South Carolina Landlord-Tenant Law for DIY Landlords (2026)

Security deposits, late fees, entry notice, the five-day rent rule and the ejectment timeline in South Carolina, in plain English for landlords who manage their own rentals.

Last updated September 23, 2026

South Carolina runs on two bodies of law that most small landlords never read together. The Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Title 27, Chapter 40) sets the deposit, repair and notice rules. Ejectment (Title 27, Chapter 37) is the court process that gets someone out.

The state is friendlier to landlords than most, and unforgiving about deadlines you miss. Here is what you have to get right, with the code section behind each rule.

Security deposits

There is no cap. South Carolina sets no statutory limit on a security deposit. The market and your lease decide.

You have 30 days to account for it. Once the tenancy ends, any deduction must be itemized in a written notice to the tenant, with the amount still due, within thirty days after termination of the tenancy (S.C. Code § 27-40-410(a)).

You can deduct accrued rent and tenant damage. The deduction has to tie back to unpaid rent or damage from the tenant's failure to keep the unit in good shape under § 27-40-510. Ordinary wear is not a deduction.

Get a forwarding address in writing. A tenant who does not give you one, and whose location you do not know, loses the right to claim damages. Mailing your notice to the last known address covers you (§ 27-40-410(a)).

The penalty is three times the money. Fail to return the deposit or prepaid rent with the required notice and the tenant can recover three times the amount wrongfully withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees (§ 27-40-410(b)).

More than four adjoining units triggers a disclosure. If you use different standards to set deposits across them, post the standards or hand each tenant a written statement before the lease is signed. Skip it and you cannot withhold the difference between that tenant's deposit and one on a comparable unit (§ 27-40-410(c)).

Tell tenants who you are. At or before the start of the tenancy, disclose in writing the name and address of the owner or the person authorized to act for the owner (§ 27-40-420).

Late fees

South Carolina's residential code sets no late-fee cap and no grace period. Late charges count as part of "rent" under the Act's definitions (§ 27-40-210), so they belong in your lease in writing. Keep the number defensible. A magistrate who reads a fee as a penalty rather than a real cost can say so.

Do not confuse a lease grace period with the five-day rule below. They are separate things.

Rent increases and rent control

No county or municipality in South Carolina can pass an ordinance regulating the rent charged for privately owned residential or commercial rental property (§ 27-39-60). There is no rent control anywhere in the state.

Your limit is the lease. On a fixed term, raise at renewal. On a month-to-month, a rent change rides on the same thirty-day written notice used to end the tenancy.

Entering the unit

South Carolina has a real entry rule, which many states do not.

Twenty-four hours' notice, at reasonable times. For ordinary entry, give the tenant at least twenty-four hours' notice of your intent to enter (§ 27-40-530).

Emergencies need no notice. That covers weather threats and anything that cannot wait.

Scheduled service runs 9am to 6pm. You can enter without consent for routine services if the schedule is conspicuously disclosed in the rental agreement.

Tenant-requested work runs 8am to 8pm.

Announce yourself before you go in. Tenants cannot unreasonably refuse entry for inspections, repairs or showings, and they cannot change the locks without your permission (§ 27-40-530).

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Either side ends a month-to-month with at least thirty days' written notice before the termination date named in the notice. A week-to-week takes seven days' written notice (§ 27-40-770).

A tenant who holds over without your consent, and not in good faith, can owe up to three months' periodic rent or double your actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees (§ 27-40-770).

When rent isn't paid

Five days, then you can terminate. If rent is unpaid when due and the tenant does not pay within five days of the due date, you can terminate the rental agreement, provided the tenant got written notice (§ 27-40-710(b)).

You can bake the notice into the lease. South Carolina lets you meet the notice requirement with conspicuous language in the rental agreement itself, telling the tenant that nonpayment within five days of the due date starts an eviction and that no other notice is coming. Put that in your lease and you skip a separate demand every month (§ 27-40-710(b)).

Other lease breaches get 14 days. For a non-rent breach that materially affects health and safety or the property, send written notice naming the violation and give fourteen days to fix it (§ 27-40-710(a)).

The ejectment process, step by step

Grounds. You can eject a tenant who fails to pay rent when due or demanded, whose term has ended, or who broke the lease (§ 27-37-10).
Apply to the magistrate. The magistrate issues a written rule requiring the tenant to vacate at once or show cause why he should not be ejected, within ten days after service (§ 27-37-20).
Service. Standard summons service applies. After two failed attempts, the rule can be posted on the premises and mailed, and mailed service is complete ten days after mailing (§ 27-37-30).
No response, no hearing. If the tenant does not appear within the ten days, the magistrate issues a warrant of ejectment and a constable or the sheriff carries it out (§ 27-37-40).
Twenty-four hours at the door. When the officer executes the writ, he gives the occupants a copy and twenty-four hours to leave voluntarily before entering by force (§ 27-37-160).
Appeals. An appeal does not stop the ejectment without an appeal bond, and one filed without a bond inside five days gets dismissed (§ 27-37-130).

Never do it yourself. Lock a tenant out or cut off heat, water or power, and the tenant can recover three months' rent or twice actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees (§ 27-40-660).

Repairs and habitability

You have to follow building and housing codes that materially affect health and safety, make all repairs needed to keep the place fit and habitable, keep common areas safe, supply running water and reasonable hot water and heat at all times, and keep the electrical, gas, plumbing, sanitary, heating and air conditioning systems working (§ 27-40-440).

A tenant who gives you written notice of a material breach can end the lease fourteen days later if you do not fix it or start fixing it in good faith, and can recover actual damages and injunctive relief without posting bond (§ 27-40-610).

On a single-family rental, you and the tenant can agree in writing, in good faith, that the tenant handles named maintenance items. Water, heat and the core systems stay on you (§ 27-40-440).

Retaliation

Do not raise rent above fair market, cut services or move to evict after a tenant reports a code violation or complains to you about an Act violation. Damages run to three months' rent or treble actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees (§ 27-40-910).

The short version

No deposit cap, but itemize deductions in writing within 30 days of the tenancy ending
Miss that and the tenant can recover three times the amount plus attorney's fees
No statutory late-fee cap or grace period, so put the fee in the lease and keep it reasonable
No rent control anywhere in South Carolina
24 hours' notice to enter, with carve-outs for emergencies and scheduled service
30 days' written notice to end a month-to-month, 7 days for week-to-week
Rent unpaid 5 days past due lets you terminate, and that notice can live in your lease
Magistrate issues a rule, the tenant has 10 days, then a warrant of ejectment

Let Taz handle the paperwork

Taz is an AI property manager for landlords who would rather not live in the code books. It tracks the 30-day deposit clock, sends rent reminders before the five-day mark, takes maintenance requests day and night, and keeps the records a South Carolina magistrate would ask for. See how Taz works.

Where this guide says a state has no rule on something, that means we found no statute setting one, which is not the same as none existing. Local ordinances and court practice can add requirements. Confirm anything you plan to rely on.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and your city or county may add rules. Talk to a South Carolina attorney before acting on a specific situation. Last checked September 2026.