Delaware News

Attorney General’s Office To Hold Open House Tomorrow for Landlords and Tenants

Department of Justice | Date Posted: Monday, August 13, 2012



Media Release
August 13, 2012

Attorney General’s Office To Hold Open House Tomorrow for Landlords and Tenants

Wilmington – Attorney General Beau Biden today encouraged Delawareans who rent their homes and the landlords who own them to attend an open house on landlord-tenant issues that his office has organized for consumers.  The residential landlord-tenant open house will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, August 14, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Mill Creek Fire Company, 3900 Kirkwood Highway, Marshallton. 

“We are sponsoring this open house to make sure that residents understand their rights under the law, have the opportunity to share their experiences with our staff, and have access in one place to many of the services available to them to help keep their families and neighborhoods safe,” Biden said. 

Tomorrow’s open house is spearheaded by the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit, which enforces Delaware’s residential landlord-tenant law, and the Attorney General’s Criminal Nuisance Abatement Program, which identifies and investigates properties statewide where drug and vice crime is permitted to flourish.  In addition, Biden’s office has partnered with numerous county, state, and non-profit agencies to organize and market this event to the public.  These service providers, who will participate in tomorrow’s event with informational tables, include the New Castle County Police Department and Code Enforcement, Delaware State Housing Authority, Division of State Service Centers, Delaware Community Legal Aid Society, Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, Volunteer Legal Services, and Legal Services Corporation of Delaware.

During 2012, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit has received more than 1,600 complaints about landlord-tenant issues, an increase of 7% over this point last year. Landlord-tenant issues account for nearly one-third (30%) of the consumer complaints received by Biden’s office.  The Attorney General’s Nuisance Abatement program uses the state’s Criminal Nuisance Abatement Act to identify and investigate properties where drug, gun and violent crime is permitted to flourish, and offers property owners the choice to abate the nuisance or be forced to defend themselves in court.  The Program identifies nuisance properties statewide through its own investigations, in cooperation with state and local police agencies, and through outreach with local authorities, civic associations, and neighborhood residents.  To-date, over 140 properties have been rehabilitated, more than a dozen have been shut down because they were found to present an immediate threat to the health, safety and welfare of the surrounding community, and nearly 400 properties remain on the Program’s “watch list.”

Renters and landlords who have questions about tomorrow’s event or who wish to file a landlord-tenant complaint with Biden’s office should contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit at 800-220-5424, via e-mail consumer.protection@delaware.gov, or visit www.attorneygeneral.delaware.gov.consumers for more information.  Residents who want to report a property to the Attorney General’s Criminal Nuisance Abatement Program should call (302) 577-8345.

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Attorney General’s Office To Hold Open House Tomorrow for Landlords and Tenants

Department of Justice | Date Posted: Monday, August 13, 2012



Media Release
August 13, 2012

Attorney General’s Office To Hold Open House Tomorrow for Landlords and Tenants

Wilmington – Attorney General Beau Biden today encouraged Delawareans who rent their homes and the landlords who own them to attend an open house on landlord-tenant issues that his office has organized for consumers.  The residential landlord-tenant open house will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, August 14, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Mill Creek Fire Company, 3900 Kirkwood Highway, Marshallton. 

“We are sponsoring this open house to make sure that residents understand their rights under the law, have the opportunity to share their experiences with our staff, and have access in one place to many of the services available to them to help keep their families and neighborhoods safe,” Biden said. 

Tomorrow’s open house is spearheaded by the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit, which enforces Delaware’s residential landlord-tenant law, and the Attorney General’s Criminal Nuisance Abatement Program, which identifies and investigates properties statewide where drug and vice crime is permitted to flourish.  In addition, Biden’s office has partnered with numerous county, state, and non-profit agencies to organize and market this event to the public.  These service providers, who will participate in tomorrow’s event with informational tables, include the New Castle County Police Department and Code Enforcement, Delaware State Housing Authority, Division of State Service Centers, Delaware Community Legal Aid Society, Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, Volunteer Legal Services, and Legal Services Corporation of Delaware.

During 2012, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit has received more than 1,600 complaints about landlord-tenant issues, an increase of 7% over this point last year. Landlord-tenant issues account for nearly one-third (30%) of the consumer complaints received by Biden’s office.  The Attorney General’s Nuisance Abatement program uses the state’s Criminal Nuisance Abatement Act to identify and investigate properties where drug, gun and violent crime is permitted to flourish, and offers property owners the choice to abate the nuisance or be forced to defend themselves in court.  The Program identifies nuisance properties statewide through its own investigations, in cooperation with state and local police agencies, and through outreach with local authorities, civic associations, and neighborhood residents.  To-date, over 140 properties have been rehabilitated, more than a dozen have been shut down because they were found to present an immediate threat to the health, safety and welfare of the surrounding community, and nearly 400 properties remain on the Program’s “watch list.”

Renters and landlords who have questions about tomorrow’s event or who wish to file a landlord-tenant complaint with Biden’s office should contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit at 800-220-5424, via e-mail consumer.protection@delaware.gov, or visit www.attorneygeneral.delaware.gov.consumers for more information.  Residents who want to report a property to the Attorney General’s Criminal Nuisance Abatement Program should call (302) 577-8345.

# # #

image_printPrint


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.