South Carolina residential landlord tenant act, explained

Last updated 2026-07-25

What is the South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act?

The South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act is state law, codified at S.C. Code Ann. Title 27, Chapter 40, that spells out the baseline rights and duties for landlords and tenants renting residential property in South Carolina ^[1]. It covers lease basics, security deposits, notice periods, repair obligations, entry rules, and how landlords can terminate a tenancy or remove a tenant who won't leave. The Act applies broadly, but it has exceptions. Section 27-40-110 excludes things like occupancy in an institution, occupancy under a contract of sale, transient occupancy in a hotel or motel, and a few other narrow categories ^[1]. If you're renting out a single-family house, a duplex, or a small multi-unit building to a tenant on a residential lease, you're almost certainly covered. One thing the Act does not do: it doesn't create a statewide rental license or registration requirement. That's a city and county matter. Places like Rock Hill, Myrtle Beach area jurisdictions, and various municipalities have their own rental registration or inspection ordinances layered on top of this state law. Always confirm with your city or county's rental licensing office whether a local program applies to your property, because the state Act is silent on licensing entirely.

What is a landlord, legally, under South Carolina law?

Under S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-40-210, a landlord is the owner, lessor, or sublessor of a dwelling unit, or the building it's part of, and includes anyone who manages the property on the owner's behalf ^[1]. That last part matters: if you hire a property manager, the manager can be treated as the landlord's agent for notice and repair purposes, but you as the owner still carry the underlying legal responsibility. Practically, being "the landlord" means you're the party tenants sue if something goes wrong, the party who has to give proper notice to enter or terminate, and the party responsible for keeping the unit livable under Section 27-40-440. If you own the property but a management company signs the lease, read your management agreement closely. Courts generally still look to the property owner when a tenant needs a judgment collected. What is landlording, in plain terms? It's the ongoing job of maintaining a habitable rental, handling deposits correctly, giving legally sufficient notice for entry or termination, and following the eviction process through the magistrate's court rather than self-help. In South Carolina, self-help evictions (changing locks, shutting off utilities, removing belongings without a court order) are illegal moves that can expose a landlord to damages under Section 27-40-910 ^[1].

How to become a landlord in South Carolina: the practical steps

There's no state landlord license in South Carolina. Becoming a landlord is mostly a business and compliance exercise, not a licensing exam. Here's the realistic sequence: 1. Decide how you'll hold the property (personal name, LLC, etc.) and register with the SC Secretary of State if you're forming an entity. 2. Check your city or county for a rental registration, business license, or rental inspection ordinance. Many South Carolina municipalities require a business license for rental income even from a single unit; some require a separate rental registration or a periodic inspection. Requirements differ block by block, so confirm with your city or county's rental licensing office before you list the unit. 3. Get the property rent-ready and confirm it meets the habitability standard in Section 27-40-440 (safe electrical, working plumbing, weatherproofing, structurally sound floors, walls, roof). 4. Write a lease that matches South Carolina's default terms unless you're changing something the Act allows you to change. The Act sets default rules for month-to-month notice, deposit handling, and entry, but many of these can be modified by written agreement (Section 27-40-310 covers what terms are prohibited, like waiving a tenant's rights under the Act) ^[1]. 5. Screen tenants under fair housing law, collect a deposit that complies with Section 27-40-410, and give the tenant a receipt for it if requested. 6. Set up a system for tracking notice deadlines, deposit return timelines, and repair requests in writing. If you want a structured way to pull together the local paperwork, a lot of first-time landlords find it faster to work from a packet built around their specific city's checklist rather than assembling it from scratch. That's the gap our $79 City Rental License & Inspection Prep Packet is built to close: it doesn't replace the state Act, but it organizes the local licensing side that the Act leaves untouched.

How much notice does a landlord have to give in South Carolina?

Notice length depends on what you're doing. For ending a month-to-month tenancy, South Carolina Code Section 27-40-770 requires the landlord to give the tenant at least 30 days written notice before the end of a rental period, and the tenant owes the landlord the same 30 days notice to terminate a month-to-month tenancy ^[1]. For entering the unit, Section 27-40-530 says a landlord can enter to inspect, make repairs, or show the unit, but must give the tenant reasonable notice of intent to enter, and entry has to happen at reasonable times. "Reasonable notice" isn't defined as a specific number of hours in the statute, so many landlords default to 24 hours in writing as a defensible practice, though the law itself doesn't set that exact figure. In an emergency, no advance notice is required. For nonpayment of rent, Section 27-40-710 allows a landlord to terminate the rental agreement if rent is unpaid, but the eviction process itself runs through the magistrate's court, not a self-help notice-and-lockout. Timelines for the eviction hearing and any appeal are separate from the lease termination notice and are set by the magistrate court rules and Title 27, Chapter 37 (residential ejectment procedures) ^[2].

What can a landlord look at during an inspection?

Under the Act, a landlord's right to enter is tied to a purpose: inspecting the premises, making repairs or improvements, supplying agreed services, or showing the unit to prospective tenants, buyers, or lenders (Section 27-40-530). Inside that visit, a landlord can reasonably look at anything connected to that purpose, meaning general condition of walls, floors, fixtures, smoke alarms, HVAC access points, plumbing under sinks, and signs of pest issues or unauthorized occupants or animals if that's relevant to lease compliance. What a landlord generally should not do is use an inspection as a pretext to search personal belongings, go through drawers or closets unrelated to a maintenance issue, or show up repeatedly without cause, since that can amount to harassment and a violation of the tenant's right to quiet enjoyment implied in the landlord-tenant relationship. The Act doesn't list a numeric cap on how many inspections you can do, but courts and tenant advocates treat excessive or bad-faith entries as a problem even when each individual notice was technically proper. This question comes up under a lot of state names because tenants and landlords everywhere search versions of it, including "who is responsible for rental property walk through inspection california" and similar phrasing. Every state answers it differently: California's parallel rules on move-in/move-out walkthroughs and pre-move-out inspection notices are set in California Civil Code Section 1950.5, which is a different statute from anything in South Carolina's Title 27 ^[3]. If you own property in more than one state, don't assume South Carolina's entry and inspection rules travel with you; check the specific state code.

What rights do tenants have without a lease in South Carolina?

A tenant without a written lease, meaning someone paying rent on an oral or implied month-to-month basis, still gets nearly all the protections in the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. The Act applies to "rental agreements," and Section 27-40-210 defines a rental agreement broadly enough to include oral agreements for a dwelling unit ^[1]. That means a tenant without a written lease still has a right to a habitable unit under Section 27-40-440, still gets the deposit protections in Section 27-40-410, still is entitled to the 30-day notice to terminate a month-to-month tenancy under Section 27-40-770, and still can only be removed through the court eviction process, not a lockout or utility shutoff. What a tenant without a lease loses is any custom terms the landlord might have wanted (fixed rent increases schedule, specific pet rules, subletting restrictions) since without a written agreement, the statutory defaults control everything. For landlords, this cuts both ways. No written lease also means no proof of the rent amount, due date, or any agreed rules if a dispute goes to magistrate's court. Get everything in writing, even a short one-page agreement, because the alternative is litigating against the tenant's version of an oral deal.

What can a landlord look at, and what can a landlord not do?

Statute	S.C. Code Title 27, Ch. 40 [1]	Ohio Rev. Code Ch. 5321 [4]
Self-help eviction (lockouts, utility shutoff)	Prohibited, Sec. 27-40-910 [1]	Prohibited under Ohio Rev. Code 5321.15 [4]
Month-to-month termination notice	30 days, Sec. 27-40-770 [1]	30 days under Ohio Rev. Code 5321.17 [5]
Security deposit itemized return	Within 30 days, Sec. 27-40-410 [1]	Within 30 days, Ohio Rev. Code 5321.16 [5]	Both states land on 30 days for the two most-searched numbers, which is a coincidence worth knowing if you own property in more than one state, since not every pairing of states lines up that neatly.

Landlords in every state ask a version of "what can a landlord not do," often phrased by state, like "what a landlord cannot do in ohio." Ohio's landlord-tenant law is its own statute, Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5321, and it prohibits things like retaliatory eviction, shutting off utilities to force a tenant out, and entering without reasonable notice, generally interpreted as 24 hours in Ohio practice ^[4]. South Carolina's version of these prohibitions lives in Section 27-40-910, which bars a landlord from using self-help remedies including removing or threatening to remove a tenant's possessions, changing locks, or cutting off utilities as a way to force a tenant out, except through the lawful eviction process ^[1]. Here's a short comparison of a few core landlord obligations across the two states, since people often research them together: | Rule | South Carolina | Ohio |

How does South Carolina handle security deposits?

Section 27-40-410 requires a landlord who collects a security deposit to return it, along with an itemized list of any deductions, within 30 days after the tenancy ends and the tenant has vacated ^[1]. If the landlord fails to return the deposit or the itemization within that window without a legitimate reason, the tenant can sue, and a court can award the tenant the wrongfully withheld amount plus, in some circumstances, additional damages and attorney's fees under the same section. The statute doesn't cap the dollar amount a South Carolina landlord can charge as a deposit, unlike some states that limit it to one or two months' rent. That's a real gap worth knowing: South Carolina leaves deposit amount entirely to the lease agreement. What the law does control is what happens after move-out, not how much you can collect going in. Deductions have to be for actual damage beyond normal wear and tear, unpaid rent, or other amounts the lease allows. "Normal wear and tear" isn't defined with a bright-line test in the statute, so disputes often turn on move-in and move-out documentation. Photograph the unit at both ends of every tenancy. It's the single cheapest thing you can do to avoid a deposit dispute in magistrate's court.

What repair and habitability duties does the Act put on landlords?

Section 27-40-440 requires a landlord to comply with building and housing codes affecting health and safety, keep common areas clean and safe, maintain electrical, plumbing, and heating systems in good working order, and provide working smoke detectors ^[1]. This is the core habitability duty, and it exists whether or not the lease mentions it. If a landlord fails to make a repair after receiving written notice from the tenant, Section 27-40-630 gives the tenant several remedies: the tenant can seek a court order to force repairs, in some cases arrange the repair and deduct a reasonable cost from rent (subject to statutory limits and process), or terminate the lease if the failure is material. These remedies generally require the tenant to have first given written notice and given the landlord a reasonable period to fix the problem before acting. On the flip side, tenants have duties too. Section 27-40-510 requires tenants to keep the unit clean, dispose of trash properly, use appliances and fixtures reasonably, and not deliberately or negligently damage the property ^[1]. A landlord facing a tenant who's trashing the place has statutory grounds to act, but again, the process runs through notice and, if needed, the magistrate's court, not a unilateral lockout.

Why do landlords require renters insurance if the Act already covers repairs?

The Residential Landlord and Tenant Act doesn't require renters insurance itself, and South Carolina has no statute mandating it, but plenty of landlords require it in the lease anyway, and there's a real reason. The Act's repair duty (Section 27-40-440) covers the landlord's structure and systems, not the tenant's personal belongings. If a pipe bursts and ruins a tenant's furniture and electronics, the landlord's obligation is to fix the pipe and the structural damage, not to replace the tenant's couch. Renters insurance covers that gap, plus it typically includes liability coverage if the tenant's negligence (say, a stove fire) damages the unit or a neighboring unit. Requiring renters insurance as a lease condition is common practice nationally, not a South Carolina-specific rule, and it's enforceable as a lease term as long as it's not something the Act specifically prohibits landlords from requiring. Requiring it also gives landlords a small buffer: if a tenant's negligence causes damage that exceeds the security deposit, a renters insurance liability policy is sometimes the only realistic way to recover the difference.

Where does city rental licensing fit if the state Act doesn't cover it?

This is the part that trips people up most. The Residential Landlord and Tenant Act governs the landlord-tenant relationship itself (deposits, notice, repairs, eviction) but says nothing about business licenses, rental registration, or mandatory inspections. Those come from your municipality or county, operating under their own zoning and business license ordinances, separate from Title 27. South Carolina cities that run rental registration, licensing, or inspection programs each set their own fee schedule, renewal cycle, and inspection checklist, and these change often enough that a definitive statewide list isn't something you can rely on for more than a season. Confirm directly with your city or county's rental licensing office (often housed in the business license office, code enforcement, or a dedicated rental registry program) before you rent out a unit, and check again before every renewal, since fee amounts and inspection triggers do get revised. If you're trying to get organized across both layers, the state Act on one hand and a city's licensing checklist on the other, that's exactly the split our $79 City Rental License & Inspection Prep Packet is meant to help with: it's not legal advice and it doesn't touch your lease terms, but it helps you assemble the local application, inspection checklist, and renewal paperwork in one place instead of hunting across a city website. For the state-level rules themselves, read Title 27, Chapter 40 directly ^[1], or talk to a South Carolina attorney about anything genuinely disputed. For readers comparing how another state frames the same landlord-tenant basics, our related pages on tenant rights, tenants rights, and renters rights cover the tenant side of these same questions in more general terms, and our landlord and landlord landlords pages walk through the owner-side basics if you're getting started.

Frequently asked questions

What is the South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act?

It's South Carolina's state law governing residential leases, codified at S.C. Code Ann. Title 27, Chapter 40. It sets rules for security deposits, entry notice, habitability duties, lease termination, and eviction procedure for most residential rentals in the state, though it excludes hotels, institutional housing, and a few other categories under Section 27-40-110.

Does South Carolina cap how much a landlord can charge for a security deposit?

No. Section 27-40-410 requires the deposit be returned within 30 days with an itemized deduction list, but the statute sets no dollar cap on the deposit amount itself. That's left entirely to the lease agreement between landlord and tenant, unlike states that limit deposits to one or two months' rent.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before entering the rental?

Section 27-40-530 requires "reasonable notice" before entry for inspection, repairs, or showings, but the statute doesn't fix an exact number of hours. Many landlords use 24 hours written notice as a common, defensible practice. In a genuine emergency, no advance notice is required.

How much notice does a landlord have to give to end a month-to-month lease?

Section 27-40-770 requires 30 days written notice before the end of the rental period to terminate a month-to-month tenancy, and the same 30 days applies if the tenant is the one ending it. Fixed-term leases end on their stated date without this notice requirement, unless the lease says otherwise.

What rights do tenants have without a lease in South Carolina?

A tenant on an oral or month-to-month arrangement still gets the Act's core protections: habitability under Section 27-40-440, deposit return rules under Section 27-40-410, 30-day termination notice under Section 27-40-770, and protection from self-help eviction under Section 27-40-910. What's missing is any custom lease term the parties never wrote down.

What can a landlord look at during an inspection?

A landlord can look at anything tied to the purpose of the visit: general condition, systems like plumbing and HVAC, smoke detectors, and signs of lease violations like unauthorized pets. What a landlord shouldn't do is search personal items unrelated to maintenance or use inspections as a pretext for harassment.

What can a landlord not do in South Carolina?

A landlord can't use self-help to force a tenant out. Section 27-40-910 prohibits changing locks, removing a tenant's belongings, or shutting off utilities to pressure a tenant to leave. Eviction has to go through the magistrate's court process, not unilateral action by the landlord.

What can a landlord not do in Ohio, and is it the same as South Carolina?

Ohio's version of these rules is Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5321, which similarly bars retaliatory eviction, self-help lockouts, and utility shutoffs, and requires reasonable entry notice. The frameworks are similar in structure but are separate statutes; don't apply South Carolina case law or notice periods to an Ohio property or vice versa.

Why do landlords require renters insurance?

Because the landlord's repair duty under Section 27-40-440 covers the building and systems, not the tenant's personal property. Renters insurance covers the tenant's belongings and adds liability coverage if the tenant's negligence causes damage. South Carolina doesn't require it by statute, but it's a common and enforceable lease condition.

How do you become a landlord in South Carolina?

Decide how you'll hold the property, check with your city or county for any business license or rental registration requirement, make sure the unit meets the habitability standard in Section 27-40-440, write a compliant lease, and set up a system to track notice deadlines and deposit return timelines. There's no state landlord license required.

Does the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act require a rental license?

No. The state Act covers the landlord-tenant relationship, not business licensing. Rental registration, licensing, or inspection requirements come from individual cities and counties in South Carolina, and each sets its own fees and rules, so confirm directly with your local rental licensing office.

What happens if a landlord doesn't return the security deposit within 30 days?

Under Section 27-40-410, a tenant can sue for the wrongfully withheld deposit. Courts can award the amount owed and, depending on the circumstances, additional damages and attorney's fees if the landlord failed to provide an itemized list of deductions or acted in bad faith.

What is landlording, and what does it actually involve day to day?

Landlording is the ongoing work of running a rental: collecting rent, handling repair requests, following notice rules for entry and termination, managing the security deposit correctly, and keeping the unit compliant with local codes and habitability standards. It's a mix of legal compliance and basic property maintenance, not a one-time setup task.

Sources

1. South Carolina Legislature, S.C. Code Ann. Title 27, Chapter 40: The South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act is codified at Title 27, Chapter 40
2. South Carolina Legislature, S.C. Code Ann. Title 27, Chapter 37: Residential ejectment (eviction) procedure runs through the magistrate's court
3. California Legislative Information, California Civil Code Section 1950.5: California's separate statute governing security deposits and move-out inspections
4. Ohio Legislature, Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5321: Ohio's landlord-tenant law prohibits retaliatory eviction, self-help lockouts, and utility shutoffs
5. Ohio Legislature, Ohio Revised Code Section 5321.16: Ohio requires itemized security deposit return within 30 days