Quick Reference: South Carolina Eviction Requirements at a Glance

A property manager in Greenville cannot get the rule served. Two attempts fail. The process server posts it, the clerk mails it, and she counts forward from the mailing date, expecting the tenant's show-cause period to open on the eleventh day.

Then the tenant telephones the magistrates court on day four.

Under § 27-37-30(C)(3), mailing constitutes service once the statutory requirements are met and ten days have elapsed, and the show-cause period begins to run on the eleventh day after mailing. But the subsection adds: "However, if the tenant contacts the magistrates court prior to the eleventh day, the specified time period for the tenant to show cause as provided in Section 27-37-20 must begin to run at the time of contact."

A single phone call moves when the clock starts. That provision appears in almost no published South Carolina eviction guide, and it is one of several places where the process is more conditional than the "ten days and out" summaries suggest.

It also illustrates why South Carolina evictions have to be understood as two chapters working together. Chapter 40, the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, generally governs the tenancy's termination rules. Chapter 37, Ejectment of Tenants, governs the magistrate court process. Get the first right and the second wrong, and you have a valid termination and an invalid case.

Step 1: The Pre-Suit Position, and the Clause That Changes It

Nonpayment. Under § 27-40-710(B), where rent is unpaid when due the tenant has five days from the due date, subject to the statute's written-notice requirements.

Other material noncompliance: fourteen days to cure qualifying violations.

Ending a periodic tenancy: seven days week-to-week and thirty days month-to-month under § 27-40-770.

And then the provision that makes South Carolina unusual.

Section 27-37-10(B) provides that for residential rental agreements, nonpayment of rent within five days of the date due constitutes legal notice to the tenant that the landlord has the right to begin ejectment proceedings under this chapter, if a written rental agreement specifies in bold conspicuous type that nonpayment of rent constitutes such notice. The requirement is satisfied if the written rental agreement contains the notice specified in § 27-40-710(B).

Read that carefully, because it is a drafting decision with a direct operational payoff. When the statutory lease language is properly included, the landlord does not have to provide a separate additional written notice of nonpayment before beginning the ejectment proceeding.

Two cautions. The statute is specific about bold conspicuous type, so a clause buried in ordinary body text is unlikely to qualify. And the mechanism is written for nonpayment, not for other breaches; a fourteen-day cure notice is still needed for qualifying material noncompliance.

Because the mechanism lives or dies on how the lease is drafted and which template version a tenant actually signed, this is a lease-control question before it is a litigation one. Knowing which template each tenancy was executed on, and holding the executed document on the tenancy record through contracts and renewals, is what lets you rely on § 27-37-10(B) rather than discover at the hearing that the clause was not in that version.

Step 2: Applying for Ejectment

Section 27-37-20 states the mechanism in a single sentence.

Upon application by the landlord or his agent or attorney, any magistrate having jurisdiction shall issue a written rule requiring the tenant forthwith to vacate the premises occupied by him or to show cause why he should not be ejected before the magistrate within ten days after service of a copy of such rule upon the tenant.

Four things follow.

• An agent may apply. Section 27-37-20 expressly permits an application by the landlord, the landlord's agent, or the landlord's attorney.

• The rule gives the tenant two paths: vacate the premises, or appear and show cause why the tenant should not be ejected.

• Jurisdiction is with the magistrate having jurisdiction, in practice the magistrate court for the county where the property sits.

• And the ten days runs from service, not from issuance. Which makes how the rule is served the thing that determines your timeline.

Forms for the Rule to Vacate or Show Cause and the Writ of Ejectment are published by the South Carolina Judicial Branch, and county magistrate offices may have local filing requirements. Confirm the current form version and the filing fee with the magistrate court for the county before applying.

Step 3: The Ten-Day Clock Depends on How the Rule Is Served

Section 27-37-30 provides three routes, and they behave differently.

(A) Standard service. The copy of the rule may be served in the same manner as is provided by law for the service of the summons in actions pending in the court of common pleas or magistrates courts of this State. The methods in subsections (B) and (C) may be used as alternatives.

(B) Abandoned premises. Where no person can be found in possession of the premises, and the premises have remained abandoned, as defined in § 27-40-730 for residential rental agreements and § 27-35-150 for nonresidential ones, for a period of fifteen days or more immediately before the date of service, the copy of the rule may be served by leaving it affixed to the most conspicuous part of the premises.

(C) Two unsuccessful attempts, then posting and mailing. Where service under subsection (A) has been attempted unsuccessfully two times, the rule may be served by affixing it and the documentation of the attempts to the most conspicuous part of the premises and mailing a copy. The conditions are specific:

• Each of the two attempts must be separated by a minimum of forty-eight hours and must occur at times of day separated by a minimum of eight hours;

• The person attempting service must document the date and time of the attempts by affidavit, or by certificate in the case of a law enforcement officer;

• On the first unsuccessful attempt, a copy of the rule must be affixed to the most conspicuous part of the premises;

• On the second unsuccessful attempt, the documentation of both attempts must be attached to the copy affixed to the premises; and

• The mailing must be accomplished by placing the rule and the documentation in an envelope in the presence of the clerk of the magistrates court. The clerk verifies the address, the contents and the mailing, the verification must be made part of the record, and service by ordinary mail is not considered complete without the clerk's verification. A fee under § 8-21-1010(14) is collected for the verification and mailing.

Then the timing rule. Under § 27-37-30(C)(3), mailing of the rule constitutes service when the requirements of items (1) and (2) have been met and ten days have elapsed from the time of mailing. If those requirements have been met, the show-cause period under § 27-37-20 begins to run on the eleventh day after mailing.

However, if the tenant contacts the magistrates court prior to the eleventh day, the show-cause period must begin to run at the time of contact.

Note the scope precisely. This is not a general reset rule for every South Carolina eviction. It is a specific feature of the § 27-37-30(C)(3) mailing procedure, which itself only becomes available after two properly spaced and documented failed attempts. Where the rule is personally served under subsection (A), the ten days runs from that service.

The practical consequence is that your projected timeline depends on which service route you end up on, and the mailing route is both the slowest to start and the one whose start date can move. Building the attempt dates and times, the posting, the clerk mailing and any court contact as dated steps through workflow customization is what keeps a 48-hour and 8-hour spacing requirement from being missed and the projection from being fiction.

Step 4: Warrant Versus Writ

These two terms are used interchangeably in most published guidance, and they are not the same stage.

• A warrant of ejectment is issued under § 27-37-40 where the tenant fails to appear and show cause.

• A writ of ejectment is issued under § 27-37-100 following a verdict for the plaintiff.

The distinction matters operationally because the two arrive by different routes: one from the tenant's non-appearance, the other from a contested hearing decided in the landlord's favour.

Step 5: What the Tenant Can Raise, and What Rent Is Owed

If the tenant does show cause, two Chapter 40 provisions shape the argument.

The retaliation defence has its own deadline. Under § 27-40-910(f), a tenant intending to raise retaliation must notify the landlord in writing within ten days after the Rule to Vacate. Note that § 27-40-910 also permits possession actions in specified circumstances, including material tenant noncompliance, so the defence is one the tenant may raise rather than a bar on proceeding.

Habitability defences have a notice-timing condition. Under § 27-40-640(b), a tenant may be considered to have waived a landlord-duty defence in a nonpayment possession action where the landlord lacked the required notice before rent was due, with different timing for non-essential conditions and for emergency or essential-services conditions. The underlying obligations are covered in our guide to South Carolina landlord repair obligations.

On rent, two statutes do different work.

Section 27-37-150 supplies the general accrual rule. After the commencement of ejectment proceedings by the issuance of a rule to vacate or to show cause, the rental for the use and occupancy of the premises shall continue to accrue so long as the tenant remains in possession, at the same rate as prevailed immediately prior to the issuance of such rule, and the tenant is liable for it.

The same section protects a landlord who takes a payment. The acceptance by the landlord of any rent, whether it shall have accrued at the time of issuing such rule or shall subsequently accrue, shall not operate as a waiver of the landlord's right to insist upon ejectment, nor as a renewal or extension of the tenancy, but the rights of the parties as they existed at the time of the issuance of the rule shall control.

That is a genuinely useful provision. In many states accepting rent after filing risks waiving the right to possession. In South Carolina, § 27-37-150 says it does not, and fixes the parties' rights as at the date the rule issued.

Section 27-40-790 adds a separate payment mechanism where the tenant raises defences or counterclaims. In that situation the tenant must pay rent becoming due after the rule, and where the parties dispute the amount because of an alleged landlord violation, the court preliminarily determines it, with the statute specifying fair market rental value at the time of the hearing in that circumstance.

The practical point is that the general accrual figure is calculated at the rate prevailing immediately before the rule issued. A rent increase served after the rule does not change what accrues. Tying charges to the period they belong to through collecting rent and payments is what makes the accrual provable rather than reconstructed.

One scope note. Section 27-37-155 sets out a rent-payment and counterclaim regime with its own consequences, but it applies "in any action involving a commercial lease." It is not the residential rule, and guidance that applies its mechanics to a residential tenancy is misreading the chapter.

Step 6: Appeal, and the Five-Day Bond

Either party may appeal. Under § 27-37-120, an appeal in an ejectment case is heard and determined as other appeals in civil cases from the magistrate's court.

But an appeal does not stay ejectment by itself. Under § 27-37-130, an appeal in an ejectment case will not stay ejectment unless at the time of appealing the tenant shall give an appeal bond, as in other civil cases, for an amount to be fixed by the magistrate and conditioned for the payment of all costs and damages the landlord may sustain.

And the bond has a hard deadline. In the event the tenant shall fail to file the bond herein required within five days after service of the notice of appeal, such appeal shall be dismissed by the trial magistrate.

Three points. The default is that ejectment proceeds notwithstanding an appeal. The stay depends on a bond whose amount is fixed by the magistrate, so it is worth being heard on that. And the five-day deadline is a dismissal trigger, so an appeal noted without a bond filed is one to track rather than concede.

Step 7: Execution, and the 24-Hour Step

The timeline does not end at the writ. Section 27-37-160 governs execution, and it adds a final step managers should plan for.

On executing the writ, the constable or deputy sheriff goes to the premises and presents a copy of the writ, giving occupants 24 hours to vacate voluntarily. If they do not, further statutory execution procedures apply, and the section distinguishes between what a deputy sheriff and a constable may do, including the use of force where the statute authorises it.

For a manager, that 24 hours is the difference between a turn that starts on the day of execution and one that starts the following day. It is also the point at which the unit's condition should be documented and the make-ready scheduled, which is what service request and task management is for once possession is restored.

Step 8: What the Landlord Cannot Do

Section 27-37-140 is short and worth respecting. In case any tenant is wrongfully dispossessed, he may have an action for damages against the landlord.

That sits alongside the Chapter 40 provisions covered in our repair guide, including § 27-40-660 on unlawful removal or exclusion and wilful interruption of services, which carries three months' periodic rent or twice the actual damages, whichever is greater, plus fees, and § 27-40-760, which bars recovering possession by wilful diminution of services.

The combined effect is that self-help is not merely ineffective in South Carolina; it converts a possession case into a damages case with the landlord as defendant.

Step 9: What This Article Does Not Cover

Security deposits, § 27-40-410. The itemisation deadline measured from the later of termination, delivery of possession and the tenant's demand, the forwarding-address protection, and the treble damages and fees exposure. See our guide to South Carolina security deposit laws.

Repair obligations and tenant remedies, §§ 27-40-440 and 27-40-610 to 27-40-660. See the repair guide linked above.

Commercial tenancies. Section 27-37-155 addresses commercial lease claims and counterclaims on its own terms.

One 2027 recordkeeping development. South Carolina Act 214 of 2026 creates a process for certain eviction-related public records to be removed from public indexes after seven years, with the provision taking effect 1 January 2027. This does not change the Chapter 37 ejectment sequence described above, but it is relevant to screening practices built on the assumption that eviction filings remain permanently visible.

Common South Carolina Eviction Mistakes Property Managers Make

1. Treating the contact rule as a general reset
It is a feature of the § 27-37-30(C)(3) mailing procedure, not of ordinary personal service under subsection (A).

2. Using the mailing route without meeting its conditions
Two attempts at least 48 hours apart, at times of day at least 8 hours apart, documented, with posting on both attempts and clerk-verified mailing.

3. Forgetting the clerk's verification
Service by ordinary mail is not complete without it, and the verification must be part of the record.

4. Using the abandonment route too early
Section 27-37-30(B) requires the premises to have remained abandoned for fifteen days or more immediately before service.

5. Relying on the lease mechanism without checking the type
Section 27-37-10(B) requires the agreement to specify in bold conspicuous type that nonpayment constitutes notice.

6. Applying that mechanism to a non-payment breach
It is written for nonpayment. Qualifying material noncompliance still needs the fourteen-day cure notice.

7. Confusing warrant and writ
A warrant issues under § 27-37-40 where the tenant fails to appear and show cause. A writ issues under § 27-37-100 after a verdict for the plaintiff.

8. Applying § 27-37-155 to a residential tenancy
That section applies in any action involving a commercial lease.

9. Refusing rent after filing for fear of waiver
Section 27-37-150 provides that acceptance of rent does not waive the right to insist upon ejectment or renew the tenancy.

10. Assuming rent stops accruing at filing
Section 27-37-150 continues it at the rate prevailing immediately before the rule issued, for as long as the tenant remains in possession.

11. Applying a post-rule rent increase to the accrual
The rate is the one that prevailed immediately prior to issuance of the rule.

12. Conflating § 27-37-150 with § 27-40-790
The first is the general accrual rule; the second is a separate mechanism where the tenant raises defences or counterclaims and disputes the amount.

13. Conceding an appeal automatically stays ejectment
Under § 27-37-130 it does not, absent an appeal bond fixed by the magistrate.

14. Not tracking the five-day bond deadline
Failure to file within five days after service of the notice of appeal means the trial magistrate shall dismiss the appeal.

15. Overlooking the tenant's ten-day retaliation notice
Section 27-40-910(f) requires written notice to the landlord within ten days after the Rule to Vacate.

16. Scheduling the turn for the day of execution
Section 27-37-160 gives occupants 24 hours to vacate voluntarily after the writ is presented.

17. Using self-help
Section 27-37-140 gives a wrongfully dispossessed tenant an action for damages, and Chapter 40 adds its own remedies.

Conclusion

South Carolina's eviction process is fast on paper, and the variables that move it are mostly procedural.

• Two chapters, in sequence. Chapter 40 supplies the applicable termination rules, including the five-day nonpayment framework, the fourteen-day cure period for qualifying noncompliance, and the seven or thirty-day notice periods for week-to-week and month-to-month periodic tenancies. Chapter 37 then supplies the rule to vacate or show cause, the warrant, the writ, and the appeal machinery.

• The lease can carry the nonpayment notice. Under § 27-37-10(B), where the written agreement specifies in bold conspicuous type that nonpayment constitutes notice, nonpayment within five days of the due date is itself the legal notice.

• And the ten-day clock depends on the service route. Personal service under § 27-37-30(A) starts it on service. The § 27-37-30(C)(3) posting-and-mailing route, available only after two properly spaced and documented failed attempts with clerk-verified mailing, starts it on the eleventh day after mailing, unless the tenant contacts the magistrates court before then, in which case it starts at the moment of contact.

• Rent keeps running throughout, at the rate prevailing immediately before the rule issued, and accepting a payment does not waive the right to possession. The writ then carries a final 24-hour step before possession is restored.

For teams managing South Carolina portfolios in Charleston, Columbia, Greenville or Myrtle Beach, the eviction file rests on four records: which lease template the tenancy was executed on and whether it carries the bold conspicuous clause, the notice and its service, the service attempts with their dates and times, and any contact the tenant makes with the court. The first is settled at signing. The rest have to be captured as they happen.

This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. South Carolina eviction procedure sits in two places: the termination rules under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act at S.C. Code Ann. §§ 27-40-710 and 27-40-770, and the court process under Title 27, Chapter 37, Ejectment of Tenants, at §§ 27-37-10 through 27-37-160. Section 27-37-155 applies in actions involving commercial leases and is not addressed here. Related Chapter 40 provisions include § 27-40-640 on defences in nonpayment actions, § 27-40-790 on rent where defences or counterclaims are raised, § 27-40-910 on retaliation, and §§ 27-40-660 and 27-40-760 on unlawful removal and interruption of services. Sections 27-37-30(B) and (C), 27-37-100 and 27-37-160 contain conditions and procedures not set out in full here; read them directly before relying on an alternative service method or planning an execution. South Carolina Act 214 of 2026 addresses removal of certain eviction-related records from public indexes and takes effect 1 January 2027; it does not alter the Chapter 37 sequence. Magistrate court practice, filing fees, forms and scheduling vary by county. Verify the current statutory text with the South Carolina Legislature's Chapter 37 and Chapter 40 pages, and confirm local practice and current forms with the magistrate court for the county where the property is located. Consult a licensed South Carolina attorney for guidance specific to your portfolio.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What notice is required before an eviction in South Carolina?
For nonpayment, the tenant has five days from the due date under § 27-40-710(B), subject to the statute's written-notice requirements. Qualifying material noncompliance carries a fourteen-day cure period, and periodic terminations require seven days for week-to-week or thirty days for month-to-month under § 27-40-770.

Q2. Can the lease carry the nonpayment notice?
Yes. Under § 27-37-10(B), where a written rental agreement specifies in bold conspicuous type that nonpayment constitutes notice, nonpayment within five days of the due date is itself legal notice that the landlord may begin ejectment.

Q3. What is the Rule to Vacate or Show Cause?
Under § 27-37-20, on application by the landlord, the landlord's agent or the landlord's attorney, the magistrate issues a written rule requiring the tenant forthwith to vacate or to show cause why he should not be ejected, within ten days after service.

Q4. When does the ten-day show-cause period start?
It depends on the service route. On personal service under § 27-37-30(A), from service. Under the § 27-37-30(C)(3) posting-and-mailing procedure, on the eleventh day after mailing, unless the tenant contacts the magistrates court before then, in which case it begins at the time of contact.

Q5. What are the conditions for the posting-and-mailing route?
Two unsuccessful attempts separated by at least 48 hours and at times of day separated by at least 8 hours, documented by affidavit or officer's certificate, with the rule posted on the first attempt and the documentation attached on the second, and mailing performed in the presence of the clerk with the clerk's verification made part of the record.

Q6. Does accepting rent after filing waive the eviction?
No. Under § 27-37-150, acceptance of rent, whether accrued at the time the rule issued or subsequently, does not waive the landlord's right to insist upon ejectment or renew the tenancy, and the parties' rights as they existed at issuance control.

Q7. What is the difference between a warrant and a writ of ejectment?
A warrant of ejectment is issued under § 27-37-40 where the tenant fails to appear and show cause. A writ of ejectment is issued under § 27-37-100 following a verdict for the plaintiff.

Q8. What happens when the writ is executed?
Under § 27-37-160, the constable or deputy sheriff presents a copy of the writ and gives occupants 24 hours to vacate voluntarily, with further statutory execution procedures if they do not.