South Carolina eviction law

If rent is not paid within 5 days after it is due, you may end the lease, but only after giving written notice of the nonpayment and of your intent to end the lease if rent is not paid in that time. The 5 days run from the due date, not from the notice.

S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710 (B)

• Because the period is under seven days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and holidays are not counted, and a period ending on a weekend or holiday runs to the next business day. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-240 (D) SCRCP 6(a)
• A tenant receives a written notice when it comes to the tenant's attention, is delivered in hand, or is mailed by registered or certified mail to the address the tenant designated (or the last known residence); proof of that mailing is notice without proof of receipt. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-240 (B)
• One such notice covers the rest of the lease term. You also meet the requirement if the written lease contains the statute's conspicuous provision headed IF YOU DO NOT PAY YOUR RENT ON TIME, or a substantially equivalent one; it then covers a month-to-month tenancy after the term too, and no separate notice is needed before filing. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710 (B) S.C. Code Ann. § 27-37-10 (B)
• A tenant's violation of the duty to use the home only as a dwelling and not allow illegal activity is handled under this same written notice and termination rule, not the 14-day cure notice. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710 (A), (B) S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-540
• If nonpayment was not in good faith and an attorney represents you, you may recover reasonable attorney's fees. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710 (C)

For a lease violation other than unpaid rent, or a tenant failure that materially affects health and safety or the property, give written notice naming the breach and saying the lease will end on a date at least 14 days after the tenant receives it unless the breach is fixed within 14 days.

S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710 (A)

• The lease does not end if the tenant fixes the breach in time, or, where the fix cannot be finished in 14 days, starts within 14 days and finishes in good faith within a reasonable time. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710 (A)
• The 14 days run from the tenant's receipt. A notice is received when it comes to the tenant's attention, is delivered in hand, or is mailed by registered or certified mail to the address the tenant designated (or the last known residence); proof of that mailing is notice without proof of receipt. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-240 (B)
• If a health and safety violation can be fixed by repair, replacement or cleaning and the tenant does not act within 14 days after written notice (or as promptly as an emergency requires), you may enter, have the work done and bill the tenant. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-720 (a)
• For other health and safety violations, you may end the lease if the tenant does not comply within 14 days after written notice, or as promptly as an emergency requires. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-720 (b)
• If the tenant's violation is wilful and an attorney represents you, you may recover reasonable attorney's fees. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710 (C)

Evictions (ejectments) start in magistrate's court. On your application the magistrate issues a rule requiring the tenant to vacate or show cause within 10 days after service why the tenant should not be ejected; if the tenant does not, the magistrate issues a warrant of ejectment.

S.C. Code Ann. § 27-37-20 S.C. Code Ann. § 27-37-40

• The rule may be served like a summons, posted at the home if it has been abandoned for 15 days, or after two failed service attempts posted and mailed through the court clerk. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-37-30
• If the tenant raises defenses, the tenant must keep paying you the rent that comes due after the rule issues, and the rent you claim was owed before it, or show a receipt or cancelled check; if the amount is disputed, the court sets it after a hearing. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-790
• When executing the writ, the officer gives the occupants 24 hours to leave before a deputy sheriff may enter by force. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-37-160
• A licensed broker in charge or property manager may complete a form writ of eviction and present facts to the court for the landlord, if no separate charge is made. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710 (C)
• Since June 30, 2026, no court may stay an ejectment on appeal unless the tenant files an affidavit promising to pay the rent the magistrate set as it comes due; if a payment is not made within five days of its due date, the clerk issues a warrant of ejectment on your application. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-800 (2026 Act No. 252)
• If people who were never your tenants occupy a home without permission, you may petition for an ex parte order removing them instead of bringing an ejectment. S.C. Code Ann. §§ 27-37-200 to 27-37-350 (2026 Act No. 252)

You may not remove or lock out a tenant, or wilfully interrupt essential services, to regain possession. You may take possession only after abandonment, surrender or termination, or as the Act otherwise allows.

S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-660 S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-760

• A tenant who is unlawfully removed or excluded, or whose essential services you wilfully cut, may recover possession or end the lease, and in either case recover three months' rent or twice the actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-660
• Essential services are sanitary plumbing or sewer, electricity, gas used for heat, hot water or cooking, running water, and reasonable hot water and heat. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-210 (17)

A tenant's unexplained absence for 15 days after defaulting on rent is abandonment, and abandonment is immediate if the tenant also voluntarily shut off the utilities. After abandonment or the end of the lease, if the tenant has removed a substantial part of the tenant's belongings or voluntarily and permanently shut off the utilities, you may dispose of property left behind worth $500 or less; anything else may be removed only through the court eviction process.

S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-730 (a), (b), (d), (e)

• You may dispose of property worth $500 or less, entering by force if needed, when the tenant has removed a substantial part of the tenant's belongings or voluntarily and permanently shut off the utilities. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-730 (d)
• If property you disposed of under that rule turns out to be worth more than $500, you are liable only if you were grossly negligent. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-730 (f)
• After an eviction, belongings placed on a public street are removed by local officials after 48 hours, not counting weekends and holidays; where no public trash pickup exists, you may dispose of them after 48 hours. The eviction notice must explain this. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710 (D)
• A contractual lien on the tenant's household goods is not enforceable, and rent may be collected by distress only through the court procedure in chapter 27-39. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-740

You may not raise rent above fair market value, cut essential services or sue for possession in retaliation because the tenant complained to a government code agency about a health and safety violation or complained to you about a violation of the Act. The Act sets no time window for this protection.

S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-910 (a)

• A landlord who retaliates owes up to three months' rent or three times the tenant's actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney's fees. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-910 (h)
• A tenant who wants to raise retaliation as a defense in an eviction must notify you in writing within 10 days after service of the Rule to Vacate or Show Cause. A meritless defense entitles you to attorney's fees, and one raised in bad faith can cost the tenant up to three months' rent or three times your actual damages. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-910 (b), (f)
• You may still sue for possession if the code violation was caused mainly by the tenant's lack of care, the tenant is in material noncompliance, or the needed repairs would effectively deprive the tenant of the home. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-910 (c)
• If you rent more than four adjoining units, a rent increase that applies uniformly to all tenants, or that stays within fair market value, carries no presumption of retaliation. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-910 (e)
• If you retaliate by refusing to renew and the tenant is current on rent, you may not recover possession for 75 days, when the tenant proves your violation and your notice of it and of the complaint before the lease expired. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-910 (g)