Delaware

Delaware — Contract for Deed / Installment Land Contract

Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited primary sources before acting. Statutes in this area are frequently amended. Last verified: 2026-06-08.

Delaware is unusual: it has a specific seller-financing contract statute, 25 Del. C. § 314, that does far more than mandate disclosures — for consumer-purpose (1-to-4-family residential) property it effectively limits the life of an executory installment sale. Such a contract may not remain executory for more than 6 months (renewable once for up to 6 more) — i.e., Delaware pushes consumer seller-financing toward a prompt deed-and-mortgage closing — unless the deal is structured as a § 314(d) conditional sales agreement, which Delaware then governs with a built-in default regime: on the buyer’s payment default the buyer has a 120-day right to redeem by paying the full remaining balance, and if the buyer fails to redeem “the contract converts by law to a landlord/tenant agreement” (rent capped at 75% of the installment, the down payment recharacterized as a security deposit) — with the Justice of the Peace Court and the Court of Chancery sharing concurrent jurisdiction (25 Del. C. § 314(d), (g)). That conversion-to-tenancy-after- a-redemption-period scheme — not classic strict forfeiture, and not full mortgage foreclosure — is why this page classifies Delaware’s remedy regime as hybrid / statutory cancellation. Underneath the statute, Delaware common law treats the installment-contract buyer as the equitable owner of the land (briz-ler-corp-v-weiner-1961).

0. Identity & Terminology

• In-state name(s): Delaware’s statute speaks of a “contract for the sale of … real estate under which the seller … agree[s] to provide … financing” and, for the deferred-settlement structure, a “conditional sales agreement” (25 Del. C. § 314). “Contract for deed,” “installment land contract,” and “land contract” are the common names for the same instrument; the buyer is the purchaser/vendee, the seller the vendor/seller. — 25 Del. C. § 314, https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
• Recognition: Statutory and common law. The seller-financing/conditional-sale contract is governed by statute (25 Del. C. §§ 313–314); the buyer’s equitable ownership rests on the common-law doctrine of equitable conversion (briz-ler-corp-v-weiner-1961; see equitable-conversion).
• Statutory home: 25 Del. C. ch. 3 (Titles and Conveyances), principally § 314 (“Contract requirements for the sale of real estate involving seller financing” — amortization-schedule disclosure, 6-month executory limit for consumer property, the conditional-sale/redemption/landlord-tenant-conversion regime, and the voidability penalty) and § 313 (unimproved-land sewer/water contingency notice). Recording is 25 Del. C. ch. 1, subch. III (§§ 151, 153). Usury is 6 Del. C. ch. 23 (§ 2301). Mortgages/foreclosure are 10 Del. C. ch. 49, subch. VI and 25 Del. C. ch. 21. — https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
• Remedy regime: hybrid (statutory cancellation by conversion to tenancy). For consumer 1-4-family property, § 314 channels seller financing either into a near-term deed closing (executory ≤6 mo + 6 mo) or into a § 314(d) conditional sale with a statutory 120-day post-default redemption right followed by conversion by operation of law into a landlord/tenant relationship — not a self-executing strict forfeiture and not a mortgage foreclosure-and-sale. — 25 Del. C. § 314(c)–(d), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/

1. Formation & Mandatory Disclosures

• Statute of frauds: A contract for the sale of land must be in writing and signed. Delaware’s statute of frauds, 6 Del. C. § 2714(a), bars any action on a “contract or sale of lands … or any interest in or concerning them” unless the agreement (or a memorandum) is in writing and signed by the party to be charged. — 6 Del. C. § 2714, https://delcode.delaware.gov/title6/c027/
• Mandatory disclosures — PRESENT (CFD-specific): Yes. 25 Del. C. § 314 imposes contract-content disclosures specific to seller-financed sales:
  • (a) A complete amortization schedule must be an integral part of the contract, including (1) a per-payment principal/interest breakdown and the remaining unpaid principal balance after each payment, (2) a statement that buyer and seller have read and understand the schedule, and (3) the signatures of buyer and seller.
  • (b) A clear statement of the principal amount of seller financing exclusive of interest; interest may not be folded into the stated purchase price.
  • Form prescribed? Content is prescribed (the amortization schedule and principal-amount statement); no single state-issued form is mandated. — 25 Del. C. § 314(a)–(b), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
  • Penalty for omission: Contract voidable. “Failure to comply with the requirements of either subsection (a), (b) or (c) … shall make the contract voidable at the option of either party to the contract prior to settlement” (§ 314(e)). A § 314(d) conditional-sale defect makes the contract voidable by the buyer at any time before the last installment (and, if the buyer is in payment default, voidable by either party until conversion to a landlord/tenant agreement) (§ 314(f)). — 25 Del. C. § 314(e)–(f), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
  • Unimproved-land notice (§ 313): Every contract to sell unimproved real estate must contain a conspicuous “NOTICE TO BUYER” about central sewerage/water availability and a contingency for a satisfactory on-site septic/well evaluation (per DNREC regulations) and zoning conformity, failing which the contract is null and void and deposits are returned. — 25 Del. C. § 313, https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
• Recording requirement: No § 314 deadline to record the contract. Delaware is a race recording state: “A deed concerning lands or tenements shall have priority from the time that it is recorded in the proper office without respect to the time that it was signed, sealed and delivered” (25 Del. C. § 153), and deeds must be recorded in the recorder’s office of the county where the land lies (25 Del. C. § 151). A contract for deed / memorandum is recorded to protect the buyer’s priority; recording is not a statutory precondition to the seller’s § 314 remedies. Who records in practice: the buyer, to protect priority. — 25 Del. C. §§ 151, 153, https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c001/sc03/index.html
• Annual accounting statement: No general statutory annual-accounting mandate located for installment land contracts. (Disclosure is instead front-loaded: the § 314(a) amortization schedule shows the running unpaid balance for every payment.) — 25 Del. C. § 314(a), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/ (see needs_verification for any separate annual-statement duty).
• Prepayment: No CFD-specific statutory prepayment-penalty prohibition located; terms govern, subject to the usury cap below and any applicable federal mortgage rules. (See needs_verification.)
• Usury / interest cap: Delaware’s legal rate (6 Del. C. § 2301) lets a lender “charge and collect … interest at any rate agreed upon in writing not in excess of 5% over the Federal Reserve discount rate including any surcharge thereon”; absent a written rate, the legal rate is 5% over the Federal Reserve discount rate. A broad exemption removes any limit on loans exceeding $100,000 that are not secured by a mortgage against the borrower’s principal residence (§ 2301(c)). Whether a seller-carry installment contract is a “loan/use of money” subject to the cap is fact-specific (credit sale vs. loan). — 6 Del. C. § 2301, https://delcode.delaware.gov/title6/c023/

2. Buyer’s Equitable Interest

• Equitable title passes / equitable conversion recognized: Yes. Delaware follows the majority equitable-conversion rule: an executory contract requiring the seller to deed legal title on full payment “works an equitable conversion so as to make the purchaser the equitable owner of the land and the seller the equitable owner of the purchase money.” — briz-ler-corp-v-weiner-1961, 171 A.2d 65 (Del. 1961), https://law.justia.com/cases/delaware/supreme-court/1961/171-a-2d-65-3.html; see equitable-conversion.
• Buyer’s interest recordable: Yes — the contract or a memorandum is recordable under the conveyancing/recording statutes (25 Del. C. §§ 151, 153), and recording fixes priority in this race state. — https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c001/sc03/index.html
• Buyer’s interest insurable: Yes; the equitable interest is an insurable property interest (vendee’s-interest/owner’s coverage available through Delaware title insurers). (Confirm specific endorsements in transaction — see needs_verification.)
• Risk of loss: Buyer (in possession), absent a contrary clause. Briz-Ler holds that the equitable owner in possession “becomes subject to all losses not occasioned by the fault of the seller,” so a casualty loss falls on the buyer, who may credit insurance proceeds to the price or use them to repair. — briz-ler-corp-v-weiner-1961, https://law.justia.com/cases/delaware/supreme-court/1961/171-a-2d-65-3.html
• Improvements and waste: As equitable owner in possession the buyer may improve the property and bears the ordinary burdens of ownership (Briz-Ler). Allocation of improvement value/waste on default turns on the contract and, for a § 314(d) conditional sale that converts to a tenancy, on landlord/tenant law.

3. Default & Remedies → see forfeiture-vs-foreclosure

• Primary remedy: For a consumer-purpose (1-4-family residential) § 314(d) conditional sale, the statutory path is redemption-then-conversion: written notice of default → 120-day buyer redemption window (full payment of the remaining contract amount) → if unredeemed, the contract “converts by law to a landlord/tenant agreement” retroactive to the default date. This is a statutory cancellation by conversion to tenancy, not strict forfeiture and not a mortgage foreclosure sale. For non-consumer property, or where parties have not used the § 314(d) structure, default remedies are contract-governed against the common-law backdrop (with the buyer treated as equitable owner per Briz-Ler), and a seller who has retained title-as-security may seek relief in the Court of Chancery. — 25 Del. C. § 314(d), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
• Forfeiture available? Not as a clean self-executing strict forfeiture for consumer 1-4-family conditional sales — § 314(d) replaces raw forfeiture with a 120-day redemption right and conversion to a tenancy (the down payment becomes a security deposit, not a windfall to the seller; § 314(d)(4)). For property outside the consumer-purpose definition, no Delaware statute prescribes the remedy, and a contract forfeiture clause would be tested against Delaware equity’s long-standing “abhorrence of forfeitures” and the buyer’s equitable ownership.
  • Substantial-equity bar: Not codified as a numeric equity threshold. The consumer-property protection is structural (the § 314(d) redemption + tenancy conversion + security-deposit treatment), not a Skendzel-style “substantial equity” valuation test. No Delaware decision adopting the skendzel-v-marshall-1973 substantial-equity bar for land contracts was located (see needs_verification). — 25 Del. C. § 314(d), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
• Statutory cancellation (the § 314(d) regime):
  • Cure / redemption period: 120 days, running from the seller’s written notice of default, during which the buyer may redeem by paying the full remaining contract amount (§ 314(d)(2)). — 25 Del. C. § 314(d)(2).
  • Runs from: service of the seller’s written notice of default. — § 314(d)(2).
  • Notice form prescribed: Statute requires written notice of default to start the 120-day clock; no further notice form is prescribed in § 314 (see needs_verification for any JP-Court procedural form). — § 314(d)(2).
  • Effect of failure to redeem: Contract converts by operation of law to a landlord/tenant agreement (§ 314(d)(3)); rent is the § 314(d)(1) rental value (capped at 75% of the original periodic installment), applied retroactive to the default date; the down payment is deemed a security deposit, with any amount above the 25 Del. C. § 5514 cap first applied to rent arrears and any excess returned to the tenant (§ 314(d)(4)). — 25 Del. C. § 314(d)(1),(3),(4), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
  • Reinstatement right: The 120-day redemption is the statutory cure; redeeming (paying the remaining balance in full) within the window preserves the purchase. — § 314(d)(2).
• Judicial foreclosure required when: Delaware has no statute requiring a land contract to be foreclosed as a mortgage (contrast Ohio/Oklahoma-style statutes). A seller may, however, invoke equity: where the contract functions as security and the buyer holds equitable title, a seller’s remedy is pursued in the Court of Chancery (and, for § 314(d) conversions, the Justice of the Peace Court has concurrent jurisdiction). — 25 Del. C. § 314(g), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
• Acceleration enforceable? Conditional / contract-governed. No § 314 provision specifically blesses or limits an acceleration clause; for a § 314(d) conditional sale, the buyer’s statutory escape is redemption by paying the full remaining contract amount within 120 days. (See needs_verification for case law on acceleration in this context.) — 25 Del. C. § 314(d)(2).
• Restitution offset on forfeiture? For consumer § 314(d) conversions, the down payment is not simply forfeited — it is recharacterized as a security deposit, applied to rent arrears, and any excess over the § 5514 cap is returned to the tenant (§ 314(d)(4)). Outside § 314(d), Delaware equity’s abhorrence of forfeiture supports relief against an unconscionable retention. — 25 Del. C. § 314(d)(4), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
• Seller’s other remedies: specific performance / action for the price, contract damages, and equitable relief in the Court of Chancery; for a converted § 314(d) tenancy, the ordinary landlord/tenant summary-possession remedies in the JP Court (Title 25, Part III). — 25 Del. C. § 314(g), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/

▸ For Sellers / Operators — Delaware is a statute-driven, consumer-protective jurisdiction, and § 314 is the deal-defining provision. If your buyer is a person buying 1-to-4-family residential property for personal/family/household use, you have two compliant tracks: (1) keep the contract executory no more than 6 months (renewable once, ≤6 more) and then deed-and-take-back-a-mortgage at “final settlement,” or (2) use a § 314(d) conditional sales agreement — but then you are locked into its default regime: written notice of default, a 120-day buyer redemption right, and, if the buyer doesn’t redeem, automatic conversion to a landlord/tenant relationship (rent ≤ 75% of the installment, the down payment becomes a security deposit capped by § 5514). You cannot simply declare a strict forfeiture and keep everything. Every seller-financed contract must carry the § 314(a) amortization schedule and the § 314(b) principal-amount statement, signed — omit them and the contract is voidable (§ 314(e)). Confirm your usury ceiling (§ 2301), your federal Dodd-Frank/SAFE exposure (§ 4), the transfer-tax timing (§ 6), and any due-on-sale/wrap consent issue (§ 5).

▸ For Buyers — You hold equitable title as an owner, not a tenant, during the contract (briz-ler-corp-v-weiner-1961), and you bear risk of loss while in possession (insure the property). On default of a § 314(d) consumer conditional sale you get a 120-day right to redeem by paying the balance in full; if you can’t, the deal converts to a lease rather than a total wipeout, and your down payment is treated as a security deposit (excess over the cap is returned). Record your contract or a memorandum promptly — Delaware is a race state (§ 153).

3b. Remedies — Advanced

• Election of remedies: No § 314-specific election rule located; a seller generally may not both keep the property and recover the full price. The § 314(d) regime itself channels the consumer-default outcome (redeem, else convert to tenancy), constraining the seller’s menu. (See needs_verification.) — 25 Del. C. § 314(d), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
• Deficiency after forfeiture/foreclosure: Not addressed by § 314; on conversion to a tenancy the unpaid “purchase price” is replaced by a go-forward rent obligation rather than a deficiency judgment. (See needs_verification for any seller money judgment for pre-conversion arrears beyond the security-deposit offset.)
• Anti-forfeiture / equitable relief from forfeiture: Delaware courts apply the maxim that “the law abhors a forfeiture,” relieving against forfeitures where practicable in the interest of justice; for consumer land contracts the legislature has codified that protection through the § 314(d) redemption-and-conversion scheme. — 25 Del. C. § 314(d), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/ (general anti-forfeiture maxim; see needs_verification for an on-point land-contract holding).
• Ejectment vs. eviction path: Both, depending on stage. During the contract the buyer is the equitable owner (Briz-Ler), so a pre-conversion dispute sounds in equity (Chancery). After a § 314(d) conversion to a landlord/tenant agreement, the defaulted buyer is a tenant, and the seller-now-landlord uses summary possession in the Justice of the Peace Court — which § 314(g) gives concurrent jurisdiction with Chancery. — 25 Del. C. § 314(d),(g), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
• Quiet title after cancellation: Because the seller never parts with legal title, a completed § 314(d) conversion or a contract termination ordinarily leaves record title in the seller; a separate quiet-title action is generally unnecessary in the uncontested case (contested matters go to Chancery/JP Court under § 314(g)). (See needs_verification.)
• Forfeited payments treatment: For consumer § 314(d) sales, payments are not pure liquidated damages to the seller — the down payment becomes a security deposit (§ 314(d)(4)) and post-conversion the buyer pays rent; the statute thus displaces a penalty/forfeiture analysis with a tenancy accounting. — 25 Del. C. § 314(d)(4), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
• Intervening seller-lien risk to buyer: The seller holds record legal title during the contract, so a judgment or lien against the seller can attach to the seller’s interest; the buyer’s chief defense is recording the contract/memorandum in this race state to fix priority (25 Del. C. § 153). — https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c001/sc03/index.html

4. Federal Overlay (as applied in-state) → see dodd-frank-seller-financing, safe-act-mlo, garn-st-germain-due-on-sale

• Dodd-Frank exposure: Federal seller-financing rules apply in Delaware with no special state carve-out. A natural-person seller financing one dwelling in 12 months may use the ≤1-property exclusion (no balloon limit, no ATR test); the ≤3-property exclusion (persons/entities, with ATR and no negative amortization) is the next tier — per the “mortgage originator” definition and seller-financer exclusion at 15 U.S.C. § 1602(dd)(2) and 12 C.F.R. § 1026.36(a)(4)–(5) / § 1026.43. Note Delaware’s own § 314(c) consumer 6-month executory limit operates on top of these federal rules, “unless specifically permitted by preempting Federal law or regulation.” — see dodd-frank-seller-financing; 25 Del. C. § 314(c), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
• SAFE Act MLO licensing: Sellers who exceed the federal seller-financer thresholds can trigger mortgage loan originator licensing. Delaware administers SAFE-Act MLO licensing through the Office of the State Bank Commissioner under the Delaware SAFE Act, 5 Del. C. ch. 24, implemented by Regulation 2401 (licensing through NMLS). — 5 Del. C. ch. 24, https://delcode.delaware.gov/title5/c024/index.html; Office of the State Bank Commissioner, https://banking.delaware.gov/mortgage-loan-originator-licensing/; see safe-act-mlo.
• State consumer-protection overlay / CFPB enforcement notes: Delaware’s § 314 consumer protections (executory-period limit, conditional-sale redemption/conversion, voidability) are themselves the principal CFD-specific overlay; the general unfair-trade-practices law is the Consumer Fraud Act, 6 Del. C. ch. 25, subch. II. Post-2016 CFPB/state-AG scrutiny of predatory contract-for-deed selling (e.g. Harbour Portfolio) is the national compliance backdrop. — 6 Del. C. ch. 25, https://delcode.delaware.gov/title6/c025/ (confirm subchapter cite — see needs_verification).

5. Title, Recording & Wraps → see garn-st-germain-due-on-sale

• Memorandum recording: Permitted — the contract or a memorandum is recordable under 25 Del. C. §§ 151–153, and in this race state recording fixes priority (“priority from the time that it is recorded,” § 153). No § 314 recording deadline. — https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c001/sc03/index.html
• Garn-St. Germain due-on-sale: A contract for deed is a transfer that can trigger a due-on-sale clause in an underlying loan; Garn-St. Germain (12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3) preempts state restrictions and makes due-on-sale clauses generally enforceable, subject to the enumerated residential exemptions (which generally do not cover a sale on an installment land contract where the borrower parts with occupancy/possession). See garn-st-germain-due-on-sale.
• Underlying-mortgage / wrap: Wraps over an existing mortgage are permitted in Delaware but carry the standard risk: the senior lender may call or foreclose on a due-on-sale trigger even if the buyer pays the seller on time, wiping the buyer’s junior equitable interest. No Delaware statute specifically conditions a wrap on lender consent, so disclosure and escrow of payments are contractual best practice. Note the § 314(c) consumer 6-month executory limit, which pushes consumer deals toward a deed with a recorded purchase-money mortgage rather than an open-ended wrap. — see garn-st-germain-due-on-sale.
• Deed delivery: The seller retains legal title and conveys by deed at “final settlement” (i.e., when the price is paid / financing converted to a mortgage) (§ 314(c) definition of “final settlement”); escrow of the executed deed is a common mechanism. — 25 Del. C. § 314(c), https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/
• Marketable title at payoff: The seller must convey marketable title at final settlement; the recorded contract plus the deed clears the chain.
• Title insurance: Available to buyers (vendee’s-interest and, at settlement, owner’s policies) through Delaware title insurers. (Confirm specific endorsements — needs_verification.)
• Seller death / bankruptcy effect: The seller’s interest (legal title + payment stream) passes to the estate or bankruptcy estate; the buyer’s recorded equitable interest and right to the deed at settlement survive.

6. Tax Treatment

• IRC § 453 installment reporting: A Delaware installment land contract is an installment sale; a non-dealer seller may report gain under IRC § 453 as principal is collected (dealer-property and other exceptions apply). — 26 U.S.C. § 453, https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/453; see irc-453-installment-sale.
• Property-tax responsibility: Contract-governed; in practice the buyer in possession (equitable owner under Briz-Ler) pays the county/municipal/school property tax. (Delaware has no statewide general homestead exemption from property tax; relief is limited and local — see below.)
• Homestead exemption for equitable owner: Delaware has no broad statewide property-tax homestead exemption; the main statewide relief is the Senior School Property Tax Credit (50% of school property tax, capped at $500, for owners age 65+ on a primary residence), plus locally-adopted county/municipal exemptions. Eligibility of an equitable owner under a contract for deed for these credits should be confirmed with the county assessor. (For the separate homestead exemption from execution by creditors, see 10 Del. C. § 4914.) — see needs_verification (equitable-owner eligibility for the senior credit; § 4914 amount/scope).
• Transfer / documentary tax: Delaware imposes a Realty Transfer Tax (30 Del. C. ch. 54) on a “document … whereby … real estate … shall be … conveyed to the grantee,” due at the making/execution/delivery/acceptance or presenting for recording of the document — i.e., on the deed at settlement, not on the executory contract itself; mortgages are excluded. The combined state-plus-local rate is commonly 4% (state share reduced where the local 1.5% is enacted), split between grantor and grantee, with a first-time-buyer reduction. — 30 Del. C. §§ 5401– 5402, https://www.delcode.delaware.gov/title30/c054/sc01/index.html (confirm the exact current state/local rate split before quoting in a transaction — needs_verification).
• Mortgage registration tax: None located — Delaware imposes no separate mortgage-recording/registration tax; recording is a per-document recorder fee. (See needs_verification.)

7. Bankruptcy & Death / Divorce

• Buyer bankruptcy: Whether a Delaware installment land contract is an executory contract (11 U.S.C. § 365) or a secured debt in the buyer’s bankruptcy is subject to the national split. Delaware’s equitable-conversion view — buyer is equitable owner, seller holds legal title as security (briz-ler-corp-v-weiner-1961) — supports secured-debt-style treatment, but the federal characterization is fact- and court-specific, and § 314(d)‘s tenancy conversion could complicate the analysis for a consumer contract in default. — see needs_verification.
• Seller bankruptcy: The seller’s interest enters the estate subject to the buyer’s recorded equitable interest and right to the deed at settlement.
• Assignability by buyer: The buyer’s equitable interest is an interest in real property (Briz-Ler) and is generally assignable subject to contract terms; due- on-sale and anti-assignment clauses are enforced per their terms (and the federal Garn-St. Germain overlay for underlying loans).
• Survivorship / divorce treatment: The buyer’s equitable interest is real property that passes by will/intestacy and is subject to equitable distribution on divorce under Delaware’s marital-property statute (13 Del. C. § 1513). (Confirm characterization of an in-progress contract — see needs_verification.)

8. Case Law (real, verified)

Case	Year	Topic	Holding (plain English)	Source
briz-ler-corp-v-weiner-1961	1961	equitable_interest / equitable_conversion / risk_of_loss	An executory installment land contract works an equitable conversion: the purchaser is the equitable owner of the land (seller holds legal title as security), so the buyer in possession takes appreciation and bears risk of loss (casualty falls on the buyer, who may credit insurance to the price or repair).	https://law.justia.com/cases/delaware/supreme-court/1961/171-a-2d-65-3.html

9. Edge Cases (state-specific notes)

• § 314(c) 6-month executory limit (consumer property) — Delaware caps how long a consumer 1-4-family seller-financed contract may stay executory (≤6 mo + ≤6 mo renewal) before a deed-and-mortgage “final settlement,” unless structured as a § 314(d) conditional sale. A distinctive feature with no clear analogue in most states.
• § 314(d) conditional-sale → tenancy conversion — the signature Delaware mechanism: written default notice → 120-day redemption → conversion by law to a landlord/tenant agreement (rent ≤ 75% of installment; down payment = security deposit). JP Court + Chancery concurrent jurisdiction (§ 314(g)).
• garn-st-germain-due-on-sale — a contract for deed can trigger an underlying loan’s due-on-sale clause; no Delaware statute conditions a wrap on lender consent.
• (Add: manufactured/mobile-home installment sales (note Delaware’s manufactured-housing Title 25 Part IV regime), SCRA servicemember protections, agricultural-land contracts under § 315.)

10. Operations

• Where records live: County Recorder of Deeds for the county where the land sits (New Castle, Kent, Sussex); deeds, memoranda, and mortgages are recorded there (25 Del. C. §§ 151–153). — https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c001/sc03/index.html
• Recorder / agency portals: County Recorder of Deeds offices (New Castle, Kent, Sussex); the Realty Transfer Tax is collected with recording via the state RTT return (Delaware Division of Revenue Form 5402). — Delaware Division of Revenue Realty Transfer Tax, https://revenue.delaware.gov/ (confirm current form/portal — needs_verification).
• Who may draft (UPL notes): Seller-financing contracts must satisfy the § 314 content rules (amortization schedule, principal-amount statement, conditional-sale provisions); preparing these and conducting a § 314(d) default/conversion for others implicates legal judgment, so non-attorney drafting/enforcement for others risks UPL exposure. Delaware practice typically routes contested matters through Chancery or the JP Court (§ 314(g)).
• Typical costs: Recorder per-document fees; Realty Transfer Tax at settlement (~4% combined, split grantor/grantee, first-time-buyer reduction); reinstatement under § 314(d) requires the buyer to pay the full remaining balance within 120 days.
• Typical timelines: Consumer executory contracts limited to ≤6 months (+6 mo renewal) (§ 314(c)); 120-day redemption window after default notice in a § 314(d) conditional sale (§ 314(d)(2)).
• Key agencies: County Recorder of Deeds; Delaware Division of Revenue (Realty Transfer Tax); Office of the State Bank Commissioner (SAFE/MLO licensing); Department of Justice / Consumer Protection Unit (Consumer Fraud Act); DNREC (on-site septic/well for § 313 unimproved-land contracts).
• Useful forms: Recorded contract for deed or memorandum of contract; § 314(a) amortization schedule (integral to the contract); § 313 unimproved-land NOTICE TO BUYER; Realty Transfer Tax return (Form 5402).

11. Meta

• sources:
  • {type: statute, url: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c003/, retrieved: 2026-06-08} # 25 Del. C. §§ 313, 314 (full text of 314(a)-(g) retrieved)
  • {type: statute, url: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title25/c001/sc03/index.html, retrieved: 2026-06-08} # 25 Del. C. §§ 151, 153 recording (race)
  • {type: statute, url: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title6/c023/, retrieved: 2026-06-08} # 6 Del. C. § 2301 usury
  • {type: statute, url: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title5/c024/index.html, retrieved: 2026-06-08} # 5 Del. C. ch. 24 SAFE Act / MLO
  • {type: statute, url: https://www.delcode.delaware.gov/title30/c054/sc01/index.html, retrieved: 2026-06-08} # 30 Del. C. ch. 54 Realty Transfer Tax
  • {type: agency, url: https://banking.delaware.gov/mortgage-loan-originator-licensing/, retrieved: 2026-06-08}
  • {type: case, url: https://law.justia.com/cases/delaware/supreme-court/1961/171-a-2d-65-3.html, retrieved: 2026-06-08} # Briz-Ler Corp. v. Weiner, 171 A.2d 65 (Del. 1961)
  • {type: case, url: http://de.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.19610424_0001.DE.htm/qx, retrieved: 2026-06-08} # Briz-Ler (FindACase index, corroborating)
  • {type: federal_statute, url: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/453, retrieved: 2026-06-08}
• needs_verification:
  • Exact verbatim text of 6 Del. C. § 2714 statute-of-frauds (writing requirement confirmed in concept; pin the precise subsection/language).
  • Whether any separate Delaware statute imposes an annual accounting statement duty on installment land-contract sellers (none located beyond the § 314(a) front-loaded amortization schedule).
  • Whether any CFD-specific prepayment-penalty prohibition exists (none located).
  • Whether Delaware case law adopts a Skendzel-style substantial-equity bar to forfeiture for land contracts outside the § 314(d) consumer regime (none located; only the general “law abhors a forfeiture” maxim confirmed).
  • On-point Delaware holding applying the anti-forfeiture maxim to an installment land-contract forfeiture clause (the maxim is well established; a land-contract- specific application was not pinned this run).
  • Treatment of a Delaware installment land contract in buyer bankruptcy (executory § 365 vs. secured debt) — no controlling Delaware-specific holding retrieved; § 314(d) tenancy-conversion wrinkle unresolved.
  • Realty Transfer Tax exact current state/local rate split and whether an executory installment contract (vs. the deed) is ever itself a taxable “document” (retrieved sources gave both 3% and 4% combined figures; confirm § 5402 current rate and § 5401 “document” scope before quoting).
  • Equitable-owner eligibility for the Senior School Property Tax Credit and the amount/scope of the execution homestead exemption (10 Del. C. § 4914).
  • Precise current Division of Revenue Form 5402 / RTT filing portal and any installment-sale-specific RTT guidance.
  • Exact subchapter cite for the Consumer Fraud Act within 6 Del. C. ch. 25.
• open_questions:
  • How § 314(d)‘s conversion-by-law to a landlord/tenant agreement interacts with the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code (25 Del. C. Part III) summary-possession procedure and the § 5514 security-deposit cap in practice.
  • Whether § 314(c)‘s 6-month executory limit is enforced in practice to void longer-running consumer land contracts, and how “preempting Federal law” carve-out is applied.
  • Whether a seller can obtain a money judgment for pre-conversion arrears beyond the security-deposit offset after a § 314(d) conversion.
• changelog:
  • 2026-06-08 — Initial authored page. Primary sourcing from the Delaware Code Online (25 Del. C. §§ 313–314 full text incl. 314(a)-(g); 25 Del. C. §§ 151, 153 recording; 6 Del. C. § 2301 usury; 5 Del. C. ch. 24 SAFE Act; 30 Del. C. ch. 54 Realty Transfer Tax), the Office of the State Bank Commissioner, and the verified case Briz-Ler Corp. v. Weiner, 171 A.2d 65 (Del. 1961). Remedy regime classified hybrid (statutory cancellation by 120-day redemption + conversion to tenancy under § 314(d)). Created case page briz-ler-corp-v-weiner-1961.
• cross_links: forfeiture-vs-foreclosure, equitable-conversion, dodd-frank-seller-financing, safe-act-mlo, garn-st-germain-due-on-sale, irc-453-installment-sale, skendzel-v-marshall-1973, sebastian-v-floyd-1979, briz-ler-corp-v-weiner-1961

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Disclaimer. This page is legal information, not legal advice, and may be out of date. Contract-for-deed / installment-land-contract law in Delaware turns heavily on 25 Del. C. § 314 — including a 6-month executory limit for consumer property and a conditional-sale regime that can convert a defaulted deal into a landlord/tenant relationship after a 120-day redemption period — and statutes are frequently amended. Consult a licensed Delaware attorney before drafting, enforcing, or signing an installment land contract.