Debt collectors in Delaware: your rights

Your federal rights

These federal rules apply in Delaware and every other state. Delaware's own law, below, can add more.

• Who the federal law covers. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) covers debt collectors who collect for someone else and companies that buy debts, not usually the original creditor collecting its own debt (15 U.S.C. 1692a(6)). Some state laws also cover original creditors.
• A validation notice. A collector must give you a validation notice, in its first message or within 5 days after it, with the amount, the creditor and how to dispute (15 U.S.C. 1692g(a); 12 CFR 1006.34).
• Your right to dispute. If you dispute the debt in writing within the validation period (30 days after you get the notice), the collector must stop collecting until it mails you verification (15 U.S.C. 1692g(b); 12 CFR 1006.38).
• When collectors can contact you. No calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. your time, or at work if your employer doesn't allow it (15 U.S.C. 1692c(a)). More than 7 calls in 7 days about one debt is presumed to break the law (12 CFR 1006.14(b)(2)).
• Telling a collector to stop. If you tell a collector in writing to stop contacting you, it must stop, except to tell you it is ending collection or will take a specific step such as a lawsuit (15 U.S.C. 1692c(c)).
• What collectors can't do. No threats, obscene language, false statements (for example pretending to be a lawyer or the government, or threatening arrest) and no unfair practices such as collecting fees your contract doesn't allow (15 U.S.C. 1692d, 1692e, 1692f). A collector generally can't discuss your debt with your family, neighbors or employer (15 U.S.C. 1692c(b)).

Read how to dispute a debt or stop collector calls.

Delaware law and extra protections

Extra protections

• For medical debt owed to a hospital or other large health-care facility, or collected by a medical debt collector, they cannot garnish your wages or bank account, foreclose on your home, levy on your belongings, or cause your arrest. (6 Del. C. § 2505J(a))
• You cannot be charged interest or late fees on medical debt, even on a judgment. (6 Del. C. §§ 2504J(a), 2509J)
• A spouse or other adult is not liable for your medical debt unless they sign a separate consent form. (6 Del. C. § 2506J(b))
• Collectors must pause collection on medical debt while a health insurance appeal is pending and for 60 days after. (6 Del. C. § 2508J)

Old debts in Delaware

Written contracts

3 years

Open accounts and unwritten agreements

3 years

Does a payment restart the clock?

Delaware gives 6 years to sue on 'an acknowledgment under the hand of the party of a subsisting demand' (a signed written acknowledgment of a debt), the same as for promissory notes (10 Del. C. § 8109).

Law

10 Del. C. § 8106(a); § 8109 (promissory notes and signed acknowledgments: 6 years)

Official text

Read the law

The time limit is the statute of limitations. Once it runs out, the debt is “time-barred”: a collector must not sue or threaten to sue you, but the debt still exists. Read more about time-barred debt.

Is my debt too old? Check Delaware's time limit

Every state limits how long a creditor or collector has to sue you over a debt. This is the statute of limitations. Choose your state, the type of debt and the date of your last payment to see the limit and an estimated end date. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere.

Wage garnishment and bank accounts in Delaware

Wage limit

Stricter than federal: 85% of your wages are protected, so no more than 15% can be taken. Only one wage attachment can be made at a time. (The 85% limit does not apply to state fines, costs or taxes.)

Head of household

A head of family may also keep up to $500 of other personal property of their choice, on top of the basic exemptions. (10 Del. C. § 4903)

Law

10 Del. C. § 4913; § 4903

Federal benefits such as Social Security, SSI and VA benefits that were directly deposited are protected in your bank account up to two months' worth (31 CFR 212.6). A creditor usually needs a court judgment before it can garnish your wages or bank account.

Property you can keep in Delaware

Outside bankruptcy, Delaware's execution exemptions are narrow (for example, clothing, family Bible and books, and tools of a trade up to $75 in New Castle and Sussex or $50 in Kent). (10 Del. C. § 4902) Larger exemptions apply in bankruptcy (10 Del. C. § 4914).

Collector licensing in Delaware

License required

No statewide license

Who licenses

No Delaware collection agency license was found. The State Bank Commissioner's non-depository license list does not include collection agencies.

Medical debt in Delaware

Delaware's Medical Debt Protection Act (6 Del. C. ch. 25J; 84 Del. Laws c. 198 (2024), amended by 85 Del. Laws c. 107 (2025) and later acts). 'Medical creditors' are hospitals and other large health-care facilities. Those creditors and medical debt collectors cannot garnish wages or bank accounts, foreclose, levy on property or cause arrest for medical debt (§ 2505J); no interest or late fees (§§ 2504J, 2509J); for debts of $500 or more they must offer a payment plan capped at 5% of gross monthly income (§ 2504J); no collection, lawsuits or credit reporting while an insurance appeal is pending or for 60 days after (§ 2508J); a spouse or other adult is not liable unless they sign a separate consent (§ 2506J). Since October 27, 2025, no one may report medical debt to a credit bureau (§ 2507J, SB 156). Note: on October 28, 2025 the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an interpretive rule saying that the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act generally preempts state laws that ban medical debt from credit reports (90 Fed. Reg. 48710). The state law is still on the books, but credit bureaus may argue it cannot be enforced, and courts have the final say.

If you are sued in Delaware

Time to answer

Justice of the Peace Court (where most consumer debt cases are filed): answer as directed by the summons (J.P. Court Civil Rule 12). Check the date on your summons.

If you don't answer

If you don't answer as the summons directs, the court can enter a default judgment against you (J.P. Court Civil Rule 55).

Court self-help

Delaware court self-help (official)

Don't ignore court papers. Read what to do if a debt collector sues you.

Where to complain in Delaware

• Delaware: Delaware Department of Justice, Consumer Protection Unit · (800) 220-5424
• Federal: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau takes complaints about debt collectors at consumerfinance.gov/complaint · (855) 411-2372.
• You can also report a collector to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Free help in Delaware

• Delaware DOJ Consumer Protection Unit · (800) 220-5424
• Community Legal Aid Society, Inc. (free legal aid)
• Delaware Courts Online Self-Help Center

Good to know in Delaware

• Delaware's limit for most debts is only 3 years (10 Del. C. § 8106).
• Delaware protects 85% of wages from garnishment, more than federal law (10 Del. C. § 4913).
• A debt on a promissory note has 6 years, not 3 (10 Del. C. § 8109).

Changes in 2024–2026

2024: Medical Debt Protection Act enacted (84 Del. Laws c. 198). 2025: SB 156 (85 Del. Laws c. 107) bans medical debt from credit reports, effective October 27, 2025. Later 85th General Assembly acts (85 Del. Laws c. 349 and c. 460) amend §§ 2505J, 2508J and 2511J; some changes (for example, a defense in medical debt lawsuits if the hospital did not follow financial-assistance rules, and an affidavit needed before a default judgment) take effect only when a contingency in 85 Del. Laws c. 349, § 6(b) is met.

Free letters to send a collector

Questions about debt collection in Delaware

Other states