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Sen. Jack Walsh pushes to remove sunset on Delaware rent-justification law
Summary
The Senate Housing and Land Use Committee heard Senate Bill 235, which would remove a sunset provision in the rent-justification framework enacted in earlier legislation (SB 317). Sponsor Sen. Jack Walsh said the bill makes no substantive changes beyond eliminating the sunset; industry representatives voiced support and no formal vote was taken.
The Senate Housing and Land Use Committee on April 7 heard testimony on Senate Bill 235, which would remove a sunset provision from Delaware's rent-justification law enacted under earlier legislation (SB 317). Sponsor Sen. Jack Walsh said the bill "does nothing other than remove the sunset provision" and asked the panel for questions.
Walsh told the committee the rent-justification formula adopted previously limited typical increases to "3 and a half" percent plus half of the 24-month Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) when CPI-U is 7% or lower, and otherwise allowed the full 24-month CPI-U if it exceeded 7%. He said the law also phased in market-driven rent increases over seven or 10 years depending on the size of the increase.
The committee heard public comment from industry representatives who said the framework has reduced conflict between landlords and tenants. Jerry Heisler, who was invited to speak, said the industry has worked to resolve arbitration backlogs and "we only raised rents about 6.2%" during the high-inflation period; he added, "I support this." Robert Tunnell of Tunnel Companies and Partners Communities said the process has become "much smoother across the whole industry" and called the current law "a great piece of legislation." Both speakers said they were supportive and, according to Walsh, the bill came from an industry group he named during the hearing.
Sen. Hawker noted for the record that he did not participate in the measure because he is a manufactured homeowner. Chair Sen. Tizzy Lockman said she would circulate SB 235 to committee members for sign-off; the committee did not take a formal vote on the bill during the meeting.
The hearing record shows no registered opposition presented in person. Staff advised that written comments would be accepted to the committee email and entered into the public record up to 24 hours after adjournment. After public comment the chair entertained a motion to adjourn; the motion was seconded and the committee adjourned.
Next procedural steps: the chair said she would circulate the bill for committee sign-off; no committee vote or amendment was recorded during this meeting.
