Court portal, certified copy fees, and expungement laws for Delaware
In Delaware, a residential eviction record lives with the Justice of the Peace Court, the trial court that handles landlord-tenant summary possession cases statewide. There is no single public website where you can pull these files yourself — Delaware offers only limited online access, so most people retrieve a record by visiting the relevant Justice of the Peace Court location in person or sending a written request. This matters for anyone screening a tenant or checking their own history: the record exists, but reaching it takes more legwork than in states with a searchable statewide portal.
Two facts shape everything that follows. First, certified copies cost $0.50 per page, a routine clerk fee rather than a barrier. Second, Delaware has no statutory eviction-record expungement right — there is no law letting a tenant erase or seal a case simply because it ended favorably. Below, the Eviction Risk Map research team walks through how to actually find a Delaware record, how to read what you find, and what the absence of an expungement statute means for landlords and tenants alike.
Start with the court that owns the file. Residential eviction (summary possession) cases are filed and heard in the Justice of the Peace Court, organized by location across Delaware's three counties — New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. Because the state provides only limited online access, there is no statewide public portal that returns a full case file by name search. In practice, you contact the Justice of the Peace Court location where the case was filed and ask the clerk to look up the matter by tenant name or case number.
You can typically request the record in person at the courthouse or by submitting a written request to the clerk. Ask specifically for the docket and any judgment entry, not just the complaint. If you need a copy you can rely on for screening or a dispute, request a certified copy, billed at $0.50 per page. Bring identifying details — full name, approximate filing date, and the rental address — so the clerk can locate the right file.
The single most important thing to check on any Delaware eviction record is the disposition — how the case actually ended. A filing is not a judgment. A landlord opening a summary possession action only means a complaint was filed; it does not mean the tenant lost, was ordered out, or did anything wrong. Cases are dismissed, settled, withdrawn, or decided for the tenant all the time, and that outcome is the part that matters.
When you pull the docket from the Justice of the Peace Court, look past the opening complaint to the final entry. Was a judgment for possession entered, or was the case dismissed or resolved by agreement? Was money awarded, and to whom? A record that shows a filing with no adverse judgment tells a very different story than one ending in a possession order. Reading only the top of the file — the fact that a case existed — is how accurate records get misused.
Delaware has no statutory eviction-record expungement or sealing right. There is no provision that lets a tenant petition to erase a summary possession case from the Justice of the Peace Court record on the basis that it was dismissed or decided in their favor. Practically, that means most Delaware eviction filings remain part of the court record and can surface in tenant-screening reports.
For landlords, this raises the stakes on how you use what you find. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), if you rely on a third-party screening report to deny an applicant, you owe adverse-action notice and must let the applicant dispute inaccurate information. Do not treat a bare filing as proof of wrongdoing — verify the disposition before acting, because a dismissed or tenant-favorable case is not grounds for denial and acting on a misread record invites a fair-housing or FCRA complaint.
Because Delaware offers no expungement statute for eviction records, a tenant generally cannot have a Justice of the Peace Court case sealed or removed just because it ended in their favor. The case stays on the court record. That does not leave tenants powerless, though — the most effective lever is accuracy, not erasure.
If a tenant-screening report shows the wrong outcome, the wrong person, or a stale entry, FCRA gives the tenant the right to dispute it directly with the screening company, which must investigate and correct or delete inaccurate data. Tenants should pull the actual docket from the Justice of the Peace Court (certified copies are $0.50 per page) so they can show a prospective landlord exactly how a case resolved — a dismissal or a judgment in their favor — rather than letting a screening report's summary speak for them.
This guide was prepared by the Eviction Risk Map research team using public information about Delaware's Justice of the Peace Court, which hears residential summary possession cases statewide. Delaware has no statutory eviction-record expungement law, and the state offers only limited online access to these records; court procedures and fees can change, so confirm current details with the Delaware Justice of the Peace Court before relying on them. Last reviewed June 2026. This is general information, not legal advice — consult a licensed Delaware attorney for guidance on your specific situation.
Contact the Justice of the Peace Court location where the case was filed — Delaware handles residential summary possession cases there across New Castle, Kent, and Sussex counties. Because the state offers only limited online access, there is no full statewide self-service portal; you typically request the record in person or in writing from the court clerk by tenant name or case number. Certified copies cost $0.50 per page.
Yes. Eviction cases filed in the Justice of the Peace Court are part of the court record and are generally accessible to the public. The catch is reachability: Delaware provides only limited online access, so rather than searching a statewide website you usually retrieve a record by contacting the specific Justice of the Peace Court location directly.
No. Delaware has no statutory eviction-record expungement or sealing right, so a tenant generally cannot have a summary possession case removed from the Justice of the Peace Court record — even if the case was dismissed or decided in their favor. The strongest option is to dispute inaccurate entries on a tenant-screening report under the FCRA and to provide the actual docket showing how the case resolved.
Certified copies from the Justice of the Peace Court are billed at $0.50 per page. Request the certified copy from the court location that handled the case; the total depends on how many pages the docket and judgment entries run.
Court portal information sourced from the Delaware court administrative office official website. Expungement laws from published Delaware statutes (see citations above). Last updated July 14, 2026. For informational purposes only, not legal advice.
