Tenant Info | Dover, DE | Colonial Investment & Management Company

Office Information:

Colonial Investment & Management Company's office hours are Monday – Thursday 9:00AM until 5:00PM and Friday 9:00AM until 4:30PM. CIMC's offices are closed Saturday and Sunday.

We are closed New Year's Day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day & day after, Christmas Day & day before or after (determined annually). As Holidays approach, please see News for up-to-date information.

CIMC's phone number (302) 736-0674 is a 24/7 number. Our answering service offers a live response outside of normal office hours. There is 24-hour emergency maintenance available for all true emergencies. Any maintenance request that can wait until regular hours will be documented, and scheduled as soon as the office re-opens. Our fax number is (302) 736-1595. Residents may also submit non-emergency maintenance requests at any time via the Maintenance tab in the Resident Portal on our website. These submitted requests will be read and addressed during normal business hours.

We enjoy a very good reputation and relationship with the Dover Community Police. It is our goal to provide the safest, best-managed & best-maintained apartments in Dover. We encourage residents to call 911 anytime they feel it is needed. (Noise, suspicious activity, safety concerns, etc.)

Colonial Investment & Management Company, Inc.offers Equal Housing Opportunity.

We offer Equal Opportunity Housing. However, some restrictions do apply. Applicants must be 18 years of age or older. The Leaseholder must be a resident in the apartment, and each Leaseholder must be able to pass the Credit and the Criminal Background Checks; no co-signers. We do not rent to full-time students. We no longer participate in any Housing Voucher program.

Apartment Rental Application Process:

Select "Search Rentals" to apply online for your desired available apartment. Information for online applications is found on the property pages. Our Application process requires each person who wants to be on the lease to fill out an application and approve for us to run Credit and Criminal Background Screenings. Upon submitting an online application, each applicant must pay a $50.00* application fee by either credit card or debit card online. The $250.00* Hold Deposit will be charged directly to the credit card or debit card used for the application fee, immediately upon approval of the online application. This Hold Deposit is applied toward the Security Deposit when you sign your lease. (*) Note: There is no payment processisng fee added to either the application fee or hold deposit when paid during the online application process.

Should you choose not to apply online, you may download an application from this website or pick one up at CIMC's office. Mail or bring your completed application(s), along with a check or money order for $50.00 application fee (per person), to Colonial Investment & Management Co., Inc. at 9 E. Loockerman Street - Suite 2-C, Dover, Delaware 19901. If you want us to take this apartment off the market and consider it yours, you'll need to pay a $250.00 Hold Deposit with Certified Funds or a Money Order. (A Hold Deposit is automatically charged upon approval to those who have applied online.) Remember, for those not applying online, this apartment is not off-the-market until we have received your Hold Deposit. This Hold Deposit is applied toward the Security Deposit when you sign your lease.

The approval is based on information obtained from the Credit and Criminal Background Screening reports. We are looking for a good relationship with your past landlords, a good previous bill paying history, and a clean criminal background. Approval or Denial is based upon credit information on the Applicant(s) only. We do not consider Guarantor(s) or Co-Signers in the approval process.

After initial approval, you are required to submit to CIMC your last two pay stubs or other verification of income to receive final approval and a tentative move-in date.

In order to see an apartment, you need to schedule an appointment. You will view the actual apartment that is available (we do not have "Models"), and will have the opportunity to ask additional questions.

We'll hold an apartment vacant no more than 30 days. (So if it's vacant now, that means 30 days from the day your $250.00 is received. If the apartment is scheduled to be vacated at the end of next month, then that would mean 30 days from the end of next month when the current tenant vacates the unit.)

When you move into the apartment, the $250.00 Hold Deposit is applied toward the Security Deposit, which is equal to one month's rent. At move-in, you will need to pay the remaining Security Deposit, Pet Deposit if applicable, and the first month's rent, which is pro-rated to the actual number of days that you will have possession of the apartment. Contact the CIMC property management office to confirm the exact dollar amount you will need to pay at the time you sign your lease and pick up the keys to your new apartment. This amount may be paid via check, certified bank check, or money order. See below for move-in details.

Pet Policy:

We do permit pets in most of our properties. Limit of one pet per apartment, and it cannot be more than 30 pounds full grown. These are strictly enforced and if violated, may be cause for termination of your lease. A $300.00, potentially refundable, Pet Deposit is required but there is no additional monthly fee. We reserve the right to exclude aggressive and/or exotic pets.

(Effective November 01, 2018 new pets were no longer welcomed into the Front House (139 Kings Highway) at Kings Court Apartments. Effective January 01, 2012 pets are not permitted in Loockerman Square Apartments.)

Apartment Move-In Process:

On the day before you intend to take possession of an apartment, it is a good idea to call the office to confirm. Rarely there may still be something going on in the apartment that will not be completed until after noon, for example.

On the day you come to take possession, you will need to allow about 15 – 20 minutes. You will need to:

Read & sign the Lease
Read & sign a Pet Agreement (if applicable)
Provide Photo ID (Driver's license, Military ID, or State issued ID are accepted)
Pay the balance of your Security Deposit, which is equal to one month's rent (less the $250.00 paid to take the apartment off the market, which goes toward Security Deposit)
Pay the Pet Deposit of $300 (if applicable)
Pay the first month's rent, which is pro-rated, literally to the number of days that you have possession. (Take amount of monthly rent, divide by number of days in month, multiply by number of days you will have possession OR call the office & we'll do the math for you!)
Payment may be made with your choice of check, certified bank check or money order. You may call the CIMC office in advance to get the exact dollar amount you will be required to pay the day you sign your lease and receive your keys.
Receive a brief orientation.
Get your keys and be on your way.
The electric (and gas, if applicable) services are on in CIMC's name at the time you take possession of your apartment. We give you 3 Business Days to get these services transferred into your name. (You are not establishing a new service; you are simply transferring an existing service into your name.) You are required to provide us confirmation of this transfer. Please see Utilities for more details.

Apartment Move-Out Notice:

We require 2 full calendar months notice of your intent to vacate, as stated in the State of Delaware Landlord Tenant Code 25 Del.C. §5106 (c). In lieu of directly quoting, here is a translation:

If you are currently in a lease, you will need to notify us in writing 60 days before your lease ends - that would be the first day of the month, TWO months before your lease expires (i.e Lease ends September 30th, notice due in office by August 1st). An offer to renew your lease will come from our office a week or two before, so it will act as a reminder when your lease is expiring.
If you are currently a "month-to-month" tenant, you will need to notify us in writing 2 calendar months (not 60 days) in advance. Pursuant to the above referenced code, if a notice is received during the month, the notice "…period shall begin on the 1st day of the month following the day of actual notice". That means 2 full calendar months. A notice received on the 15th of a month DOES NOT relieve you on the 15th of a month.

Exceptions:

State of Delaware Landlord Tenant Code 25 Del.C. §5314 (b) offers some exceptions to these requirements, reducing the notice time from 2 full calendar months to 1 full calendar month. In lieu of directly quoting, here is a brief summary of events that qualify for this reduction. If a tenant:

receives a job transfer from their current employer relocating in excess of 30 miles (job with new employer does not qualify).
receives Military Orders for deployment or relocation.
has a serious illness that requires permanent change of residence (i.e. assisted living, nursing home).
is accepted into Senior Citizen's facility (including subsidized housing), or group living facility, or retirement home.
is accepted into government subsidized housing (including Base Housing).
joins the Military as active duty status.
Lease also may be terminated by the surviving spouse or representative of the estate of a tenant, upon the death of the tenant.

Showing of Occupied Apartment:

(NOTE: We do not show occupied apartments at this time. When showing of occupied apartments does resume, it will be noted here. We thank applicants and prospsective tenants for understanding this precaution.)

Once you have given proper notice of your intent to vacate, it is probable that we will schedule to show your apartment to prospective tenants in order to get it re-rented in a timely manner. We will contact you, at least 48-hours in advance, to let you know if this happens and when we have a showing scheduled.

Apartment Move-Out Process:

When it's time to go:

The most important thing to us is that you remove everything you brought in! Don't forget to remove items from your storage cage, if you have one. Any furniture, trash or debris left behind may result in a deduction from your Security Deposit Refund for what it cost us to have it removed.
Our contracts with the trash companies do not provide for removal of bulk trash – they just do not do it. It is your responsibility to discard any beds, dressers, furniture, etc. If you put it by the dumpster, we have to hire an outside contractor to remove it and take it to the landfill. This may result in a deduction from your Security Deposit Refund for what it cost us to have it removed.
You do not need to paint the apartment, or clean the carpet. These are items we routinely do between tenants. However, if there are extreme issues that would be beyond the normal "wear & tear" expected for the period of time you have been in the apartment, you are subject to a deduction from your Security Deposit Refund for the additional expense of getting it back into rent-ready condition.
When you call the electric &/or gas company, you will need to give them the date you would like the services removed from your name. They have it in their records that services are to be transferred to the Landlord rather than actually disconnected, but if you would remind them of that, it has proven to be helpful.
When everything is gone from the apartment, you'll need to turn in your keys and leave us a forwarding address for the return of your Security Deposit. If you leave at a time when the office is closed, you may call the regular office number (we have an answering service) and leave a message stating that you are gone. Leave your keys on the counter and lock the door on the way out, and it is considered the same as dropping them to our office. The important part here is to leave us a message so we know you are gone! If you have additional questions, please call.