The Delaware records that decide what a home really costs and what the seller has to tell you: disclosure law, property-tax reset, the official registry, and the FEMA flood map — sourced, with the county offices that hold the files.
Check the records behind the address before you offer.
Check any address — free previewThe legal standard: Under Title 6, Chapter 25 of the Delaware Code the seller must disclose in writing all known material defects at the time the property is offered for sale or known before final settlement, and must separately disclose known radon information and any radon test results in the seller's possession.
You should receive the Real Estate Commission's disclosure report plus a separate radon disclosure before you make an offer. No standalone Delaware flood-disclosure requirement was verified in the sources reviewed, so check FEMA flood maps and flood-insurance needs independently.
Our research did not confirm whether Delaware law specifically requires flood-risk disclosure. Ask the seller directly, in writing, whether the home has ever flooded — and check the official flood map yourself (next section).
Sources: nolo.com · legalclarity.org · legalclarity.org · housedems.delaware.gov · recordinglaw.com · sexoffender.dsp.delaware.gov
A sale does not by itself reset the assessment, but Delaware's recent first-in-decades reassessments reset values county-wide to current market value and sharply changed many individual bills. Ask which base year and rate your county now uses rather than assuming the seller's old bill reflects current values.
Homestead: Delaware has no general statewide homestead property-tax exemption for all primary residences; homeowners age 65 and older may qualify for a Senior School Property Tax Credit of 50 percent of school tax, up to $500 a year, plus county senior exemptions with their own rules.
Delaware Sex Offender Central Registry is run by Delaware State Police, State Bureau of Identification. Search it by the home's address before you offer — and search again before closing, because registry data changes as people move.
Open the official Delaware registry
You can also search every state at once through the federal National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW). A CurbFacts report shows the registry count for the home's ZIP — the same public data, organized for the decision.
The only flood map that decides a lender's insurance requirement is FEMA's — the National Flood Hazard Layer behind the official FEMA flood map viewer. Listing sites license private models that can and do disagree with it; when they conflict, the FEMA map is the one your lender and insurer use.
Check the exact parcel, not the ZIP code: flood-zone boundaries cut through streets, and two houses side by side can sit in different zones.
Title 6, section 2572A requires every buyer to be notified the home may present radon exposure, requires the seller to share any radon test results or reports in the seller's possession, and gives the buyer the right to test before settlement.
All three counties reassessed between 2021 and 2025 after a 2020 ruling found the old system unconstitutional; New Castle's prior base year was 1987 and Sussex's was 1974, so historical tax bills are a poor guide to post-reassessment bills.
What the Delaware disclosure does and does not cover, section by section, and the questions it never answers.
Read the guideHow to run an address through the official Delaware registry, and how to read what comes back.
Read the guideRecords live at the county level — assessor, recorder, permits. Pick the county for its records checklist.
Every CurbFacts report pulls the public records behind an address — flood determination, registry, tax reset, price history, permits, and what's planned nearby — and shows its sources.
Check any address — free preview