified or registered mail once the rental period has ended (the presumption also applies if the renter gave false identification). It is a class A misdemeanor, or a class G felony if the property is worth $1,500 or more. It targets holding onto the item and ignoring a proper demand, not being behind; returning the item, or responding to the demand, takes you out of it.
Can a rent-to-own store enter my home in Delaware to take the item back?
A lease-purchase agreement can't authorize a breach of the peace in the repossession of property, and it can't require a separate payment beyond your lease payments to acquire ownership (6 Del. C. §7608).
Can I get rented rented merchandise back after it is repossessed in Delaware?
If you return the item, you can reinstate without losing rights you'd earned within 60 days if you'd paid less than 60% toward ownership, or at least 180 days if you'd paid more than 60%. The reinstatement fee is capped at $5 (6 Del. C. §7607).
In Delaware, can I owe money after the item is repossessed?
Because a lease-purchase agreement renews one period at a time, you can return the item and stop owing future payments rather than being held to a full purchase price.

Sources

Every statement about the law on this page links to the official statute itself, so you can read the law, not just our summary of it. Notice something out of date? Let us know.

Consumer information, not legal advice. For your situation, consider speaking with a licensed Delaware attorney or a local legal-aid office.