DELAWARE STATE SENATE

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1

TO

SENATE BILL NO. 116

AMEND Senate Bill No. 116 on Line 59 by deleting “ 12 months ” and substituting in lieu thereof “ 24 months ”.

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 116 on line 45 by inserting “ landlord or the ” after “ the ” and before “ landlord’s ”.

FURTHER AMEND Senate Bill No. 116 after line 52 and before line 53 by inserting the following:

“ a. If payment is made after the writ of possession has been posted, in order for the court to issue a stay of the writ, a request to stay the writ must be filed with the court.

b. If payment is made after the writ of possession has been posted, the landlord may request the court delay any action under paragraph (5) of this subsection until any checks used for payment have fully cleared any involved banks. ”

SYNOPSIS

This Amendment increases the time from 12 to 24 months for the period that would exclude a tenant from being able to pay their rent to prevent eviction so that this right would not apply to a tenant who has had 3 judgments in the previous 24 months. It also puts the requirement on the tenant to proactively file with the court a request for a stay if payment is made after the writ of possession has been posted. It also makes clear that once a writ is posted, a payment only stays the writ and does not require dismissal of the case until payment has cleared and landlord has fully received the funds through the bank.

Author: Senator Lockman