What the bill actually contained

The text is worth setting out precisely, because it is the clearest available statement of what Delaware's reform constituency wants.²

A new inspection section, § 81-327. Façade inspections for “all buildings that are 4 stories or taller,” plus all second- and third-storey balconies and decks on shorter buildings — initially within 5 years of the certificate of occupancy, within 60 days of observable damage, or within 2 years of the Act for existing buildings; then at least once every 5 years. Structural inspections for buildings whose “primary load bearing system [is] made of concrete, masonry, steel, or heavy timber,” or with structural slabs over unconditioned space — initially within 2 years of occupancy or 15 years of the Act for existing buildings; then every 10 years while the building is under 20 years old and every 5 years after. Inspections by a “registered design professional” to ASCE guidelines. County and municipal timing requirements would control where they exist.

Reserves recalculated. The definition of “fully funded” in § 81-103 would have required a projection of “no less than 20 years, 30 years or the minimum timeframe stated in the RSS, whichever is greater” — up from 20 — never dropping below a positive balance without borrowing or a special assessment. “Reserve study” would have been bound by name to the Community Associations Institute Reserve Study Standards, and inspection findings and their corrective-maintenance timing folded into the study.

Updates on a clock, and a letter before turnover. Every 3 years under association control. Under declarant control: annually on material changes to common elements, every 3 years, and at completion of construction — with a “letter of adequacy” proving reserves are fully funded, delivered before turnover and made available to owners and prospective buyers.

The exemptions pierced. Sections 81-117 (condominiums and cooperatives of 20 units or fewer), 81-119 (preexisting and “approved” common interest communities) and 81-120 (small preexisting cooperatives) would each have been amended to include the new § 81-327 in their applicability lists. That is the mechanism that would have reached communities created before September 30, 2009 — the DUCIOA effective date, and the line that currently leaves most of Delaware's older condominium stock under the Unit Property Act instead.

The enforcement change, which is the biggest one. A new § 81-417(c) would have provided that the Consumer Protection Unit of the Department of Justice “may enforce this chapter,” with a violation deemed an unlawful practice under 6 Del. C. § 2513. The synopsis states the position it would have replaced: “Under current law, enforcement requires private enforcement through lawsuits or alternative dispute resolution.”

The Act would have taken effect one year after enactment.

What its death leaves in place

Delaware's reserve rules are narrower than most people assume, and unchanged. DUCIOA mandates a fully funded repair-and-replacement reserve based on a current reserve study for condominiums and cooperatives, with the Unit Property Act imposing a parallel duty on pre-2009 condominiums. Planned communities — ordinary HOAs with roads, pools, clubhouses and streetlights — are not subject to the reserve-study mandate at all. A study counts as current if performed or updated within the last 5 years. Our Delaware reserve studies page sets out the framework as it stands.

On inspections there is no state requirement whatever. What exists is county and municipal: New Castle County Ordinance 23-094 for unincorporated areas, and, since June 2026, Rehoboth Beach's own program. Kent County and Sussex County have neither — which is to say Delaware's coastal condominium stock is largely uncovered. Our Delaware condo safety inspections page has the full county-by-county position.

And enforcement of DUCIOA remains what it was: a private lawsuit, or the Common Interest Community Ombudsperson's voluntary dispute-resolution process. No agency can compel compliance.

What to watch next — calibrated honestly

One industry commentator, an insurance brokerage advisor writing on the day of adjournment, expects SB 352 “will likely be revisited during the 2027 legislative session,” and reports that even the Community Associations Institute's Delaware committee had taken no position on the bill.³

That is a vendor's forecast, and it is the only 2027 prediction we could find. No legislator has publicly announced an intention to reintroduce this bill. We checked the sponsors specifically.

We also verified the legislature's own bill database directly: as of this writing there are zero bills of any kind filed in the 154th General Assembly, which convenes in January 2027. Nothing is pre-filed.

Set against the record, the forecast deserves scepticism. This reform was expected in 2024, then 2025, then appeared in June 2026 and never received a hearing. Three predicted introductions, one actual bill, zero committee reports. The next real signal will be the Ombudsperson's 2025 annual report, due around December 2026, and the 154th General Assembly's bill feed from January.