Three provisions in the South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act should change how a management company operates in this state, and most guides mention none of them.

The first is in § 27-40-710(B). If your lease contains a specific block of language in conspicuous type, that provision satisfies the separate written notice requirement for nonpayment, and the statute says it continues to apply to a month-to-month tenancy following the specified lease term in the original agreement.

The second is in § 27-40-210(6). "Landlord" is defined to include a manager of the premises who fails to disclose as required by § 27-40-420.

The third is new. Act No. 184 of 2026 added § 27-40-350 and related definitions, effective upon the Governor's approval on 18 May 2026. It gives a "protected tenant" a right to terminate future lease obligations after a documented domestic violence incident. The provision is enacted law even though it has not yet been incorporated into the Legislature's published Chapter 40 code page, so managers should check the Act itself when verifying the current law.

In short: South Carolina's Act is substantially based on the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act but contains important state-specific provisions. There is no deposit cap, a 30-day deposit return running from the later of three events, treble damages for wrongful withholding, a 14-day cure notice for lease breaches, a five-day nonpayment provision that can satisfy the separate written-notice requirement when included conspicuously in the lease, an express ban on repair-and-deduct, and, since May 2026, a protected-tenant termination right.

South Carolina compliance rules worth memorising

The lease provision that satisfies the separate five-day notice requirement

Section 27-40-710(B) is the single most useful provision in the Act for a South Carolina manager.

If rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay within five days from the date due, or the tenant is in violation of § 27-40-540, the landlord may terminate, provided the landlord has given the tenant written notice of nonpayment and the intention to terminate if rent is not paid within that period.

Then the substitution. The landlord's obligation to provide notice is satisfied for any lease term after the landlord has given one such notice to the tenant, or if the notice is contained in conspicuous language in a written rental agreement. The statute then supplies the wording:

"IF YOU DO NOT PAY YOUR RENT ON TIME
This is your notice. If you do not pay your rent within five days of the due date, the landlord can start to have you evicted. You will get no other notice as long as you live in this rental unit."

Be precise about what this does. The five-day period itself remains. What the lease provision satisfies is the requirement to serve a separate written notice. When the statutory or substantially equivalent provision is conspicuously included in the rental agreement, it satisfies that requirement for nonpayment and continues to apply to a month-to-month tenancy following the specified lease term in the original agreement. It eliminates the separate pre-filing written notice required by § 27-40-710(B). It does not eliminate the judicial eviction process or any notices required once an action is filed.

Three practical points. The statute permits "the following or a substantially equivalent provision," so the wording has room, but there is no reason to deviate from language the legislature drafted. It must be conspicuous, which is a formatting requirement, not just a presence requirement. And § 27-40-710(B) addresses both nonpayment and violations of § 27-40-540, but the statutory lease language itself is written specifically as a nonpayment notice.

For a portfolio, this is a lease template decision with recurring operational value, which is exactly what contracts and renewals is for. Get it into the South Carolina template once and the separate § 27-40-710(B) pre-filing written-notice step is satisfied for nonpayment files.

If you manage, the disclosure rule decides your legal position

Section 27-40-420(a) requires a landlord, or any person authorised to enter into a rental agreement on his behalf, to disclose to the tenant in writing at or before the commencement of the tenancy the name and address of an owner of the premises, or a person authorised to act for the owner as agent, for purposes of service of process and receiving or receipting notices or demands. Subsection (b) requires the information to be kept current and makes the section enforceable against any successor landlord, owner or manager.

Now the consequence. Under § 27-40-420(c), a person authorised to enter into a rental agreement on a landlord's behalf who fails to comply becomes an agent of the landlord for service of process and receiving notices, and for performing the obligations of the landlord under the Act and the rental agreement, expending or making available all rent collected from the premises and retained on the landlord's behalf.

And § 27-40-210(6) provides that "landlord" means the owner, lessor or sublessor, and it also means a manager of the premises who fails to disclose as required by § 27-40-420.

Miss the disclosure and the manager can be treated as the landlord under § 27-40-210(6), while § 27-40-420(c) simultaneously makes the manager an agent of the landlord for those specified purposes. A management company that skips the disclosure has taken on the landlord's statutory obligations and made itself the recipient of process.

On a sale, § 27-40-450 sets the boundary. A landlord who conveys in a good faith sale to a bona fide purchaser is relieved of liability as to events occurring after written notice to the tenant of the conveyance. But the seller remains liable for security recoverable under § 27-40-410 unless the deposit is transferred to the purchaser and the tenant is notified in writing a reasonable time after the transaction, in which case the purchaser is liable. A manager is relieved as to events after written notice to the tenant of the termination of the management.

Security deposits: three triggers, treble damages, and a five-unit rule

There is no cap. The Act sets no maximum deposit, so the amount is a lease and market question.

The return has three triggers. Under § 27-40-410(a), on termination the deposit must be returned less amounts withheld for accrued rent and damages the landlord suffered by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with § 27-40-510. Any deduction must be itemised in a written notice to the tenant together with the amount due, if any, within thirty days after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession and demand by the tenant, whichever is later.

The 30-day period begins after the later of the three statutory events: termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession, and the tenant's demand. That structure is often misreported as a simple thirty days from move-out.

The forwarding address is the tenant's obligation, with a landlord safe harbour. The tenant shall provide the landlord in writing with a forwarding or new address. If the tenant fails to do so, the tenant is not entitled to damages under the subsection provided the landlord (1) had no notice of the tenant's whereabouts and (2) mailed the written notice and amount due to the tenant's last known address. Both limbs are required, so mail it regardless.

The penalty is treble. Under § 27-40-410(b), if the landlord fails to return prepaid rent or the deposit with the required notice, the tenant may recover an amount equal to three times the amount wrongfully withheld and reasonable attorney's fees.

And there is a disclosure rule unique to South Carolina. Under § 27-40-410(c), if a landlord rents more than four adjoining dwelling units on the premises and imposes different standards for calculating deposits among tenants, then before the rental agreement is consummated the landlord must either post a statement clearly indicating the standards in a conspicuous place on the premises or where rent is paid, or give each prospective tenant such a statement.

The penalty is precise: the difference between the deposit required of that tenant and the lowest deposit required of any other tenant of a comparable dwelling unit on the premises is not subject to deductions for damages. So risk-based or credit-tiered deposit pricing across a building of five or more adjoining units triggers a posting obligation, and skipping it makes part of the deposit untouchable.

Under § 27-40-410(e), the holder of the landlord's interest at the time of termination is bound by the section, subject to § 27-40-450.

Because deductions must tie to § 27-40-510 noncompliance and be itemised, dated condition records at both ends of the tenancy are what make a deduction defensible, which is what move-in and move-out management produces.

Maintenance duties, and the appliance presumption

Section 27-40-440(a) requires the landlord to comply with applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety; make all repairs and do whatever is reasonably necessary to put and keep the premises fit and habitable; keep common areas reasonably safe, and for premises containing more than four dwelling units, reasonably clean; make available running water, reasonable hot water at all times and reasonable heat, subject to two carve-outs; and maintain in reasonably good and safe working order all electrical, gas, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air conditioning and other facilities and appliances, including elevators, supplied or required to be supplied.

Two sentences in paragraph (5) deserve attention. Appliances present in the dwelling unit are presumed to be supplied by the landlord unless specifically excluded by the rental agreement. And no appliances or facilities necessary to the provision of essential services may be excluded.

Because appliances present in the dwelling are presumed to be supplied by the landlord unless specifically excluded, managers should not assume that an appliance left in a unit falls outside the landlord's maintenance responsibility. Excluding one requires specific lease language, and you cannot exclude anything supplying an essential service, which § 27-40-210(17) defines as sanitary plumbing or sewer, electricity, gas where used for heat, hot water or cooking, running water, and reasonable amounts of hot water and heat.

Duty-shifting is allowed on conditions. For a single family residence, the parties may agree in writing that the tenant perform the paragraph (5) duties and specified repairs, maintenance tasks, alterations and remodeling, only if entered into in good faith and not to evade the landlord's obligations. For any other dwelling unit, the agreement must be in good faith and not evasive, must not cover work necessary to cure a code violation under (a)(1), and must not diminish the landlord's obligations to other tenants.

And § 27-40-340 forbids separating rent from maintenance: no rental agreement, assignment, conveyance, trust deed, mortgage or security instrument may permit the receipt of rent absent the obligation to comply with § 27-40-440(a).

Because the appliance presumption and code duty both turn on what is actually at the property, holding equipment, appliances and service history on the unit record through service request and task management is what keeps the obligation visible.

South Carolina prohibits repair and deduct

This is the provision most likely to surprise managers arriving from another state.

Section 27-40-630 gives a tenant remedies where the landlord is negligent or wilful in failing to provide essential services. After written notice specifying the breach, the tenant may procure reasonable amounts of the required essential services during the period of the landlord's noncompliance and deduct their actual and reasonable cost from the rent, or recover damages based upon the diminution in the fair-market rental value of the dwelling unit plus reasonable attorney's fees. Choosing this section bars proceeding under § 27-40-610 for the same breach.

Then subsection (c):

"Under no circumstances should this section be interpreted to authorize the tenant to make repairs on the rental property and deduct the cost of the repairs from rent. In the event that the tenant unlawfully acts without the landlord's consent and authorizes repairs, any mechanic's lien arising therefrom shall be unenforceable."

South Carolina permits procuring an essential service and deducting its cost. It does not permit repairing the property and deducting. And a contractor who does work at a tenant's direction without the landlord's consent gets no enforceable lien.

Under subsection (d), the tenant's rights do not arise until notice has been given and the landlord has failed to act within a reasonable time, and do not arise at all where the condition was caused by the deliberate or negligent act of the tenant, a family member, or another person on the premises with permission.

The tenant's general remedy is a 14-day notice. Under § 27-40-610(a), for material noncompliance with the rental agreement or noncompliance with § 27-40-440 materially affecting health and safety or the physical condition of the property, the tenant may give written notice specifying the acts and omissions and stating the agreement terminates not less than fourteen days after receipt if not remedied within fourteen days. It does not terminate if the landlord adequately remedies before that date, or, for a breach not affecting health and safety, if the remedy cannot be completed in fourteen days but is commenced within the period and pursued in good faith to completion within a reasonable time.

And there is a notice-timing defence for landlords. Under § 27-40-640(b), a tenant is considered to have waived the landlord's maintenance breach as a defence in an action for possession based on nonpayment where the landlord had no notice of the violation fourteen days before rent is due for non-essential services, or no notice before rent is due giving a reasonable opportunity to make emergency repairs for essential services.

Access: 24 hours, plus two consent-free windows

Section 27-40-530 is more permissive than most states, provided the lease is drafted for it.

The general rule, subsection (c): the landlord shall not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant, and except in the cases below, shall give the tenant at least twenty-four hours notice of intent to enter and may enter only at reasonable times.

Entry without consent, subsection (b):

• At any time in case of emergency. The statute adds that prospective changes in weather conditions which pose a likelihood of danger to the property may be considered an emergency, which is a useful provision before a hurricane or a freeze.

• Between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. for regularly scheduled periodic services such as changing furnace and air-conditioning filters and pest treatment, provided the right to enter for those services is conspicuously set forth in writing in the rental agreement and the landlord announces his intent to enter before entering.

• Between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. for services requested by the tenant, with the same announcement requirement.

That second category is a second lease-drafting opportunity alongside the § 27-40-710(B) notice. A conspicuous periodic-services clause converts routine filter and pest visits into consent-free entries within a defined window.

Subsection (e) runs the other way: a tenant shall not change locks on the dwelling unit without the landlord's permission.

Abuse of access is symmetrical. Under § 27-40-780, a tenant refusing lawful access exposes themselves to injunctive relief or termination plus actual damages and fees; a landlord making a knowing unlawful entry, repeated lawful entry in an unreasonable manner, or repeated harassing demands faces the same.

Landlord remedies, and the manager's statutory role

Lease breaches take 14 days. Under § 27-40-710(A), for noncompliance other than nonpayment, or noncompliance with § 27-40-510 materially affecting health and safety or the physical condition of the property, or § 27-40-540, the landlord delivers written notice specifying the acts and omissions and stating the agreement terminates not less than fourteen days after receipt if not remedied in fourteen days. The agreement does not terminate if the tenant adequately remedies in time, or if the remedy cannot be completed in fourteen days but is commenced within the period and pursued in good faith to completion within a reasonable time.

Health and safety breaches have their own route. Under § 27-40-720(a), where the tenant's § 27-40-510 noncompliance materially affects health and safety and can be remedied by repair, replacement of a damaged item, or cleaning, and the tenant fails to comply as promptly as an emergency requires or within fourteen days after written notice, the landlord may enter and cause the work to be done in a workmanlike manner, and the tenant shall reimburse the cost, with other remedies preserved. Under subsection (b), where the breach is not of that repairable kind, the landlord may terminate on the same notice.

And § 27-40-710(C) grants managers a statutory role. A real estate broker-in-charge licensed in this State, or a licensed property manager, in the conduct of his licensed business may, either in person or through one or more regular employees, complete a form writ of eviction and present facts to judicial officers on behalf of his landlord or principal in support of an action for eviction, distress or abandonment, for which no separate charge is made for this service.

South Carolina gives qualifying licensed property managers a specific statutory role in preparing the form writ and presenting facts to judicial officers, provided no separate charge is made for that service. That condition is the limit: the permission attaches to the licensed business and is lost if you bill separately for it.

Fees follow fault. If the tenant's noncompliance is wilful other than nonpayment, the landlord may recover reasonable attorney's fees provided the landlord is represented by an attorney. If the tenant's nonpayment is not in good faith, the same applies.

Removed property has a 48-hour rule. Under § 27-40-710(D), personal property removed as a result of an eviction and placed on a public street or highway shall be removed by municipal or county officials after forty-eight hours excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and may be removed earlier in the normal course of trash collection. Where the locality does not collect from public highways, the landlord may remove and dispose of it after forty-eight hours. The notice of eviction must clearly inform the tenant of these provisions, and the locality has no liability to the tenant if the notice did not.

Self-help costs three months' rent. Section 27-40-760 bars recovering possession by action or otherwise, including wilful diminution of required essential services, except on abandonment, surrender, termination or as permitted by the Act. Section 27-40-660 gives the tenant, for unlawful removal or exclusion or wilful interruption of essential services, recovery of possession or termination plus three months' periodic rent or twice actual damages, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney's fees.

Abandonment, and the $500 line

Section 27-40-730 sets two tests and one dollar threshold.

Fifteen days. The unexplained absence of a tenant for fifteen days after default in the payment of rent must be construed as abandonment. Both limbs are needed: absence and rent default.

Immediate. If the tenant has voluntarily terminated the utilities and there is an unexplained absence after default in rent payment, abandonment is considered immediate and the fifteen-day rule does not apply.

Then the property. Where a unit has been abandoned or the agreement has ended and the tenant has removed a substantial portion of his property or voluntarily and permanently terminated utilities, and has left personal property with a fair-market value of five hundred dollars or less, the landlord may enter, using forcible entry if required, and dispose of the property. In cases not covered by that subsection, the landlord may have property removed only pursuant to §§ 27-37-10 to 27-37-150. Where property disposed of under subsection (d) turns out to be worth more than $500, the landlord is not liable unless grossly negligent.

On abandonment the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to rent at a fair rental, and failing to do so, or accepting the abandonment as a surrender, terminates the agreement as of the date the landlord had notice.

Retaliation is defined tightly, with a 75-day rule

Section 27-40-910(a) bars a landlord from retaliating by increasing rent to an amount in excess of fair-market value, decreasing essential services, or bringing an action for possession after the tenant has complained to a government agency about a code violation materially affecting health and safety, or has complained to the landlord of a violation of the Act.

Note the rent limb: the prohibition attaches to increases above fair-market value, not to increases generally. And § 27-40-910(e) adds a safe harbour: a landlord renting more than four adjoining dwelling units may increase rent without a presumption of retaliation provided the increase applies uniformly to all tenants, or so long as the rent does not exceed fair-market value.

Section 27-40-910(c) preserves possession actions where the code violation was caused primarily by lack of reasonable care by the tenant or someone on the premises with permission, where there is material noncompliance under § 27-40-710 or § 27-40-720, or where compliance would require alteration, remodeling or demolition depriving the tenant of use.

Two procedural points. Under subsection (f), a tenant intending to raise retaliation as a defence must notify the landlord in writing within ten days after service of the Rule to Vacate or Show Cause. Under subsection (g), where the landlord retaliates by refusing to renew and the tenant is not in default on rent, the landlord may not recover possession for seventy-five days and may not raise rent above fair-market value or decrease essential services pending recovery, subject to the tenant proving the violation and the required notice.

The exposure. Under subsection (h), a landlord acting in retaliation is liable for up to three months' rent or treble actual damages, whichever is greater, plus fees. A bad-faith defence exposes the tenant to the same.

Because the trigger is a complaint and the look-back is measured from it, the timing relationship between repair complaints, rent changes and filings should be visible in one place, which is what dashboards and reports are for.

What the lease cannot do

Section 27-40-330(a) provides that a rental agreement may not provide that the tenant waives or foregoes rights or remedies under the Act, authorises confession of judgment, or agrees to exculpation or limitation of landlord liability or to indemnify the landlord for it.

The remedy is tiered. A prohibited provision is unenforceable. If a landlord deliberately uses an agreement containing provisions known to be prohibited and attempts to exercise the rights created, the tenant recovers actual damages plus an amount not to exceed the security deposit and fees. If the use is malicious, the tenant recovers actual damages plus up to three months' periodic rent and fees.

Subsection (c) preserves bona fide liquidated damages provisions establishing the amount of damages for loss of rent from premature termination.

Two definitions worth building into your ledger. Section 27-40-210(11) defines "rent" as the consideration payable for use of the premises including late charges, excluding security deposits or other charges. And § 27-40-310(c) makes rent payable without demand or notice at the agreed time and place. Tying charges to their category and period through rent collection and payment records matters because late charges sit inside the statutory definition of rent while deposits and other charges do not.

Rules adopted mid-tenancy can be objected to. Under § 27-40-520, rules are enforceable only if they meet six conditions, and rules adopted after a tenant enters into a rental agreement are not valid as to that tenant if they substantially modify the tenant's bargain and the tenant objects in writing within thirty days after promulgation.

A 2026 amendment adds a protected-tenant termination right

Act No. 184 of 2026 added § 27-40-350 and related definitions, effective upon the Governor's approval on 18 May 2026. The provision is enacted law even though it has not yet been incorporated into the Legislature's published Chapter 40 code page, so check the Act itself when verifying the current position.

Who qualifies is narrow. Section 27-40-210(19) defines a "protected tenant" as a tenant who is a victim of a qualifying incident. Section 27-40-210(20) defines a "qualifying incident" as domestic abuse or violence as defined by Chapter 4, Title 20 or Chapter 25, Title 16, wherein both the victim and the perpetrator are leaseholders on the same property, and the abuse or violence is documented by a restraining order or an order of protection, or the perpetrator has been convicted.

Both limbs matter. The perpetrator must be a co-leaseholder, and the incident must be documented in one of the three specified ways.

What the tenant may do. Under § 27-40-350(A), a protected tenant may terminate their future obligations under the rental agreement within sixty days of the date of a documented qualifying incident, and may not be held liable for penalties or fees otherwise imposed for that termination.

Two carve-outs preserve the landlord's position. The protected tenant shall be liable for any damage that the protected tenant caused to the premises prior to the termination. And no security deposits will be required to be returned until the end of the lease if such is due to be returned under the terms of the lease. So a § 27-40-350 termination does not accelerate the deposit accounting, and it does not wipe out damage liability.

The notice mechanics. Under § 27-40-350(B), the tenant must provide written notice of the intent to terminate within sixty days after the documented qualifying incident. The termination is effective on the date stated in the notice as long as it is at least thirty days after the landlord's receipt, unless the landlord consents in writing to an earlier date. The notice must be accompanied by documentation such as a restraining order, an order of protection, or evidence of a conviction. The tenant must relinquish all legal rights of possession but remains responsible for rent and other amounts owed, other than early-termination fees.

What happens to everyone else on the lease. Under § 27-40-350(C), the protected tenant's obligations continue through the effective date, and any cotenants remain responsible for the full rent for the balance of the term. If the perpetrator is the remaining sole tenant obligated on the agreement, the landlord may terminate with five days' written notice and collect actual damages for that termination against the perpetrator.

Three constraints on the landlord. Under (D)(1), the landlord may not require or force the protected tenant to vacate before expiration of the sixty days after the qualifying incident, though the parties may agree to an earlier termination. Under (E), the landlord may not retaliate in response to the early termination. Under (D)(2), the landlord retains all remedies for destruction or damage caused by the protected tenant or permitted by them.

And there is a good-faith shield. Under § 27-40-350(F), a landlord or property owner who acts in good faith in reliance upon the documentation provided to establish a qualifying incident under § 27-40-210(20) may not be held liable for terminating or modifying a lease under the section.

That last provision is the one to build a process around. The protection attaches to good-faith reliance on documentation, which means capturing what was provided, when it arrived, and what you did next.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Serving a separate five-day notice every month when the § 27-40-710(B) lease provision already satisfies the separate written-notice requirement

• Using the § 27-40-710(B) provision but not in conspicuous language, or omitting it from renewals

• Reading the lease provision as removing the five-day period itself, or as removing the judicial eviction process

• Managing without the § 27-40-420 disclosure, which lets a manager be treated as the landlord under § 27-40-210(6)

• Letting the disclosure go stale, when § 27-40-420(b) requires it to be kept current

• Running the 30-day deposit clock from move-out alone, when § 27-40-410(a) uses the later of termination, delivery of possession and demand

• Not mailing the itemisation to the last known address where no forwarding address was given, which is one of the two limbs of the landlord's safe harbour

• Using tiered deposit standards across more than four adjoining units without posting or giving the § 27-40-410(c) statement

• Selling without transferring the deposit and notifying the tenant in writing, which keeps the seller liable under § 27-40-450(a)

• Assuming an appliance left in a unit is not yours, when § 27-40-440(a)(5) presumes it is unless specifically excluded

• Attempting to exclude an essential-service appliance, which the same paragraph forbids

• Treating a tenant's repair deduction as lawful, when § 27-40-630(c) expressly prohibits repair and deduct

• Entering for routine filter or pest service without a conspicuous periodic-services clause, which is what unlocks the 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. window

• Giving less than 24 hours' notice outside the § 27-40-530(b) categories

• Billing separately for completing a form writ of eviction, when § 27-40-710(C) permits it only where no separate charge is made

• Omitting the § 27-40-710(D) 48-hour property provisions from the notice of eviction

• Disposing of left property worth more than $500 outside §§ 27-37-10 to 27-37-150

• Treating a 15-day absence as abandonment without a rent default, or missing that utilities voluntarily terminated make it immediate

• Overlooking § 27-40-350 because it does not yet appear on the published Chapter 40 code page, when Act No. 184 of 2026 took effect on 18 May 2026

• Applying § 27-40-350 where the perpetrator is not a co-leaseholder, or where the incident is not documented by a restraining order, order of protection or conviction

• Requiring a protected tenant to vacate before the sixty days expire, contrary to § 27-40-350(D)(1)

• Charging early-termination fees on a § 27-40-350 termination, releasing cotenants from the full rent for the balance of the term, or accelerating the deposit return before the end of the lease

• Raising rent above fair-market value within the retaliation window, when uniform increases across more than four adjoining units have a safe harbour

• Including a waiver, confession of judgment or exculpation clause, which carries deposit-level or three-months-rent exposure under § 27-40-330(b)

• Unlawfully interrupting or diminishing essential services, which costs three months' rent or twice actual damages plus fees under § 27-40-660

Building a South Carolina compliance file

Several important South Carolina rules depend directly on what the rental agreement says and how required provisions are presented.

Eight records carry it. The lease containing the § 27-40-710(B) nonpayment provision in conspicuous type, because it satisfies a requirement on every nonpayment file. The conspicuous periodic-services entry clause, because it unlocks consent-free routine entry. The § 27-40-420 disclosure and its date, because without it a manager can be treated as the landlord. The § 27-40-410(c) deposit standards statement where you rent more than four adjoining units on tiered standards. Appliance and equipment records per unit, because the statute presumes appliances are yours. Dated condition records at both ends, since deductions must tie to § 27-40-510 noncompliance. The deposit sequence: termination date, delivery of possession, the tenant's demand, the forwarding address, the 30-day date and the itemisation. And, where § 27-40-350 is invoked, the documentation received, the date of receipt and the response, because the good-faith shield in subsection (F) turns on reliance on that documentation.

Because several of these are one-time lease decisions with recurring effect, workflow customization is well suited to enforcing that the disclosure and the itemisation actually get produced on each tenancy rather than depending on memory.

Managers running multi-state portfolios will notice how differently South Carolina is built from other URLTA-derived regimes. Oklahoma's Title 41 starts the deposit clock only on the tenant's written demand and sets no cap either, but has nothing like the lease-embedded notice. Possession-focused states like Ohio and Georgia put their prescriptive detail in the notice stage. South Carolina lets you put it in the lease once.

Conclusion

South Carolina's Act is a single, coherent chapter, and five things in it matter more than the rest.

• Two especially useful operational provisions belong in your lease. The § 27-40-710(B) nonpayment language, which satisfies the separate written-notice requirement and continues to apply to a month-to-month tenancy following the original specified term. And the conspicuous periodic-services clause that unlocks entry between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. without consent.

• One provision decides your legal position. Section 27-40-420, read with § 27-40-210(6). A manager who fails to disclose can be treated as the landlord, and is also an agent for service and for performing the landlord's obligations.

• Deposits carry treble damages and three triggers. Thirty days from the later of termination, delivery of possession and demand, with an itemised written notice, and a separate posting duty where more than four adjoining units carry different deposit standards.

• Repair and deduct does not exist here. Section 27-40-630 allows procuring an essential service and deducting its cost. It expressly forbids repairing the property and deducting, and makes any resulting mechanic's lien unenforceable.

• And a 2026 amendment adds a separate termination right. Section 27-40-350, effective 18 May 2026, lets a protected tenant terminate future lease obligations within sixty days of a documented qualifying incident, on written notice with documentation, effective at least thirty days after receipt. Cotenants remain liable for the full rent, damage liability survives, the deposit need not be returned before the end of the lease, and a landlord acting in good faith on the documentation is shielded.

The operating discipline is short. Fix the lease template first. Give the disclosure at or before commencement and keep it current. Post the deposit standards if you price them differently across five or more adjoining units. Mail the itemisation whether or not you have a forwarding address. Record what appliances are in each unit. Never bill separately for completing an eviction writ. And never unlawfully interrupt or diminish an essential service.

This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It states the law as at September 2026 and is drawn from the South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, S.C. Code Ann. §§ 27-40-10 to 27-40-940. Act No. 184 of 2026 (H.3569) added § 27-40-350 and definitions (19) and (20) to § 27-40-210, effective on the Governor's approval on 18 May 2026; at the time of writing those additions had not yet been incorporated into the published Chapter 40 code page, so verify them against the Act. South Carolina also enacted further 2026 legislation affecting Chapter 37 ejectment procedure, which is outside the scope of this guide; detailed ejectment procedure, the Rule to Vacate or Show Cause and appeal bonds should be researched against the current Chapter 37 text and applicable court rules before filing. Section 27-40-120 excludes nine arrangements from the Act, including transient hotel and motel occupancy, occupancy conditional on employment, agricultural use and charitable or emergency shelters. Under § 27-40-240(D), time is computed by reference to the South Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure. Verify the current statutory text with the South Carolina Legislature before acting and consult a licensed South Carolina attorney on a specific matter.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. How much notice is required for unpaid rent in South Carolina?
The tenant has five days from the due date under § 27-40-710(B). The separate written notice requirement is satisfied if the lease contains the statutory provision in conspicuous language, and that continues to apply to a month-to-month tenancy following the original specified lease term.

Q2. Is there a security deposit limit in South Carolina?
No. The Act sets no cap, so the amount is governed by the lease, subject to the § 27-40-410(c) disclosure rule where more than four adjoining units carry different deposit standards.

Q3. When must a South Carolina deposit be returned?
Within 30 days after the later of termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession and demand by the tenant, with an itemised written notice of any deductions. Wrongful withholding carries three times the amount plus attorney's fees.

Q4. Can a South Carolina tenant repair and deduct?
No. Section 27-40-630(c) expressly prohibits it and makes any resulting mechanic's lien unenforceable. A tenant may procure essential services during a landlord's noncompliance and deduct their actual and reasonable cost.

Q5. How much notice before entering a South Carolina rental?
At least 24 hours under § 27-40-530(c). No consent is needed in an emergency, between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. for regularly scheduled periodic services where the lease conspicuously provides for it, or between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. for tenant-requested services.

Q6. Can a property manager file an eviction in South Carolina?
Section 27-40-710(C) permits a licensed broker-in-charge or property manager, in the conduct of the licensed business, to complete a form writ of eviction and present facts to judicial officers for the principal, provided no separate charge is made for that service.

Q7. What happens if a manager does not make the § 27-40-420 disclosure?
The manager can be treated as the landlord under § 27-40-210(6), and under § 27-40-420(c) also becomes an agent of the landlord for service, receiving notices, and performing the landlord's obligations including applying rent collected.

Q8. Can a South Carolina tenant terminate a lease early because of domestic violence?
Since 18 May 2026, § 27-40-350 lets a protected tenant terminate future obligations within sixty days of a documented qualifying incident, by written notice with documentation, effective at least thirty days after the landlord receives it unless the landlord agrees to an earlier date. Both victim and perpetrator must be leaseholders on the same property.