# ESA Letter in Clayton, DE: Twenty Days, Doubled

> A Delaware landlord has twenty days to return a deposit and owes double what is wrongfully withheld — but only if you can show what was charged and why.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/delaware-emotional-support-animal/clayton/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-09-05
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

## Key facts

- Population: 4,511
- Households renting: 10.5%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): 1 month max, back in 20 days
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): $25-$40/mo for pets
- Breed/weight limits common: sometimes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## A rental market the survey can barely see

Clayton is a town in northern Kent County, governed by a town council, on
the 19938 ZIP. The 2024 Census estimate puts it at **4,511** people, twelfth
among Delaware's twenty largest places.

Then the numbers get thin. Of Clayton's 1,195 occupied homes, the 2020–2024
American Community Survey five-year estimate counts about **125 rented**,
and the margin on that count is plus or minus 82. The estimate for median
gross rent, $1,621, comes from the same tiny sample and carries the same
warning. Delaware has only 57 incorporated places in total, so a town of
4,500 is already near the bottom of what the survey can measure. Nothing on
this page ranks Clayton against another Delaware town, because the figures
will not bear it.

What survives the small sample is the law, which is identical in a town of
125 renting households and in Wilmington. And one part of it has a short
fuse.

## Twenty days, and then it doubles

**25 Del. C. § 5514** runs the deposit from beginning to end, and the end is on a clock.

> "(e) If the landlord is not entitled to all or any portion of the security deposit, the landlord
> shall remit the security deposit **within 20 days** of the expiration or termination of the rental
> agreement.
> (f) **Within 20 days** after the termination or expiration of any rental agreement, the landlord
> shall provide the tenant with an itemized list of damages … **Failure to do so shall constitute an
> acknowledgment by the landlord that no payment for damages is due.**"

And the penalty, at **§ 5514(g)(1)**:

> "**Penalties.**, (1) Failure to remit the security deposit or the difference … within 20 days …
> shall entitle the tenant to **double the amount wrongfully withheld.**"

Read subsection (f) again, because it does more work than tenants expect. A
landlord who lets the twenty days pass without an itemised list has not
merely missed a deadline. The statute treats the silence as an admission
that **no payment for damages is due**. The list is not a courtesy. It is
the thing that makes a deduction defensible.

## The pet deposit is inside the same machinery

This is the part that matters for a tenant with an animal, and it is easy to
miss because it sits in a different subsection.

**25 Del. C. § 5514(i)(1)**:

> "(i) **Pet deposits.** — (1) A landlord may require a pet deposit. Damage to the rental unit
> caused by an animal shall first be deducted from the pet deposit. Where the pet deposit is
> insufficient, such damages may be deducted from the security deposit. **A pet deposit is subject
> to subsections (b), (e), (f), (g) and (h) of this section.**"

That last sentence pulls the pet deposit into the twenty-day return, the
twenty-day itemised list and the double-damages penalty. Whatever was
collected for the animal comes back on the same schedule, and the same
silence carries the same admission.

Notice which way the damage flows, too. Animal damage comes out of the
**pet** deposit first, and reaches the security deposit only if the pet
deposit runs out. It does not work in reverse: a landlord cannot start with
the pet money for a broken window.

## What the remedy does not decide

Here is the limit, stated plainly, because a Clayton tenant who mixes these
two up will file in the wrong place.

Section 5514(g)(1) answers **"was this money wrongfully withheld at the end of the tenancy?"** It
does not answer **"should this charge have existed at all?"** Those are different questions under
different statutes, in different forums, on different clocks.

The second question (whether a deposit could lawfully be attached to an
animal that is in the home as a required accommodation), belongs to the
Delaware Fair Housing Act. **6 Del. C. § 4603A(a)(2)** makes it
discrimination to refuse

> "reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services, when such accommodations may
> be necessary to afford such person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling"

and **§ 4603(b)(2)** reaches discrimination in "the terms, conditions, or privileges" of a rental
because of disability. A deposit charged for the animal an accommodation puts in the unit is a term
of that rental. That is the argument, and it runs through chapter 46 of Title 6, not through the
deposit statute.

## The sentence that looks like an exemption

Before a reader goes looking, Delaware does have a pet-deposit exemption
written into § 5514, and it is worth knowing why it is not this one.

**§ 5514(i)(3)** says a landlord

> "shall not require any pet deposit from a tenant if the pet is a **duly certified and trained
> support animal** for a disabled person who is a resident of the rental unit."

The words look exact. Then **§ 5141(38)** supplies the meaning of "support animal" for all of Part
III of Title 25:

> "any animal **individually trained to do work or perform tasks** to meet the requirements of a
> disabled person, including … minimal protection work, rescue work, pulling a wheelchair or
> retrieving dropped items."

Training, plus a certification the Delaware Code never assigns to anybody.
An emotional support animal helps by being present, which is neither work
nor a task, so the exemption does not reach it. Quoting § 5514(i)(3) at a
leasing office and being handed § 5141(38) in reply is a bad afternoon.

## Why the paperwork matters more in a town this size

In a market of roughly a hundred and twenty-five rented homes, most
landlords are individuals rather than management companies. That changes
practice, not law. There is often no leasing portal, no standard
accommodation form and no file kept beyond a chequebook stub.

So keep the file yourself, from the first day:

- The lease page that sets out the pet deposit, the pet rent, or both, with the amounts.
- Every receipt or bank record showing what was actually paid, and when.
- The written accommodation request, dated. The Division of Human and Civil Rights says no
  particular form or phrase is required, and also that putting the request in writing is what gets
  it documented properly.
- The date the tenancy ended, which is when the twenty days start.

Delaware also protects the act of pursuing this. **25 Del. C. § 5516(b)(4)** makes it a retaliatory
act to move against a tenant who "has pursued or is pursuing any legal right or remedy arising from
the tenancy," and § 5516(c) **presumes** retaliation where the landlord acts within 90 days. The
remedy under § 5516(e) is three months' rent or treble damages, whichever is greater, though that
section pointedly excludes attorneys' fees.

## Making the first document before the deadline exists

Every clock on this page starts after something has already gone wrong. The
document that decides the outcome has to exist before then.

If a clinician already treats you, ask them first. That is the strongest
version of the letter, because it comes from someone with a history of you
rather than an hour of you. The friction in Kent County is real: Delaware's
specialist mental-health capacity is concentrated up in New Castle County,
independent practices downstate are few, and a wait measured in months does
not care that your lease renews in six weeks. A primary-care prescriber may
also decline to write a disability determination, which is a fair
professional judgement rather than an obstruction.

Where that route will not produce a dated letter in time, a licensed
evaluation is the same assessment arranged deliberately: a licensed
professional decides whether a disability exists and whether this animal
answers a disability-related need, then records the finding or declines to
make one. The refusals are the reason the findings are worth anything.

Twenty days is a fast remedy. It only pays out to a tenant who can show, on
paper, what was charged and why it should not have been.

## What Clayton landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- May not refuse a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services where it may be necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling: 6 Del. C. § 4603A(a)(2).
- May not discriminate because of disability in the terms, conditions or privileges of the rental, or in the services and facilities provided with it: 6 Del. C. § 4603(b)(2). This is where a charge attached to a required animal is met.
- May not require a security deposit above one month's rent where the agreement runs a year or more, or on a month-to-month tenancy once it has lasted a year, 25 Del. C. § 5514(a)(2)–(3), and those limits do not apply to furnished units at all, § 5514(a)(4).
- May not inquire whether an applicant for a dwelling has a disability, or as to its nature or severity, except by inquiries made of all applicants alike: 6 Del. C. § 4603A(a)(4).

**Can:**
- May require a pet deposit, capped at one month's rent regardless of the length of the agreement, 25 Del. C. § 5514(i)(2), but that deposit is a separate and additive ceiling from the security deposit, which § 5141(33) defines as "exclusive of a pet deposit."
- Must remit the deposit and provide an itemized list of damages within twenty days of the end of the tenancy; failure to itemize is an acknowledgment that no payment for damages is due, and failure to remit entitles the tenant to double the amount wrongfully withheld, 25 Del. C. § 5514(e)–(g).
- May charge an application fee of no more than the greater of 10 percent of the monthly rent or $50, on pain of double damages, 25 Del. C. § 5514(d).
- May decline where the tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of others, or would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others, 6 Del. C. §§ 4603(c) and 4603A(f). The assessment is individualised.
- Is outside the state accommodation duty only in the case 6 Del. C. § 4607(e) describes: a dwelling of no more than four families where the owner occupies one of them. Discriminatory advertising under § 4603(b)(3) remains unlawful even there, and the federal Fair Housing Act runs its own exemptions on its own terms.

## How to get an ESA letter in Clayton

1. **Check that you qualify**, Answer a short screening about how your condition affects daily life in Clayton. No diagnosis paperwork needed up front. (About 5 minutes: free)
2. **Connect with a licensed professional**, You are matched with a provider licensed for Delaware clients who reviews your situation in a telehealth evaluation. (Telehealth evaluation)
3. **Complete your evaluation**, The professional evaluates whether an emotional support animal alleviates symptoms of a condition recognized in the DSM-5. Honest evaluations, not everyone qualifies. (Most of Our Applicants Qualify)
4. **Receive your signed letter**, Your letter arrives on the professional's letterhead with their license number: the documentation Delaware landlords may lawfully request. (Typically within days of approval)
5. **Send it to your landlord**, Submit the letter with a short reasonable-accommodation request. Pet fees, pet deposits, and breed limits no longer apply to your animal in Clayton. (Protection under FHA + state law)

## Conditions that can qualify for an ESA

No fixed government list exists. A licensed professional evaluates whether an animal alleviates symptoms of a DSM-5-recognized condition, commonly:

- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Major depressive disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Panic disorder
- Social anxiety disorder
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Bipolar disorder
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Phobias with housing impact
- Chronic stress affecting daily function

## Housing help in Clayton

- [Town of Clayton](https://www.clayton.delaware.gov/) (town government)
- [Charter of the Town of Clayton](https://charters.delaware.gov/clayton.html) (ordinance)
- [Kent County Levy Court](https://www.kentcountyde.gov/) (county government)
- [Delaware Courts, Landlord/Tenant help](https://courts.delaware.gov/help/landlordtenant/) (court)
- [Legal Services Corporation of Delaware, Housing](https://www.lscd.com/topics/401/housing) (legal aid)

## Frequently asked questions

### My Clayton tenancy ended and the deposit has not come back. How long does the landlord have?

Twenty days. 25 Del. C. § 5514(e) requires the landlord to remit any portion of the security deposit they are not entitled to "within 20 days of the expiration or termination of the rental agreement," and § 5514(g)(1) entitles the tenant to "double the amount wrongfully withheld" where that is missed. The clock runs from the end of the tenancy, not from the day you ask.

### Does that twenty-day rule reach the pet deposit too, or only the security deposit?

Both. 25 Del. C. § 5514(i)(1) states that "a pet deposit is subject to subsections (b), (e), (f), (g) and (h) of this section," which imports the return deadline, the itemised list requirement and the double-damages penalty. Money collected because of an animal comes back on exactly the same schedule as money collected for anything else.

### What happens if I never receive an itemised list of damages?

The statute treats the silence as an admission. 25 Del. C. § 5514(f) requires an itemised list within 20 days of termination or expiration and provides that "failure to do so shall constitute an acknowledgment by the landlord that no payment for damages is due." A deduction with no list behind it is very hard to defend.

### Can pet damage be taken out of my ordinary security deposit?

Only in that order and only that far. 25 Del. C. § 5514(i)(1) provides that damage caused by an animal "shall first be deducted from the pet deposit," and that "where the pet deposit is insufficient, such damages may be deducted from the security deposit." It does not run the other way, a landlord cannot start with the pet money to pay for damage an animal had nothing to do with.

### If the pet deposit should never have been charged at all, does § 5514(g)(1) get it back?

No, and mixing the two up sends a claim to the wrong place. Section 5514(g)(1) answers whether money was wrongfully withheld at the end of a tenancy. Whether the charge could lawfully exist is a fair-housing question under 6 Del. C. § 4603A(a)(2) and § 4603(b)(2), which reaches discrimination in the terms, conditions or privileges of a rental. Different statute, different forum, different deadline.

### Can my landlord push back if I chase the deposit?

Delaware anticipates that. 25 Del. C. § 5516(b)(4) makes it a retaliatory act to move against a tenant who "has pursued or is pursuing any legal right or remedy arising from the tenancy," and § 5516(c) presumes retaliation where the landlord acts within 90 days. The remedy in § 5516(e) is three months' rent or treble damages, whichever is greater, although that subsection expressly excludes attorneys' fees.

### Clayton has very few rental homes. Does the small market change how I should handle this?

It changes practice, not law. With an estimated 125 rented homes in town, most landlords here are individuals rather than management companies, so there is often no leasing portal, no standard accommodation form and no file kept on your behalf. Delaware's Division of Human and Civil Rights notes that no particular form or wording is required for a request, and also that putting it in writing is what gets it properly documented.

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Get evaluated by a licensed provider: https://my.supportanimal.com/qualify?sa_source=blog&sa_medium=blog&sa_campaign=esa-guides&sa_content=markdown&ref=blog&sa_term=delaware-emotional-support-animal%2Fclayton