25 Del. C. ch. 70 § 7063
Defenses
Operative Text
It shall be a sufficient defense to this proceeding if any defendant of record establishes any of the following: (1) The condition or conditions described in the petition do not exist at the time of trial. (2) The condition or conditions alleged in the petition have been caused by the wilful or grossly negligent acts of 1 or more of the petitioning tenants or members of a petitioning tenant’s family or by persons on the premises with the consent of a petitioning tenant. (3) Such condition or conditions would have been corrected, were it not for the refusal by any petitioner to allow reasonable access.
Under 25 Del. C. ch. 70 § 7063, a landlord facing a tenant-initiated housing-condition proceeding may defeat the claim by demonstrating one of three things: that the complained-of condition no longer existed at the time of trial, that the condition was caused by the willful or grossly negligent conduct of the tenant or someone the tenant allowed on the premises, or that the landlord would have fixed the condition but was denied reasonable access to do so. These are affirmative defenses available to any defendant of record in such a proceeding. Establishing any single one of these defenses is sufficient to prevail against the petition.
Plain English — not legal advice.
Property owners and managers responding to a housing-condition petition under 25 Del. C. ch. 70 § 7063 generally document the current state of the unit, any repair history, and any access requests or denials. Operators who remediate a cited condition before trial, or who can show that a tenant's own conduct caused the problem, or that access was unreasonably withheld, may have grounds to assert one of the statutory defenses. Maintaining written records of inspection requests, repair timelines, and communications with tenants supports a landlord's ability to present these defenses clearly in a proceeding.
General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.
Section 7063 of 25 Del. C. ch. 70 sets out defenses a landlord may raise against a housing-condition petition, so tenants should be aware that a petition can be defeated if the condition is remediated before trial, if the landlord can show the tenant caused the problem, or if the landlord was denied reasonable access to make repairs. Tenants who have filed or are considering filing a petition may benefit from keeping records of the condition's persistence, any communications about access, and the source of the problem. Tenant-rights organizations and legal aid offices can help tenants understand how these defenses might apply in a particular proceeding and what documentation is generally useful to have.
General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.
Generated October 22, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.
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