Free South Carolina 5-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit

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The 5-day notice to pay rent or quit is the notice a South Carolina landlord gives before applying to the magistrate for ejectment for nonpayment of rent. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710(B) lets the landlord act once the tenant fails to pay within five days of the due date, after written notice of nonpayment and intent to terminate. South Carolina also lets that 5-day warning live in the lease as a conspicuous clause. Generate a compliant notice below.

5-Day Notice S.C. Code § 27-40-710(B) Magistrate Ejectment Free PDF

A South Carolina 5-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit is the written demand a landlord gives a tenant who has not paid rent, before the landlord applies to the magistrate court to eject the tenant for nonpayment. It is governed by S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710(B) of the South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, with notice-delivery rules at § 27-40-240 and the ejectment procedure at §§ 27-37-10 through 27-37-40. South Carolina has a distinctive feature: the statute lets the landlord satisfy the written-notice requirement with a conspicuous clause in the lease itself, so a separate notice may not be legally required in every case — but a separate written 5-day notice remains the safe standard. The form below produces that notice; our South Carolina eviction notice laws guide covers the full process, and the South Carolina landlord-tenant laws hub sets the wider framework.

The 5-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit is the written demand a South Carolina landlord gives a tenant who has failed to pay rent when due. It is the practical prerequisite to applying for ejectment under the Ejectment of Tenants chapter (S.C. Code §§ 27-37-10 et seq.) for nonpayment. Without notice that the rent is unpaid and that the landlord intends to terminate if it is not paid within five days, the magistrate cannot be confident the tenant was given the statutory opportunity to cure.

The notice does three things in one document. First, it demands the past-due rent. State the amount and the period it covers. Keep the demand to rent; late fees, damages, and utilities are best pursued separately so there is no argument about whether the notice inflated the amount owed.

Second, it gives the tenant the five-day cure opportunity. S.C. Code § 27-40-710(B) frames the right this way: if rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay within five days from the due date, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement after giving written notice of the nonpayment and the intention to terminate. If the tenant pays the full amount within the five days, the default is cured and the tenancy continues unless the lease provides otherwise.

Third, it states the consequence. The notice tells the tenant that if the rent is not paid or the premises surrendered within five days, the landlord will apply to the magistrate court for a rule to vacate or show cause and, ultimately, a warrant of ejectment. That statement is what turns a private demand into the first step of a legal ejectment. The form on this page assembles the demand, the deadline, the payment instructions, and the consequence in a single South Carolina notice.

The 5-day pay-or-quit is governed by the South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Title 27, Chapter 40) working together with the Ejectment of Tenants chapter (Title 27, Chapter 37). The core statute is S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710(B), which authorizes the landlord to terminate the rental agreement for nonpayment once the tenant fails to pay within five days of the due date, provided the landlord has given written notice of the nonpayment and the intent to terminate.

The lease-clause option is the feature that sets South Carolina apart from most states. Section 27-40-710(B) provides that the written-notice requirement is satisfied for the term, and for later terms of that tenancy, if the landlord has given one such notice, or if the lease itself carries conspicuous language warning the tenant of the rule. The statute supplies model wording substantially like: “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.” Where that clause is present and conspicuous, a separate written notice may not be legally required for a later nonpayment. Because a magistrate may scrutinize whether the clause was truly conspicuous, many South Carolina landlords still send a separate written 5-day notice each time; it costs little and removes the argument.

Delivery rules are at S.C. Code § 27-40-240, which defines when a tenant “receives” a notice: delivery in hand to the tenant, or mailing by registered or certified mail to the address the tenant holds out for receipt of communications, or — if none is designated — to the tenant’s last known place of residence. The statute expressly states that proof of mailing constitutes notice without proof of receipt, which is why certified mail with a retained receipt is the documentary backbone of a mailed 5-day notice.

The ejectment procedure lives in Chapter 37. After the five days pass without payment, the landlord (or an agent or attorney) applies to a magistrate with jurisdiction, who under § 27-37-10 issues a written rule requiring the tenant to vacate or to show cause within ten days after the rule is served. If the tenant does not answer or vacate within that period, § 27-37-40 directs the magistrate to issue a warrant of ejectment, executed by a constable or sheriff. One operational rule ties this together: the tenant must have plainly had the five days to pay. A rushed application, an unclear demand, or a shaky record of delivery gives the tenant something to contest and stalls the case.

South Carolina’s treatment of the 5-day warning is the single most important thing that distinguishes it from the pay-or-quit rules in other states, so it deserves its own section.

What the statute allows. Under § 27-40-710(B), the landlord’s obligation to give written notice of nonpayment is satisfied in either of two ways: by actually delivering one qualifying written notice to the tenant, or by including conspicuous language in the written rental agreement that warns the tenant nonpayment within five days is itself the notice. Once that clause is in the lease, the statute contemplates that the landlord need not send a fresh notice for each later nonpayment — the lease clause stands in for the notice, even after the original lease term rolls into a month-to-month tenancy.

Why “conspicuous” is the whole game. The lease clause only substitutes for a served notice if it is genuinely conspicuous — set off in bold, capitalized, or otherwise made to stand out so an ordinary tenant would see and understand it. A clause buried in small print in the middle of a long lease invites a tenant to argue it was not conspicuous, which puts the landlord back to needing a served notice. Landlords who rely on the lease clause should place the statutory warning language in bold, in its own paragraph, and have the tenant initial it.

Why many landlords still serve a separate notice. The lease-clause option removes a step, but it also shifts risk to the moment of the magistrate hearing, where the landlord must convince the court the clause was conspicuous and applicable. Sending a separate written 5-day notice for each nonpayment is cheap insurance: it gives the magistrate a clean, dated document showing exactly what the tenant owed and when the five days expired. The form on this page produces that separate notice, which is the approach we recommend regardless of what the lease says.

The five-day period under § 27-40-710(B) runs from the date the rent is due. The South Carolina statute does not, by its terms, carve out weekends or holidays — it speaks in terms of five days from the due date, so the five days are counted as full calendar days. The conservative practice is to count five full calendar days from the due date and, if the fifth day falls on a weekend or legal holiday, roll the deadline to the next business day before applying to the magistrate.

Worked example. Rent is due on the 1st. The tenant does not pay. Five days from the due date carries the deadline to the 6th. If the tenant has not paid by the end of the 6th, the landlord may apply to the magistrate for a rule to vacate or show cause. Serving the notice promptly — on or shortly after the due date — makes the five-day window unambiguous.

Worked example with a weekend deadline. Rent is due on a Wednesday and goes unpaid. Five days later lands on a Monday. Because there is no statutory business-day exclusion, the five days have run; but if that fifth day were a Saturday or Sunday, the cautious landlord waits until the following business day before applying, so the tenant plainly had a full opportunity to pay in person during business hours.

Why the count is worth getting right. The whole point of the notice is that the tenant had a genuine five-day chance to cure. A magistrate who suspects the landlord applied too early — before the five days truly ran, or without a clear delivery date — can send the landlord back to start over. Because South Carolina does not layer a mail-extension rule onto this notice the way some states do, the safest approach is a hand delivery or certified mailing with a documented date, then a clean count of five days before the courthouse.

Complete the form below to generate a South Carolina 5-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit. The form computes the five-day deadline from the date the notice is served, records the demand and payment instructions, and states the consequence of nonpayment. Deliver the notice under § 27-40-240 by hand or registered/certified mail, and retain proof of delivery.

S.C. Code § 27-40-240 governs how a notice reaches the tenant. The statute defines when the tenant “receives” the notice and centers on two methods: hand delivery to the tenant, and registered or certified mail to the address the tenant holds out for receipt (or, absent one, the tenant’s last known residence). Email, text message, and a note taped to the door without a mailing are not the statutory methods and invite a dispute over whether the tenant received notice.

Proof of delivery

Keep a record of how, when, and to whom the notice was delivered. For hand delivery, note the date, time, and place, and keep a signed copy. For certified mail, retain the receipt and the return card. Under § 27-40-240 proof of mailing is itself notice, so the certified-mail receipt is the document that carries the day if the tenant later claims not to have received it.

Documentation retention

Retain the signed notice, the delivery record, and any certified-mail receipts. If the landlord applies to the magistrate for ejectment, the notice and delivery proof become exhibits. If the tenant pays before the deadline, the same documentation supports the record that the default was cured.

If the tenant does not pay or vacate within the five days, South Carolina routes the eviction through the magistrate court under the Ejectment of Tenants chapter (Title 27, Chapter 37). Understanding the steps helps a landlord see why the 5-day notice and its delivery record matter so much.

Application and rule to vacate or show cause. The landlord, an agent, or an attorney applies to a magistrate with jurisdiction. Under § 27-37-10, the magistrate issues a written rule requiring the tenant to vacate the premises or to show cause, before the magistrate, why the tenant should not be ejected — within ten days after a copy of the rule is served on the tenant.

The tenant’s ten-day window. The tenant has ten days after service of the rule to either vacate or file an answer and request a hearing. If the tenant answers, the magistrate sets a hearing and decides whether the landlord has shown grounds for ejectment — here, nonpayment after a proper five-day opportunity to pay.

Warrant of ejectment. If the tenant does not answer or vacate within the ten days, § 27-37-40 directs the magistrate to issue a warrant of ejectment. A constable or sheriff then executes the warrant and removes the tenant. The landlord may not use self-help — changing locks, removing the tenant’s belongings, or shutting off utilities to force the tenant out — in place of this court process.

Labeled contrast (California comparison). Landlords who have used a California pay-or-quit will notice several differences in South Carolina. California uses a shorter 3-day notice under CCP § 1161(2) counted in business days, with layered timing rules such as a mail-service extension. South Carolina uses a longer 5-day notice under § 27-40-710(B) counted as flat calendar days from the rent due date with no statutory weekend/holiday exclusion and no mail-extension add-on, and it uniquely lets the 5-day warning be carried in the lease as a conspicuous clause. In short: California is a shorter count with more layered timing rules; South Carolina is a longer flat count with a lease-clause shortcut. Do not carry California’s CCP citations, holiday math, or mail-extension onto a South Carolina notice.

• Applying to the magistrate too early. The tenant must have had the full five days from the due date to pay. Filing before the five days run gives the tenant a clean defense and restarts the clock.
• Relying on a lease clause that is not conspicuous. If the 5-day warning is buried in small print, a tenant can argue it was not conspicuous. Serve a separate written notice, or make the lease clause bold and initialed.
• Overstating the demand. Loading late fees, damages, or utilities into the rent demand invites an argument about the amount. Demand rent on the notice and pursue other charges separately.
• Weak delivery record. A door note without a mailing is not a § 27-40-240 method. Deliver in hand or by registered/certified mail and keep the receipt.
• Using self-help instead of the magistrate. Changing locks, removing belongings, or cutting utilities is unlawful. Ejectment runs through the magistrate court and a warrant executed by a constable or sheriff.
• Accepting partial payment without a plan. Taking part of the rent can muddy whether the default was cured or waived. Decide in advance whether a partial payment is accepted, and document the arrangement in writing.

South Carolina tenants served with a 5-day pay-or-quit notice have meaningful rights under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. Understanding them helps a landlord appreciate why a clean notice and delivery record matter.

Right to cure by paying in full. If the tenant pays the full past-due rent within the five days, the default is cured and the tenancy continues unless the lease provides otherwise; the landlord cannot refuse a timely full payment and proceed as though the rent were unpaid. Right to be given the full five days. The tenant is entitled to the entire five-day window from the due date; a landlord who applies for ejectment before it expires has not met the statute.

Right to notice of the ejectment and a hearing. Under § 27-37-10 the tenant must be served with the magistrate’s rule and has ten days to vacate or to show cause at a hearing. The tenant may raise defenses at that hearing — that the rent was paid, that the amount was wrong, that the five days had not run, or that the notice was never properly delivered.

Right to be free of self-help eviction. A landlord may not force the tenant out by changing locks, removing possessions, or shutting off essential services; the tenant has remedies if the landlord attempts an unlawful ouster. Right to fair housing protection. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits eviction decisions based on protected characteristics, and a notice issued for a discriminatory or retaliatory reason gives the tenant a defense. A landlord who documents a straightforward nonpayment and a clean five-day opportunity to pay stands on the firmest ground.

The South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Title 27, Chapter 40) and the Ejectment of Tenants chapter (Title 27, Chapter 37) work together on a nonpayment eviction. Always verify the current statute text and consult a qualified South Carolina attorney before relying on this notice; see our guide to South Carolina eviction procedure for the full process.

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