Miscellaneous & related Delaware laws
Beyond the core community-association acts, Delaware scatters a number of HOA-specific protections and broader laws across its Code — plus a few that people often assume apply, but don't. A quick orientation, with links to the statutes we host in full.
HOPB hosts the full text of the Delaware statutes that specifically govern homeowners' and condominium associations — you'll find them all on the Delaware HOA laws hub. This page covers the edges: individual HOA-specific provisions tucked into other chapters, general-purpose laws that can still reach your community, and a short list of laws that are commonly assumed to apply but do not.
Because these are scattered provisions and broad statutes we don't reproduce in full, each entry below is a brief plain-language summary with its citation; the official text is available from the Delaware General Assembly.
The myths worth clearing up.
These come up constantly in association disputes. In Delaware, they don't work the way people assume — but the rights people are reaching for usually exist under a different law.
Delaware's FOIA — its open-meetings and public-records law — applies to public bodies, meaning government boards and agencies. A private homeowners' or condominium association is not a public body, so you can't file a FOIA request against your HOA or invoke the open-meetings law against its board. The rights you're looking for — to attend meetings and inspect records — come instead from the Delaware Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act and the community's recorded bylaws.
The older Unit Property Act governs condominiums that opted in by recording a declaration — generally those created before September 30, 2009. Communities created on or after that date are governed by the Delaware Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (DUCIOA), which also reaches back to older communities for an enumerated set of provisions. If you're not sure which controls, check the community's recording date — and note that DUCIOA covers planned communities and cooperatives too, not just condominiums.
Delaware's Common Interest Community Ombudsperson is a valuable information and education resource — but it is not an adjudicator. It won't rule on your dispute, order your board to act, or impose penalties. For a binding outcome you still need the community's own procedures, the remedies in DUCIOA, or the courts.
General information, not legal advice. The laws summarized here are scattered provisions and broad statutes HOPB does not reproduce in full; for the official current text, see the Delaware Code. Always confirm the current law and how it applies to your situation.