South Carolina Eviction Notice Laws: The Landlord and Tenant Guide
5-Day Pay-or-Quit · 14-Day Cure or Quit · Health & Safety Terminations · 30-Day and 7-Day Periodic Notices · Magistrate Ejectment
In South Carolina, the eviction notice is step one, and a defective notice sinks the whole case. Before a landlord can ask a magistrate to eject a tenant, the law requires the right written notice, for the right number of days, for the right ground. Choose the wrong notice, demand the wrong amount, miscount the days, or skip the notice when one is required, and the tenant can defeat the case at the rule-to-vacate hearing and force the landlord to start the clock over. This guide walks the whole framework end to end — every notice type, how many days each needs, the distinctive South Carolina rule that a lease clause can satisfy the five-day rent notice, how to serve, and what happens in magistrate court after — in plain English, with every rule tied to a concrete action and to the South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
The stakes are practical. South Carolina residential evictions run through the magistrate court, a fast, summary process, but the speed only helps the landlord who arrives with a clean notice. A notice that names the wrong ground, overstates the rent, or gives the tenant too few days hands the tenant a defense the moment it is raised. Because statutes are amended over time and local practice varies by county magistrate, treat every figure in this guide as a starting point and verify the current statute before you serve or file anything. Many disputes are avoidable at move-in, which is why our South Carolina tenant screening laws guide is a companion to this one.
Below, an overview video summarizes the South Carolina framework; the sections that follow break down each piece — the notice types and their day-counts, the health-and-safety termination, service, what makes a notice valid, the magistrate ejectment ending in a warrant of ejectment, retaliation and tenant defenses, local practice, a landlord playbook, and defensible-versus-fatal scenarios — plus a South Carolina-specific FAQ.
South Carolina Eviction Notices at a Glance
Nonpayment
5-day pay or quit; lease clause can satisfy it
Lease Breach
14-day cure or terminate
Periodic End
30-day month-to-month; 7-day week-to-week
Court
Magistrate rule to vacate; officer executes
The Notice Is Step One — and It Can Sink the Case
Every South Carolina eviction begins with a written notice, and that notice is the single most common point of failure. The Residential Landlord and Tenant Act sets out exactly which notice each ground requires, and the magistrate who hears the ejectment will look first at whether the landlord gave the correct notice for the correct number of days. A notice that names the wrong amount, states the wrong ground, gives too few days, or is missing where one is required gives the tenant a clean defense — the magistrate can refuse the ejectment, and the landlord has to start over from a fresh notice, losing time in a process whose only advantage is speed.
This is why the notice deserves more care than any other step. The rest of the process — applying to the magistrate, the rule to vacate, the hearing, the warrant — is largely mechanical once the notice is right. Get the notice wrong and none of it matters. Throughout this guide, the theme repeats: the exactness of the notice decides the case long before the magistrate reads the application.
Overstating the rent undermines a pay-or-quit notice
A common, avoidable defect is demanding more than the rent actually owed. A five-day notice to pay rent or quit should state only the past-due rent that the tenant must pay to keep the home. Padding the demand with late fees the lease does not authorize, charges that are not rent, or an arithmetic error gives the tenant a factual dispute to raise at the hearing and can undercut the whole termination. Demand only past-due rent, and get the number right to the dollar.
Takeaway
In South Carolina the notice is step one and the whole case rides on it. The magistrate looks first at whether the correct notice ran for the correct number of days, so the right notice, the right amount, and the right days matter more than anything that happens at the hearing. A defective notice is a defense that forces the landlord to start over.
The South Carolina Eviction Notice Types
South Carolina recognizes a handful of distinct notices, and using the wrong one is itself a defect. Which notice applies depends entirely on why the landlord wants the tenant out. The for-cause notices — nonpayment and lease breach — come from South Carolina Code section 27-40-710; the no-fault periodic notices come from section 27-40-770.
5-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit (Nonpayment)
When a tenant is behind on rent, the landlord uses a five-day pay-or-quit under South Carolina Code section 27-40-710(B). If rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay within five days from the date due, the landlord may terminate the tenancy — provided the landlord has given the tenant written notice of the nonpayment and of the intent to terminate if the rent is not paid within that period. The tenant’s choice is to pay the exact past-due rent within the period and stay, or leave. If the tenant pays in full within the five days, the tenancy continues and the landlord cannot proceed on that ground.
South Carolina’s distinctive rule: the lease clause can be the notice
Here is where South Carolina differs from most states. Section 27-40-710(B) says the landlord’s obligation to give the five-day written notice is satisfied for any lease term once the landlord has given one such notice, or if the notice is contained in conspicuous language in the written rental agreement. In plain terms, a landlord who puts the statutory pay-your-rent-on-time clause into the lease does not have to send a separate five-day letter each month before filing for a nonpayment eviction — the lease clause itself satisfies the written-notice requirement, and it continues to apply after the original term rolls into a month-to-month tenancy. A landlord relying on the clause should make sure it is genuinely conspicuous; a landlord without it must serve the separate five-day notice.
14-Day Notice to Remedy a Lease Breach (Curable Violation)
When a tenant materially breaches a lease term other than nonpayment — an unauthorized pet, an unapproved occupant, a violation the tenant can stop — the landlord delivers a fourteen-day notice under South Carolina Code section 27-40-710(A). The notice specifies the breach and states that the tenancy will terminate on a date not less than fourteen days after receipt if the breach is not remedied within fourteen days. If the tenant adequately cures the breach before that date, the tenancy does not terminate. And if the cure cannot be finished within fourteen days but is begun within the period and pursued in good faith to completion within a reasonable time, the tenancy still may not terminate on that breach. The notice must describe the breach specifically enough that the tenant knows exactly what to correct.
South Carolina gives a cure right on every curable breach — no recurrence exception
South Carolina’s statute is narrower than the model act many states copied. Section 27-40-710(A) lets the tenancy terminate except in exactly two situations: the tenant adequately remedies the breach before the termination date, or the tenant begins the cure within the fourteen days and pursues it in good faith to completion within a reasonable time. That is the whole list. The model Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act adds a rule cutting off the cure when a substantially identical breach recurs within six months — but South Carolina did not enact that provision. So under section 27-40-710(A) a curable non-rent breach always earns the fourteen-day cure opportunity, even a repeat of the same conduct; there is no statutory shorter-notice recurrence shortcut in South Carolina. Do not rely on a repeat-breach cutoff the statute does not contain.
Health-and-Safety Terminations (Conduct Affecting Health and Safety)
For conduct or conditions that materially affect health and safety, South Carolina treats the matter under section 27-40-710(A) together with the tenant-obligation and health-and-safety provisions of the Act. Where a health-and-safety breach is remediable — by repair, replacement of a damaged item, or cleaning — the landlord gives written notice and the tenant has fourteen days to comply, after which the landlord may address it and, in some cases, terminate. Where the condition is an emergency, the tenant must act as promptly as conditions require, and where the conduct is not remediable or is a genuine emergency threatening health and safety, the landlord’s path to termination is faster than the ordinary fourteen-day cure. Because these situations turn on facts, document the condition and confirm the applicable subsection before acting.
No-Fault Periodic Termination: 30-Day and 7-Day Notices
When the landlord simply wants to end a periodic tenancy and the tenant has done nothing wrong, the vehicle is a no-fault termination notice under section 27-40-770. The length depends on the rental period: a thirty-day notice to end a month-to-month tenancy, and a seven-day notice to end a week-to-week tenancy. Either the landlord or the tenant may use these notices, which must be in writing and given at least the required number of days before the termination date stated in the notice. They end a tenancy with no fixed term without alleging fault — but they cannot be used to cut a fixed-term lease short.
Takeaway
The notice type follows the reason: 5-day pay-or-quit for nonpayment (and a conspicuous lease clause can satisfy that notice), 14-day notice to remedy for a curable lease breach, a faster path for genuine health-and-safety emergencies, and a 30-day or 7-day periodic notice to end a month-to-month or week-to-week tenancy. Using the wrong notice for the situation is itself a defect.
How Many Days Each Notice Requires
The day-count is where landlords most often trip. Each ground carries its own number, and mixing them up is a defect. Use this table as the quick reference, then read the notes below it.
| Notice | Days required | Statute and grounds |
|---|---|---|
| Pay rent or quit | 5 days from the date due | South Carolina Code section 27-40-710(B) — nonpayment of rent |
| Remedy or terminate | 14 days to cure | South Carolina Code section 27-40-710(A) — curable lease breach |
| Health-and-safety, remediable | 14 days to comply | Section 27-40-710(A) with the Act’s health-and-safety provisions |
| Health-and-safety, emergency or unremediable | As promptly as conditions require; faster termination | Emergency conduct materially affecting health and safety |
| Month-to-month termination | 30 days before the termination date | Section 27-40-770(b) — no-fault periodic end |
| Week-to-week termination | 7 days before the termination date | Section 27-40-770(a) — no-fault periodic end |
Do not skip the five-day rent notice unless the lease covers it
The five-day nonpayment requirement is satisfied only if the landlord either sent a prior five-day written notice or placed the conspicuous statutory clause in the lease. A landlord who has done neither and files a nonpayment ejectment anyway has skipped a required step, and the tenant can raise it. Before filing for nonpayment, confirm that either a separate notice or a lease clause satisfies section 27-40-710(B) — and never file before the five days from the date due have actually passed.
Give the full fourteen days on a lease breach
For a curable breach under section 27-40-710(A), the termination date must be no less than fourteen days after the tenant receives the notice, and the tenant keeps the tenancy by curing before that date — or by beginning a longer cure within the period and finishing in good faith within a reasonable time. Counting from delivery, not from when the notice was written, and building in time for receipt keeps the period unquestionably satisfied before you apply to the magistrate.
Takeaway
Nonpayment is five days from the date due, a curable lease breach is fourteen days to remedy, and no-fault periodic termination is thirty days for month-to-month, seven days for week-to-week. Never apply to the magistrate before the notice period for the ground has fully passed, and confirm the five-day rent notice is satisfied by a prior notice or a lease clause.
Just Cause and the No-Fault Periodic Notice
South Carolina does not have a statewide just-cause eviction law of the kind found in a handful of other states. A landlord who wants to end a month-to-month tenancy may do so with a thirty-day no-fault notice under section 27-40-770 without stating a reason, subject only to the ban on retaliation, discussed below, and to federal and state fair-housing law. That makes South Carolina a comparatively landlord-flexible state for ending a periodic tenancy — but the flexibility ends at the fixed-term lease and at the for-cause grounds. Ending a tenancy ties closely to the notice rules covered in our South Carolina lease termination laws guide, which walks the periodic-notice mechanics in more detail.
For-Cause Versus No-Fault
The Act sorts terminations into two families. For-cause terminations respond to the tenant’s own conduct — nonpayment of rent through the five-day process under section 27-40-710(B), or a material lease breach through the fourteen-day process under section 27-40-710(A), or conduct materially affecting health and safety. No-fault terminations are unrelated to any wrongdoing — the landlord simply ends a periodic tenancy on the thirty-day or seven-day notice under section 27-40-770. The right notice follows which family the situation falls into; a for-cause ground uses the for-cause notice, and a no-fault end uses the periodic notice.
A fixed-term lease limits the no-fault option
The thirty-day and seven-day notices end a periodic tenancy — one that renews by the week or month with no set end date. During a fixed-term lease, a landlord generally cannot use a bare periodic notice to cut the term short; the landlord needs a for-cause ground, such as nonpayment or a material breach, and the matching notice, or must wait until the term ends. Once a fixed lease expires and the tenant holds over as a month-to-month tenant, the thirty-day periodic notice becomes available again.
Takeaway
South Carolina has no statewide just-cause requirement: a landlord may end a month-to-month tenancy with a thirty-day no-fault notice under section 27-40-770 without stating a reason, subject to the retaliation ban and fair-housing law. For cause, the landlord uses the matching notice — five days for rent, fourteen for a lease breach — and a fixed-term lease cannot be cut short by a bare periodic notice.
How to Serve a Notice in South Carolina
A notice that is written perfectly still fails if the landlord cannot prove it reached the tenant. The Residential Landlord and Tenant Act does not turn the pre-court notice into an elaborate ritual, but the practical rule is the same everywhere: deliver the notice in a way you can prove, because when the tenant contests the ejectment, the landlord must be able to show the notice was given and the period ran.
| Method | How it works | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Personal delivery | Hand the written notice directly to the tenant | Always preferred; the cleanest proof |
| Leave with a suitable person | Leave a copy with a responsible person at the residence and keep a record | When the tenant is not personally available |
| Post and mail | Affix a copy on the unit and mail a copy to the tenant at the property | When personal or substituted delivery is not possible |
| Lease clause (rent only) | Conspicuous statutory clause in the written lease pre-satisfies the five-day rent notice | Nonpayment cases where the lease carries the clause |
For nonpayment specifically, remember that the five-day written-notice requirement can be pre-satisfied by the conspicuous lease clause under section 27-40-710(B), so a landlord with that clause does not need to serve a separate letter before filing. For every other ground, and for the safest record even in a rent case, deliver the notice in a provable way and keep a copy showing how and when it was delivered. When the matter reaches court, the magistrate’s rule to vacate is formally served on the tenant under the ejectment statutes — that court service is separate from, and later than, the pre-court notice.
Keep proof of delivery
Whoever delivers the notice should record who received it, how, when, and where, and the landlord should keep a copy of the notice itself. Without proof, the landlord may be unable to show the notice period ever started — and an unprovable notice is a losing one when the tenant appears and contests. A dated delivery record, or a mailing receipt paired with a posting, is far stronger than an unwitnessed drop-off.
Takeaway
Deliver the notice in a provable way — personal delivery, leaving it with a suitable person, or post-and-mail — and keep a record. For nonpayment, a conspicuous lease clause can pre-satisfy the five-day notice under section 27-40-710(B). The magistrate’s rule to vacate is served separately once the case is filed. Always keep proof of delivery.
What Makes a Notice Valid
Beyond picking the right notice and delivering it provably, the notice’s content has to be right. A valid South Carolina eviction notice is a written document — never merely oral where a writing is required — and, depending on type, generally includes the following.
| Required element | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Tenant name(s) and property address | Identifies who is being noticed and which unit; a wrong name or address undermines the notice |
| The exact ground | Nonpayment, the specific curable breach, or the specific health-and-safety condition — stated with enough detail to respond |
| Amount due (pay-or-quit) | The precise past-due rent the tenant must pay to keep the home — only rent, no unauthorized fees |
| The deadline | The correct number of days for the notice type — five for rent, fourteen for a breach, thirty or seven for periodic ends |
| Intent to terminate and date | A statement that the tenancy will end if the tenant does not pay or cure, and the date of the notice |
For a five-day pay-or-quit notice, the demand should reflect only the rent actually due, and the notice should make clear that paying within the period keeps the home. For a fourteen-day breach notice, the breach must be described specifically enough that the tenant knows precisely what to fix, and the notice must give a termination date no sooner than fourteen days after receipt. Vague grounds, an overstated rent demand, or too few days each weaken the notice when the tenant contests it in magistrate court.
Takeaway
A valid notice is written, names the tenant and address, states the exact ground, and — for pay-or-quit — demands the precise rent due with a clear statement that timely payment keeps the home. Vague grounds, an overstated amount, or too few days each undercut the notice.
After the Notice: The Magistrate-Court Ejectment
If the notice period expires and the tenant has not paid, cured, or moved out, the landlord’s next — and only — lawful step is to bring an ejectment in the magistrate court for the county where the property is located. A landlord cannot skip this step and cannot substitute self-help for it. South Carolina residential evictions are heard by the magistrate, not the circuit court, which is what makes the process comparatively fast.
Apply to the magistrate
After the notice period runs, the landlord applies to the magistrate for the county, stating the ground and that the notice was given. The application opens the court phase.
The magistrate issues a rule to vacate
Under South Carolina Code section 27-37-20, the magistrate issues a written rule requiring the tenant to vacate the premises or to show cause why he should not be ejected. The rule is served on the tenant.
Tenant responds within ten days
The tenant generally has ten days to answer the rule and demand a hearing. If the tenant does not respond in time, the magistrate may proceed to a warrant without a hearing, so the deadline is critical for the tenant.
Hearing or default
If the tenant answers, the magistrate hears the case as a civil matter, and either side may demand a jury. If the tenant does not answer, the magistrate may issue the warrant of ejectment by default.
Warrant of ejectment and removal
If the landlord prevails, section 27-37-40 provides for a writ or warrant of ejectment. An officer — a deputy sheriff or the magistrate’s constable — presents it, gives the occupant a short window to leave, and removes the tenant if necessary. The landlord never performs the removal.
Only an officer can remove the tenant
A magistrate’s judgment for possession does not let the landlord change the locks personally. The court issues a warrant of ejectment that an officer — a deputy sheriff or the magistrate’s constable — executes, presenting the writ and giving the occupant a short window, commonly around twenty-four hours, before physically restoring possession. The landlord takes possession only after the officer executes the warrant. Any shortcut around this is an illegal self-help eviction.
The rule-to-vacate deadline is the tenant’s key moment
The most important date for a South Carolina tenant is the response deadline on the rule to vacate. A tenant who answers within the roughly ten-day window and appears forces the landlord to prove the case and can raise every defense — a defective or missing notice, a payment or cure made in time, retaliation, or a habitability problem. A tenant who ignores the rule usually loses by default. For landlords, the mirror lesson is to assume the tenant will appear and contest, and to make sure the notice and delivery are flawless.
Takeaway
After the notice expires, the only lawful path is a magistrate-court ejectment. The magistrate issues a rule to vacate under section 27-37-20, the tenant generally has ten days to respond and demand a hearing, and if the landlord wins the court issues a warrant of ejectment that an officer executes — the landlord never removes a tenant personally.
Retaliation and Tenant Defenses
Even a landlord with a real ground can lose if the eviction runs into a tenant defense. Two categories matter most: retaliation, and the notice and procedural defects this guide has stressed throughout.
Retaliation Is Prohibited
Under South Carolina Code section 27-40-910, a landlord may not retaliate against a tenant — by increasing rent above fair-market value, decreasing essential services, or bringing an action for possession — because the tenant complained to a governmental agency about a building or housing code violation materially affecting health and safety, or complained to the landlord of a violation of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. A tenant may raise retaliation as a defense to the ejectment and recover the remedies available under section 27-40-660. The statute carves out situations where the landlord may still pursue possession — for instance, where the tenant is at fault for the condition, has materially breached the lease under section 27-40-710, or where compliance would effectively deprive the tenant of the use of the unit. Timing an eviction right after a tenant complaint invites the defense.
The Common Tenant Defenses
- Defective or missing notice. Wrong notice type, wrong days, overstated rent, a vague breach description, or no five-day notice where neither a prior notice nor a lease clause satisfies section 27-40-710(B) — each is a defense.
- Unprovable delivery. A notice the landlord cannot prove was delivered, or that the period ever ran, is a weak foundation for the ejectment.
- Payment or cure made in time. If the tenant paid the full past-due rent within five days, or cured the breach within the fourteen-day period, the grounds evaporate; receipts and records win.
- Habitability defense. A landlord’s failure to maintain a fit and habitable unit can be raised as a defense, particularly in a nonpayment case, and may offset what is owed.
- Retaliation. An eviction brought because the tenant complained to a code agency or to the landlord about an Act violation is barred under section 27-40-910.
- Discrimination. An eviction motivated by a protected class under fair-housing law is unlawful.
- Filed too early. Applying to the magistrate before the notice period for the ground fully expired is grounds to defeat the ejectment.
Showing up is the tenant’s biggest lever
The fastest path to a landlord judgment is a tenant who never responds to the rule to vacate — a default. A tenant who answers within the deadline and appears forces the landlord to prove every element and opens the door to all of these defenses. For landlords, the lesson is the mirror image: assume the tenant will appear and contest, and make sure the notice and delivery are flawless.
Takeaway
Retaliation is prohibited under section 27-40-910 when the eviction follows a tenant’s code complaint or complaint of an Act violation, and defective or missing notice, unprovable delivery, timely payment or cure, habitability, and discrimination are all live defenses. The landlord’s best protection is a flawless notice and provable delivery.
Local Practice: County Magistrates Vary
State law is the framework, but South Carolina evictions are handled county by county, and the magistrate courts that hear them differ in local practice, forms, and scheduling. The statutory notice periods and grounds are the same statewide, but how quickly a rule to vacate issues, what application form the magistrate expects, how a hearing is set, and how fast an officer executes a warrant can vary from one county to the next.
Because of this, a landlord should learn the specific practice of the magistrate court for the property’s county before filing. Some magistrates provide standard application forms and have set procedures for the rule to vacate and the hearing; others handle scheduling differently. None of this changes the underlying notice requirements — the five-day rent notice, the fourteen-day breach notice, the thirty-day and seven-day periodic notices — but knowing the local court’s routine keeps the case moving and avoids an avoidable delay.
Confirm the local magistrate’s procedure
Before applying for an ejectment, confirm the county magistrate’s application form, filing fee, and scheduling practice, and how the rule to vacate and warrant are handled locally. A notice that satisfies state law still has to be presented in the form and manner the local magistrate expects. Getting the local procedure right the first time avoids a rejected application and lost time.
Takeaway
South Carolina evictions run through county magistrate courts whose forms and scheduling vary, even though the statutory notice periods are uniform statewide. Learn the local magistrate’s application form and procedure for the property’s county before filing, so a state-compliant notice is not tripped up by local practice.
No Self-Help: Lockouts and Utility Shutoffs Are Illegal
One rule admits no exceptions: in South Carolina, a landlord may never remove a tenant by self-help, no matter how far behind the rent is or how egregious the conduct. Under South Carolina Code section 27-40-660, a landlord may not unlawfully remove or exclude the tenant from the unit, and may not willfully diminish essential services by interrupting or causing the interruption of heat, running water, hot water, electricity, gas, or another essential service in order to force a move.
The remedy is powerful and runs to the tenant. A tenant subjected to an unlawful ouster or a utility cutoff may recover possession or terminate the tenancy and, in either case, recover an amount equal to three months’ periodic rent or twice the actual damages sustained, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney’s fees. A self-help lockout can turn a routine, winnable eviction into a case the landlord loses and pays for. The only lawful way to remove a tenant is the magistrate-court ejectment ending in a warrant an officer executes.
Takeaway
Self-help eviction is illegal under section 27-40-660: no lock changes, no utility shutoffs, no excluding the tenant. A tenant may recover possession or terminate and collect three months’ rent or twice the actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney’s fees. The only lawful removal is an officer-executed warrant after a magistrate judgment.
The South Carolina Landlord Playbook
Put the whole framework into a repeatable sequence and an eviction becomes a disciplined, winnable process instead of a gamble. Follow these steps every time.
Pin down the ground and the right notice
Decide whether this is nonpayment, a curable lease breach, a health-and-safety condition, or a no-fault periodic end — then choose the matching notice: five-day pay-or-quit, fourteen-day remedy, or the thirty-day or seven-day periodic notice. Using the wrong notice is a defect.
Confirm the five-day notice is satisfied
For nonpayment, check whether a prior five-day notice or a conspicuous lease clause satisfies section 27-40-710(B). If neither exists, serve the separate five-day written notice before filing.
Get the content exact
State the tenant name, address, and precise ground. For pay-or-quit, demand only the rent actually due. For a lease breach, describe the violation specifically and set a termination date no sooner than fourteen days after receipt. Date the notice.
Count the days and deliver provably
Count five days for rent, fourteen for a breach, thirty or seven for a periodic end, from the correct starting point. Deliver in a provable way and keep proof. Never apply to the magistrate before the last day passes.
Apply to the magistrate and let the officer execute
If the tenant does not comply, apply for an ejectment in the county magistrate court, let the rule to vacate and hearing run, and let the officer execute any warrant of ejectment. Never lock out or shut off utilities.
Need the notice itself?
A ready-to-fill notice keeps the required fields in place. See our eviction notice laws by state hub and our South Carolina landlord-tenant guides for the matching forms and current requirements. Always tailor the details to your unit and verify current law before serving.
Defensible Versus Fatal: Common Scenarios
✓ Usually Defensible
- Exact five-day pay-or-quit. A notice demanding only the past-due rent, with the five days run from the date due, and either a prior notice or a conspicuous lease clause satisfying section 27-40-710(B).
- Specific fourteen-day breach notice. A notice naming the precise lease breach and giving a termination date no sooner than fourteen days after receipt, with the tenant failing to cure.
- Clean thirty-day periodic end. A thirty-day no-fault notice ending a month-to-month tenancy, delivered provably, with no retaliatory motive.
- Officer-executed warrant. Waiting for the magistrate’s judgment and letting the officer present the writ and remove — never a personal lockout.
✕ Likely Fatal
- Overstated rent. A pay-or-quit notice demanding more than the rent actually owed, or adding unauthorized fees.
- Skipped five-day notice. Filing a nonpayment ejectment with no prior notice and no conspicuous lease clause to satisfy section 27-40-710(B).
- Filed too early. Applying to the magistrate before the five-day or fourteen-day period has fully run.
- Self-help lockout. Changing the locks or shutting off utilities — illegal under section 27-40-660, with three months’ rent or double damages plus fees.
The Best Eviction Is the One You Never File
Most eviction disputes trace back to a tenant who showed red flags before move-in. Comprehensive credit, income, and eviction-history reports catch prior evictions and payment problems before you ever sign a lease.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days is a South Carolina eviction notice for nonpayment of rent?
Five days. Under South Carolina Code section 27-40-710(B), if rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay within five days from the date due, the landlord may terminate the tenancy, provided the landlord has given written notice of nonpayment and of the intent to terminate if the rent is not paid within that period. South Carolina counts these as calendar days. The distinctive twist is that the landlord does not always have to send a fresh notice each month: the five-day written notice can be satisfied once and for all by conspicuous language placed in the written rental agreement itself. Always verify current law before serving.
Can the five-day rent notice be written into the South Carolina lease itself?
Yes, and this is what makes South Carolina unusual. Section 27-40-710(B) says the landlord’s obligation to give the five-day written notice is satisfied for any lease term once the landlord has given one such notice, or if the notice is contained in conspicuous language in the written rental agreement. If the lease carries the statutory pay-your-rent-on-time clause, the landlord is not required to furnish any separate written notice before filing for eviction for nonpayment, even after the original term has expired and the tenancy has rolled to month-to-month. A landlord relying on a separate notice each time is doing more than the law requires; a landlord relying on the lease clause must make sure it is genuinely conspicuous.
How long is a South Carolina notice for a lease violation other than rent?
Fourteen days. Under South Carolina Code section 27-40-710(A), for a material noncompliance with the lease other than nonpayment of rent, the landlord delivers a written notice specifying the breach and stating that the tenancy will terminate on a date not less than fourteen days after receipt if the breach is not remedied within fourteen days. If the tenant adequately cures the breach before that date, or the cure cannot be completed in fourteen days but is begun within the period and pursued in good faith to completion within a reasonable time, the tenancy does not terminate. Section 27-40-710(A) lists only those two exceptions, so a curable non-rent breach always gets the fourteen-day cure opportunity. South Carolina did not adopt the model-act rule that cuts off the cure when a substantially identical breach recurs within six months, so there is no repeat-breach shortcut to a shorter notice under South Carolina law.
What makes a South Carolina eviction notice defective?
Common fatal or costly defects include an oral notice where a written one is required, the wrong number of days for the ground, an amount demanded that overstates the rent actually due, a vague description of a lease breach that leaves the tenant guessing what to cure, filing the magistrate ejectment before the notice period has run, and skipping the notice entirely when neither a prior notice nor a conspicuous lease clause exists to satisfy the five-day requirement. Because a South Carolina residential eviction runs through the magistrate court, a notice or service problem is raised as a defense at the rule-to-vacate hearing, so precision on the front end saves the case.
How do you serve an eviction notice in South Carolina?
The prudent practice is to deliver the written notice to the tenant in a provable way: hand it to the tenant in person, leave it with a suitable person at the residence, or post it on the unit and mail a copy, keeping proof of how and when it was delivered. The five-day rent requirement can also be pre-satisfied by conspicuous language in the lease, in which case the separate notice is not needed. When the matter reaches court, the magistrate’s rule to vacate is formally served on the tenant under the ejectment statutes. Keep records of every delivery, because an unprovable notice is a weak one.
Can a South Carolina landlord change the locks or shut off utilities to force a tenant out?
No. Self-help eviction is illegal under South Carolina Code section 27-40-660. A landlord may not unlawfully remove or exclude the tenant from the unit or willfully diminish essential services by interrupting or causing the interruption of heat, running water, hot water, electric, gas, or another essential service. A tenant subjected to an unlawful ouster or utility cutoff may recover possession or terminate the tenancy and, in either case, recover an amount equal to three months’ periodic rent or twice the actual damages sustained, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney’s fees. The only lawful way to remove a tenant is the magistrate-court ejectment ending in a warrant executed by an officer.
How does the eviction court process work in South Carolina?
After the notice period expires without payment, cure, or move-out, the landlord applies to the magistrate court for the county where the property sits. Under South Carolina Code section 27-37-20, the magistrate issues a written rule requiring the tenant to vacate or to show cause why he should not be ejected. The tenant generally has ten days to respond and demand a hearing. If the tenant does not answer or loses at the hearing, section 27-37-40 provides for a writ or warrant of ejectment, which an officer such as a deputy sheriff or magistrate’s constable executes, giving the occupant a short window to leave before removal. The landlord never performs the removal personally.
How long is a notice to end a month-to-month tenancy in South Carolina?
Thirty days. Under South Carolina Code section 27-40-770(b), either the landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy by written notice given to the other at least thirty days before the termination date specified in the notice. For a week-to-week tenancy, section 27-40-770(a) requires at least seven days’ written notice. These no-fault periodic notices end a tenancy that has no fixed term without alleging any wrongdoing; they are separate from the five-day nonpayment notice and the fourteen-day breach notice, which are for cause.
Can a South Carolina landlord evict in retaliation?
No. Under South Carolina Code section 27-40-910, a landlord may not retaliate against a tenant, by increasing rent above fair-market value, decreasing essential services, or bringing an action for possession, because the tenant complained to a governmental agency about a building or housing code violation materially affecting health and safety, or complained to the landlord of a violation of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. A tenant may raise retaliation as a defense and recover the remedies under section 27-40-660. The statute carves out situations where the landlord may still proceed, such as when the tenant is at fault or has materially breached the lease.
Does South Carolina require just cause to end a tenancy?
South Carolina has no statewide just-cause eviction law of the kind found in some states. A landlord may end a month-to-month tenancy with a thirty-day no-fault notice under section 27-40-770 without stating a reason, subject to the ban on retaliation and to fair-housing law. For cause, the landlord uses the matching notice: five days for nonpayment, fourteen days for a curable lease breach, and a health-and-safety termination for conduct materially affecting health and safety. During a fixed-term lease, the landlord generally cannot end the tenancy early with a bare periodic notice and must rely on a for-cause ground or wait out the term.
What is a rule to vacate in South Carolina?
A rule to vacate, sometimes called a rule to show cause, is the order the magistrate issues under South Carolina Code section 27-37-20 to start the court phase of an eviction. It requires the tenant either to vacate the premises or to appear and show cause why he should not be ejected. The tenant generally has ten days to respond and request a hearing. If the tenant does not respond in time, the magistrate may issue the writ of ejectment without a hearing, so the response deadline is critical. If the tenant answers, the magistrate hears the case, and either side may demand a jury trial.
Can a landlord evict during a fixed-term lease in South Carolina?
Only for cause. During a fixed-term lease, a landlord cannot use a thirty-day no-fault periodic notice to end the tenancy early, because that notice is for terminating a periodic tenancy, not a fixed term. The landlord must have a ground, such as nonpayment handled through the five-day process under section 27-40-710(B) or a material lease breach handled through the fourteen-day notice under section 27-40-710(A), and serve the matching notice, or wait until the term ends. Once a fixed lease expires and the tenant holds over month-to-month, the thirty-day periodic notice becomes available again.
What is the safest way for a South Carolina landlord to serve an eviction notice?
Pick the correct notice for the ground and get the numbers and facts precise. For nonpayment, demand only the rent actually due and confirm that either a prior five-day notice or a conspicuous lease clause satisfies section 27-40-710(B). For a lease breach, describe the violation specifically enough that the tenant knows exactly what to cure, and give the full fourteen days. Deliver the notice in a provable way and keep proof. Never resort to a lockout or utility shutoff, and let the magistrate court and its officer handle any removal. A clean notice is the foundation of a winning ejectment.
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