Delaware: HOA governance disputes belong in Chancery, and nowhere else
Delaware: HOA governance disputes belong in Chancery, and nowhere else
2026-08-01 · Delaware · Courts
Delaware splits its trial courts between law and equity, and for community association disputes that split is not a technicality — it decides whether a case can be heard at all. A Sussex County owner who sued over assessments, an elevator contract, meetings, elections and late fees had the whole case dismissed because he filed it in the wrong court.
Vaughan v. Summerlyn Association of Owners, Inc., C.A. No. CPU6-25-000290, was dismissed by Judge Rae M. Mims of the Court of Common Pleas on October 17, 2025.1
What he complained about
The plaintiff owned a unit in a Sussex condominium governed by the Unit Property Act, its declaration and code of regulations, “and subject to certain provisions of DUCIOA.” His claims were the ordinary catalogue of association grievances: assessments changed from monthly to quarterly; an elevator maintenance contract; meetings not held as the governing documents require; unfair elections; renters voting; and late fees.
Why none of it could be heard
Under 10 Del. C. § 341, only the Court of Chancery hears causes in equity.
The court worked through what the plaintiff was actually asking for and found it equitable throughout. A request to change how an association operates, how it interprets its contracts, how it sets assessments and late fees, how it runs owner meetings, elections and quorum — these ask a court to compel or restrain conduct. They are not monetarily compensable, and the Court of Common Pleas cannot grant them.
The one claim that might have belonged there — breach of contract — was dismissed under the court's Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to plead a contract, a breach, and monetary damages.
The Delaware forum map, stated plainly
This is the practical value of the decision, and it is worth committing to memory before filing anything.
Court of Chancery. Equitable claims: interpretation of a declaration, breach of fiduciary duty against directors, specific performance of covenants, injunctive relief, derivative claims, receivership, and — under 8 Del. C. § 225 for incorporated associations — who is lawfully the board. Because most association enforcement and most owner-versus-board governance complaints ask a court to compel or restrain, this is where they land.
Superior Court. Claims for money damages: assessment collection, judgment liens, appeals from the Court of Common Pleas and the Justice of the Peace Court.
Court of Common Pleas. Smaller civil money claims, within its limits.
Justice of the Peace Court. Summary possession, and manufactured home community matters under Chapter 70, with appeals to a three-judge panel for a full trial de novo.
Delaware Supreme Court. All appeals from the trial courts. Delaware has no intermediate appellate court, so an appeal from Chancery or Superior Court goes straight there.
Our Delaware dispute resolution page sets out the split in full.
How often this actually bites
Frequently, and it has bitten in both directions in the past year.
In a Superior Court case decided in April 2026, the court held it had no jurisdiction to compel production of association records, because mandatory injunctive relief is exclusively Chancery's — and separately observed that fiduciary claims are “quintessential equitable claims.” So an owner denied records who sues for damages in Superior Court gets damages analysis and no order to produce.
In the Boulder Brook fair-housing case, half the claim fell away at the threshold because the Superior Court cannot issue an injunction under the Delaware Fair Housing Act.
The pattern is consistent: the relief you request determines the court, and asking the wrong court for the right thing loses the case without anyone reaching the merits.
The route left to an owner
Identify the remedy first, then the court. If what you want is an order — produce the records, hold the election, stop enforcing the amendment, appoint a receiver — that is Chancery, and there is no cheaper alternative. If what you want is money back, that is a law court, and you must plead a contract, a breach and a sum.
Do not bundle. This plaintiff's contract claim failed independently, on pleading. A money claim asserted alongside governance grievances tends to be drafted as an afterthought, and it will be tested on its own.
Consider the Ombudsperson first. Delaware's Common Interest Community Ombudsperson costs nothing, answers quickly, and can refer a matter to the Court of Common Pleas community mediation programme — it made 12 such referrals in 2024. What it cannot do is compel, as the Greens at Wyoming record shows. For a dispute where the other side will engage, it is the rational first step; for one where they will not, it is a delay.
A note on which statute governs
The court's own description of Summerlyn — governed by the Unit Property Act “and subject to certain provisions of DUCIOA” — captures Delaware's two-layer reality precisely. DUCIOA governs communities created on or after September 30, 2009; older ones remain primarily under the Unit Property Act at 25 Del. C. ch. 22, while 25 Del. C. § 81-119 reaches selected DUCIOA sections back into them. Our Delaware governing statute page sets out which sections reach back.
What to watch next
Nothing about this jurisdictional split is in play legislatively — the 153rd General Assembly amended neither DUCIOA nor the Unit Property Act. It is a durable feature of Delaware practice and the single most common procedural trap for self-represented owners.
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