Delaware

‘Profit over people’: Delaware tenants are pushing for rent control

Published

2 years ago

April 11, 2024

‘Profit over people’: Delaware tenants are pushing for rent control

‘Gentrification is real and it is happening’

Based on the report, the percentage of low-income renter households in the state decreased from 37% to 28% between 2010 and 2020. This decline may be due to low-income renters leaving Delaware, sharing housing to afford rent or earning higher incomes.

“There is displacement happening. In other words, gentrification is real and it is happening,” she said. “They’re prioritizing profit over people at the end of the day.”

Among the problems, Miller said, is that the housing market is too expensive, and there are too few homes being built for residents earning less money. She said there’s also been ineffective use of abandoned properties.

“Housing production is not keeping up. Trends indicate that the composition of the state housing stock is unlikely to change. Why? Because we’re starting to see that people are more likely to build single-family homes, which are the most expensive type of housing,” she said, adding, “58% of the housing stock is single-family homes.”

“There’s four times the number of vacant units for recreational purposes — we [are] talking about, what, beach houses — than there are for both rent and sale combined? Meaning that there are more empty beach houses than there are places that we can purchase,” she added.

Once a renter, Tish Coleman is a lifelong Wilmington resident and single mother of three who’s been homeless for almost a year. Throughout her 50 years in Wilmington, she has frequently moved due to rental issues, ranging from problems with previous tenants to unaffordable rent prices.

“I had a landlord who had been a landlord for 30 years, he had a ponzi scheme and the state finally caught up with him and put him in jail at 70 years old and did not go back and correct the judgments that he put out there,” she said. “This landlord, my property where I lived that I moved in, it was $950. Two years later, it was $1,250.”

Coleman attended the HOMES Campaign event and talked of other issues rising from landlords not keeping up with maintenance of their homes. She said that creates problems for both current and future tenants.

“I moved into this new house that I was living in, and the reason I had to move is because that landlord had a $16,000 water bill. The city came out and turned my water off,” she said. “It should have then been the responsibility of the landlord to figure out how to get the water on. But, no, the responsibility was pushed off on me.”

Eventually, due to the ongoing issues with her rental home, she made the difficult decision to leave, which ultimately left her homeless.

“Parents like myself, we don’t have the force to fight these landlords. We are vulnerable women who are out here by ourselves raising our children,” she said. “These ones get away with these things because they prey on the vulnerabilities of women and children.”

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Delaware

Elon Musk-Led Overhaul of Delaware Business Law Upheld by State Court

Published

2 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Elon Musk-Led Overhaul of Delaware Business Law Upheld by State Court

The Delaware Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of an Elon Musk-inspired overhaul of state law that governs most major US corporations, handing a win to company founders, insiders and private equity owners who sought less restrictive business rules.

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Delaware

Delaware County school employee accused of sex assault of minor in Texas

Published

14 hours ago

February 27, 2026

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Delaware County school employee accused of sex assault of minor in Texas

RADNOR, Pa. – Authorities say a Delaware County school employee is accused of traveling to Texas to sexually assault a minor he met online.

What we know:

Michael Robinson, 43, was taken into custody near Radnor Middle School where investigators say he worked as a paraprofessional.

Investigators believe Robinson traveled to Tyler, Texas in the summer of 2024 to meet a minor he had connected with online.

Robinson, according to U.S. Marshals, allegedly sexually assaulted the teen over the course of a weekend.

Delaware County school employee accused of sex assault of minor in Texas

Prosecutors in Smith County, Texas charged Robinson in December with Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child Under 15-years-old.

Robinson is being held at a Delaware County jail where he is awaiting extradition to Texas.

What they’re saying:

U.S. Marshals in Pennsylvania said Robinson’s arrest shows that “sexual predators will always be pursued relentlessly.”

The Radnor Township School District said Robinson has been placed on leave and will not have contact with students.

“Parents of the limited number of children to whom the employee was assigned were contacted by the administration immediately.”

The district said it is cooperating with law enforcement and has “no information indicating misconduct involving district students.”

Crime & Public SafetyDelaware CountyNews

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Delaware

Rehoboth cancels 2026 Polar Bear Plunge after major snowstorm

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Rehoboth cancels 2026 Polar Bear Plunge after major snowstorm

Rehoboth Beach has canceled the upcoming 2026 Lewes Polar Bear Plunge and 5K Run to the Plunge as the Sussex County resort town continues dealing with the aftermath of last weekend’s snowstorm, organizers of the annual Special Olympics fundraiser said on Feb. 26.

“Rehoboth Beach is navigating significant challenges because of the snowstorm,” a Special Olympics Delaware email announced. “At present, the boardwalk and all beach crossings remain snow covered and many sidewalks throughout downtown Rehoboth are as well.”

The plunge and 5K had been rescheduled to March 1 after severe weather conditions in late January caused it to be moved from its original Feb. 1 date.

The plunge will not be rescheduled for this year.

Last weekend’s storm brought nearly 2 feet of snow to parts of Sussex, closing hundreds of roads when trees and wires were downed. There were also power outages across the county, including Rehoboth Beach which had to restore power to its wastewater treatment facility.

Plunging for a cause

The polar bear plunge is one of Special Olympics Delaware’s more popular fundraisers, drawing more than 4,000 participants last year.

In recent years, the event has been bringing in more than a million dollars for Special Olympics Delaware. Last year, plunge events drew $1.3 million, just shy of the record-breaking $1.5 million raised in 2024.

Alex Seymore, Special Olympics Delaware’s director of digital media, said the organization had already raised more than $1 million from this year’s event.

“We expect a small impact,” Seymore told Delaware Online/The News Journal. “But again, we’re showing that we’ve raised over a million dollars.

He added they are reviewing how the cancelation will impact them and their services.

“It’s been just a couple hours, so we’re not completely positive how it will impact things in the long run,” he said. “We’re thankful for everybody that’s helped raise this money through this time.”

What is still occurring

While the plunge and 5k and been canceled this year, there are other indoor events that will continue as scheduled:

Feb. 27

4 p.m. to 7 p.m. – pick up packets and souvenir sales for the Plunge and 5K Run to the Plunge at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, 229 Rehoboth Ave, Rehoboth Beach.

Feb. 28

noon to 2 p.m. Fire & Ice in the Atlantic Sands Ballroom, 1 Baltimore Ave, Rehoboth Beach.
2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Restaurant chili contest.
4 p.m. to 7 p.m. – pick up packets and souvenir sales for the Plunge and 5K Run to the Plunge at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, 229 Rehoboth Ave, Rehoboth Beach.

Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.

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