Delaware · Law guide

Delaware HOA law guide.

Every Delaware statute that governs homeowners', condominium, and manufactured-home communities in full — each one hosted on HOPB with the official text and a plain-language guide — plus the single provisions scattered elsewhere in the Code, collected on the related-laws page. Delaware runs on a modern comprehensive act (DUCIOA), a handful of parallel regimes, and the protections and corporate rules layered around them. This index is how the pieces fit together.

6 statutes Full text on-site Cited to the Delaware Code

Common-interest communities

How condominiums and planned communities are run.

Delaware governs common-interest communities through two acts in Title 25. DUCIOA is the modern, comprehensive statute for communities created after September 30, 2009 — but it is not confined to them: under § 81-119 an enumerated set of DUCIOA sections (board meetings, voting, records, budgets, assessments and liens, resale certificates) also applies to communities created before that date, unless their own recorded documents expressly provide otherwise. The older Unit Property Act still governs condominiums created under it, subject to those sections (§ 2201). Size matters as well as date: communities of 20 units or fewer are excepted from nearly all of DUCIOA (§§ 81-117, 81-118).

25 Ch. 81 Delaware Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (DUCIOA)25 Del. C. §§ 81-101 et seq. — Delaware's modern, comprehensive statute for community associations, based on the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act. It governs condominiums, cooperatives, and planned communities created after September 30, 2009: creation, the association and its board, meetings and voting, budgets, assessments and liens, and buyer protections. Small communities are largely carved out — a condominium or cooperative of 20 units or fewer is subject only to §§ 81-106 and 81-107 (§ 81-117), and a small or limited-expense planned community only to §§ 81-105 to 81-107 (§ 81-118) — and under § 81-119 an enumerated list of its sections also reaches communities created before that date. 25 Ch. 22 Unit Property Act25 Del. C. §§ 2201 et seq. — Delaware's original condominium law. It governs condominiums that opted into the Act by recording a declaration — generally those created before DUCIOA, plus the small and nonresidential condominiums DUCIOA excepts (§ 81-116(a)): the declaration and code of regulations, the council of unit owners, common expenses, and enforcement of unpaid assessments against units (§§ 2233, 2234, 2236, 2237). It is now subject to DUCIOA: § 2201 provides that Chapter 81 supersedes various provisions of the Act, and § 81-119 lists the sections that apply to these older communities.

Manufactured-home communities

Where residents own the home but rent the lot.

Manufactured-home communities work differently from a condominium or HOA: residents own their homes but rent the land beneath them, so a dedicated landlord-tenant statute governs the relationship.

25 Ch. 70 Manufactured Home Communities Act25 Del. C. §§ 7001 et seq. — Delaware's landlord-tenant law for manufactured home communities, where residents own their homes but rent the lot. It sets rent protections, a right of first offer to buy the community that runs only to a single incorporated homeowner association registered with the Delaware Manufactured Home Relocation Authority and must be exercised within 30 days of notice, and relocation assistance.

Corporate & legal form

The association's legal status.

Under DUCIOA § 81-301 a Delaware association may be organised as an unincorporated association, corporation, trust, or LLC, for profit or not. Those organised as unincorporated nonprofit associations take their legal status — the power to own property, sue and be sued, and protection from personal liability for members based solely on their membership or role in management (§ 1906) — from this Act.

6 Ch. 19 Uniform Unincorporated Nonprofit Association Act6 Del. C. §§ 1901 et seq. — the law that gives an unincorporated Delaware association legal existence: the capacity to own and transfer property, to sue and be sued in its own name, and protection for its members from liability for the association's contracts and torts merely because they are members or help manage it (§ 1906). It is a legal-status statute, not a governance code — it contains no records, meeting or board rules. (Incorporated associations are also subject to the corporate law referenced on the related-laws page, which yields to DUCIOA on any inconsistency.)

Protections & help

Rights for residents, and where to get help.

Two Delaware laws sit alongside the community statutes: the Fair Housing Act protects residents from discrimination and reaches associations directly, and the Common Interest Community Ombudsperson is a state office that helps owners and boards understand their rights.

6 Ch. 46 Delaware Fair Housing Act6 Del. C. §§ 4600 et seq. — Delaware's fair-housing law, prohibiting housing discrimination on an unusually broad list of protected characteristics and reaching sellers, landlords, and community associations alike. It also covers reasonable accommodations and modifications. 29 Ch. 25 Common Interest Community Ombudsperson Act29 Del. C. §§ 2540 et seq. — the law creating a Common Interest Community Ombudsperson in the Department of Justice to help owners, associations, and boards understand their rights and the processes for resolving disputes. The office also takes and investigates complaints, offers mediation, and monitors association elections on petition of 15% of the voting interests or 6 owners — but a complaint must first go through the association's own written complaint procedure, with the final determination attached (§ 2544(8)–(9)). It is not a court and does not adjudicate.

General information, not legal advice. Each statute is reproduced from the official Delaware Code and may not reflect the most recent amendments. Always confirm the current text against the official source.

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Delaware HOA law guide.

How condominiums and planned communities are run.

Where residents own the home but rent the lot.

The association's legal status.

Rights for residents, and where to get help.

The laws around the edges.