Delaware Code Title 10 Sec. 7133 – Civil action for damages resulting from criminal nuisance
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of § 7105 of this title, any person damaged in his or her business or property by reason of a criminal nuisance may bring a separate civil action for actual damages in the Superior Court against any person who knowingly conducted, maintained, aided, abetted or permitted criminal nuisance as defined in this chapter.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 10 Sec. 7133
- Court: means the Superior Court of the State of Delaware. See Delaware Code Title 10 Sec. 7103
- Criminal nuisance: means any real property at which:
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Owner: means any person in whom is vested the ownership and title of property, and who is the owner of record. See Delaware Code Title 10 Sec. 7103
- Person: means a human being who has been born and is alive, and, where appropriate, a public or private corporation, a trust, a firm, a joint stock company, a union, an unincorporated association, a partnership, a government or a governmental instrumentality. See Delaware Code Title 10 Sec. 7103
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- premises: includes any building, structure, erection, or any separate part or portion thereof, whether used as a residence, for commercial purposes or a house of worship, or the ground itself. See Delaware Code Title 10 Sec. 7103
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
(b) In a civil action for damages pursuant to this section, the failure of an owner or landlord to initiate an eviction action against a tenant in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 57 of Title 25, if the owner or landlord has been notified by certified or registered mail of the tenant’s involvement in a criminal nuisance on the leased premises, shall be prima facie evidence that the owner knowingly gave permission to engage in conduct constituting the criminal nuisance.
(c) In a civil action for damages pursuant to this section, expert testimony may be used to determine the amount of any actual damage or loss incurred by reason of the criminal nuisance as defined in this chapter.
(d) Whenever an action for damages brought pursuant to this section terminated in a settlement or judgment favorable to the plaintiff, the plaintiff shall be entitled to recover the actual cost of the suit, including but not limited to reasonable attorney fees and all expenses and disbursements by the plaintiff in investigating, bringing and maintaining the action. All defendants shall be jointly and severally liable for the payments of taxed costs imposed pursuant to this section.
(e) In any civil action for damages brought pursuant to this section, any evidence admitted or admissible in a civil action for abatement relief or penalty pursuant to this chapter shall be admissible.
72 Del. Laws, c. 484, § ?1; 78 Del. Laws, c. 161, §§ ?42-47;