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FILING
AN EVICTION IN South Carolina
This information outlines when and how a landlord
may evict a tenant, and it will also discuss a
tenant's remedies for unlawful eviction. Most of the
law on this subject is set forth in the South
Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, which
will be referred to as the "Landlord and Tenant
Act", and may not apply to commercial or
business leases.
Generally, a landlord may evict a tenant and take
possession of the rental unit for any one of the
following reasons:
1. nonpayment of rent;
2. breach of the terms of the rental agreement
(which may be verbal or written);
3. failure of tenant to maintain the dwelling
unit in a healthy and safe manner;
4. abandonment of the rental unit by the tenant;
or
5. when the lease term has ended.
1. If the rent is not paid when due, the landlord
may end the rental agreement and start eviction
proceedings if the landlord has given 5 days written
notice, and the rent is not paid within that time.
However, the landlord only has to give written
notice that the rent is past due one time during the
lease term.
The Landlord does not have to give this written
notice if the rental agreement, or lease, is in
writing and it says very clearly that no written
notice will be given if rent is past due.
2. If the tenant fails to live by terms of the
rental agreement, other than the requirement to pay
rent, the landlord may terminate the rental
agreement and begin eviction proceedings. The
landlord must give written notice specifying what
the tenant did that violated the rental agreement.
If the tenant does not remedy or live by the terms
of the rental agreement within 14 days after
receiving written notice, eviction can begin. If
compliance or remedy cannot be completed within 14
days, but is begun within that period and is
finished in good faith within a reasonable time, the
rental agreement cannot be terminated.
3. The landlord may terminate the rental
agreement and begin eviction proceedings if the
tenant does not properly take care of the dwelling
unit, as required by the Landlord and Tenant Act,
and endangers health and safety. The tenant must
comply as quickly as conditions require, in case of
emergency.
If it is not an emergency, the tenant must comply
within 14 days after written notice by the landlord
specifying what the tenant is doing wrong and
requesting that the tenant fix the problems within
that period of time. If this is not done, the
landlord may end the rental agreement and begin
eviction proceedings.
4. The landlord can take possession of a rental
unit if there is an unexplained absence of a tenant
from a dwelling unit for a period of 15 days after
the rent was due and not paid. This is considered as
abandonment, and the landlord can take possession.
This is not considered an eviction. The rental
agreement may be considered ended, or the landlord
may consider the rental agreement to still be in
effect, in which case the landlord must try to rent
the dwelling unit at a fair price. If it is rented
before the end of the rental agreement, the tenant's
responsibility under the rental agreement ends when
the new rental agreement is effective.
5. When the lease term of the rental agreement
has ended, and the tenant refuses to move out, the
landlord may bring an action in court to evict the
tenant.
Where there is no definite term in a rental
agreement, the landlord may end the rental
agreement. If a tenant pays weekly rent, the
Landlord may demand that the tenant move out only
after giving the tenant at least 7 days written
notice. In all other cases where there is no definite
rental term, the landlord must give at least 30 days
written notice that the tenant must move out.
After the rental agreement is terminated for any
of the reasons described, the landlord has a right
to possession of the rental unit and rent. The
Landlord may bring a separate claim for damages for
breach of the rental agreement, and can ask the
court to make the tenant pay reasonable attorney's
fees.
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