South Carolina renter rights: the basics for first-time renters

Last reviewed: October 2026 · First Apartment Kit

South Carolina's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act is Chapter 40 of Title 27 of the S.C. Code, and eviction (“ejectment”) procedure is in Chapter 37. This guide summarizes those chapters as published on the South Carolina Legislature's official site, along with the Judicial Branch's eviction form. We didn't find a statewide government tenant handbook, so free help resources are listed separately.

Quick facts

Security deposit max	No state cap — check your lease
Deposit returned within	30 days after the tenancy ends, you move out, and you ask (whichever is later), itemized
Penalty for wrongful withholding	3 times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus attorney's fees
Late fee cap	No state cap — check your lease
Month-to-month: notice to end	30 days' written notice (either side); 7 days for week-to-week
Landlord entry	24 hours' notice, at reasonable times (some exceptions)
Eviction notice for unpaid rent	5 days after the due date (the notice can be in your lease)
Time to respond to eviction	10 days after you're served with the Rule to Vacate or Show Cause

Quick facts are simplified. Read the sections below for exceptions, and check your city or county too.

Security deposits

Cap: South Carolina law doesn't set a maximum deposit.
Deductions: unpaid rent and damage caused by your failure to meet your duties as a tenant.
Return: the landlord must send a written, itemized list of deductions with any refund within 30 days after the latest of: the end of the tenancy, your move-out, or your demand.
Give a forwarding address in writing. If you don't, and the landlord had no notice of where you went and mailed the refund to your last known address, you lose the right to the penalty below.
Penalty: if the landlord doesn't return the deposit with the required notice, you can recover three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney's fees.
A landlord with more than four adjoining units who uses different deposit standards for different tenants must post or hand out those standards before you sign.

Rent increases and late fees

South Carolina law doesn't cap rent, rent increases, or late fees, so your lease controls. (The Act's definition of “rent” includes late charges.) Unless you're told otherwise in writing, rent is due at the start of each month and payable at the unit. Read the late-fee and renewal terms before you sign.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Either side can end a month-to-month tenancy with written notice at least 30 days before the end date, or a week-to-week tenancy with 7 days' notice. A fixed-term lease generally runs to its end date.

If you stay after the lease ends without the landlord's consent, the landlord can file for possession. A willful holdover can cost up to three months' rent or twice the landlord's actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees.

If fire or another casualty substantially damages the home, you can move out and notify the landlord in writing within seven days that you're ending the lease, or stay in the usable part and pay reduced rent.

When the landlord can come in

You can't unreasonably refuse entry for inspections, repairs, services, or showings. Normally the landlord must give at least 24 hours' notice and enter only at reasonable times. The landlord can enter without your consent:

at any time in an emergency (including threatening weather);
between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. for regularly scheduled services like filter changes or pest treatment, if your lease conspicuously says so and the landlord announces the entry first; or
between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. to do work you requested, after announcing the entry.

The landlord can't abuse access or use it to harass you. If they do, you can get a court order or end the lease and recover damages and attorney's fees. You can't change the locks without the landlord's permission.

Repairs and living conditions

The landlord must follow building and housing codes affecting health and safety, keep the home fit and habitable, keep common areas reasonably safe, provide running water, reasonable hot water, and reasonable heat, and maintain electrical, gas, plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and supplied appliances. Appliances in the unit are presumed supplied by the landlord unless your lease excludes them.

End the lease: for a serious problem, give written notice that the lease will end at least 14 days after the landlord receives it unless the problem is fixed within 14 days. You can also sue for actual damages in magistrate or circuit court.
Essential services: if the landlord negligently or willfully fails to provide essential services, after written notice you can buy reasonable amounts of the service and deduct the cost, or recover damages for reduced rental value plus attorney's fees.
No repair-and-deduct for repairs: the law says outright that it doesn't let tenants make repairs and deduct the cost from rent.

Write it all down from day one. The 12-page First Apartment Move-In Kit has a first-week timeline, lease and building facts, a utilities board, room-by-room unpacking, and a first-month money sheet — so your lease facts, notice dates, and move-in notes live in one place. $9.99 on Etsy. Undated.

Get the kit — $9.99 on Etsy

Eviction basics

Unpaid rent: if you don't pay within 5 days of the due date, the landlord can end the lease after giving written notice. That notice only has to be given once per lease term, and a conspicuous clause in your lease can count as the notice. Other lease violations: the landlord must give written notice that the lease will end at least 14 days later unless you fix the problem.

Court: the landlord applies to a magistrate, who issues a Rule to Vacate or Show Cause. You have 10 days after service to move out or contact the magistrate to request a hearing. If you don't, the court can issue a writ of ejectment, which is carried out by a constable or the sheriff. If you raise defenses, you must keep paying rent as it comes due while the case is pending.

No self-help: a landlord can't take possession except through the court process (or after abandonment or surrender), including by cutting essential services. If a landlord unlawfully locks you out or cuts services, you can recover possession or end the lease and collect three months' rent or twice your actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees.

Retaliation and discrimination

Retaliation: a landlord can't raise rent above fair-market value, cut essential services, or file for eviction because you complained to a code-enforcement agency about a health or safety violation or complained to the landlord about a violation of the Act. If you want to raise retaliation as a defense, you must notify the landlord in writing within 10 days after you're served with the Rule to Vacate. A retaliating landlord can owe up to three months' rent or triple your actual damages, plus attorney's fees.

Discrimination: the South Carolina Fair Housing Law (S.C. Code 31-21-40) bans refusing to rent or setting different terms because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin, and also covers handicap. The South Carolina Human Affairs Commission enforces it and takes housing complaints.

City and county rules

Cities and counties may have their own housing and building codes, and the landlord must follow codes affecting health and safety. Check with your local code enforcement office.

Move-in checklist for South Carolina renters

☐ Get a written lease and read all of it before signing
☐ Get a receipt for the deposit and any move-in money
☐ Photograph every room, dated, before you unpack
☐ Fill out (or write your own) move-in condition list and keep a copy
☐ Note the rent due date, grace period, and late fee
☐ Write down how to request repairs, and do it in writing
☐ Save the landlord's legal name and address for notices
☐ Put your notice deadline for moving out in your calendar

Still apartment hunting? Our list of questions to ask a landlord before signing a lease covers deposits, fees, repairs, and move-out rules you will want answered in writing.

Where to get help in South Carolina

South Carolina Human Affairs Commission — enforces the state Fair Housing Law; file a housing complaint.
South Carolina Judicial Branch — Rule to Vacate or Show Cause form (PDF) — what the eviction notice from the magistrate looks like.
Find free legal aid near you — the federal Legal Services Corporation's directory of local legal aid offices.
File a housing discrimination complaint with HUD — the federal fair housing agency.

More help

Nonprofit and legal aid resources (not government sources):

South Carolina Legal Services — Eviction — free legal help for eligible renters (nonprofit).
South Carolina Bar — Landlords & Tenants — bar association overview (not a government source).

Official sources

These are the official state law and government pages we checked for every fact on this page. The law itself controls if anything here differs.

Not legal advice; laws change and cities may add rules. Check the official sources below or a local legal aid office. This page is a plain-language summary written by First Apartment Kit, not the law itself. Last reviewed: October 2026.

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