South Carolina Eviction Notice

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   An eviction notice is a written notice a landlord must serve on a tenant to begin ending a tenancy for cause, before filing for ejectment in magistrate's court.

2. 2

   Nonpayment of rent gets 5 days' notice, counted from the date rent was due, not from when the notice is served. (S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-40-710(B))

3. 3

   A material lease violation other than nonpayment, a health-and-safety issue, or an illegal-use violation gets 14 days' notice from receipt of the notice, and it's curable: fixing the problem, or starting a good-faith fix, by the deadline keeps the lease alive. (S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-40-710(A))

4. 4

   Illegal activity or using the unit for something other than a dwelling (Section 27-40-540) is explicitly carved out of the 14-day cure track and instead follows the same 5-day notice as nonpayment of rent, though the statute's cure language there is written in terms of paying rent. (S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-40-710(A), (B))

5. 5

   A health-and-safety violation under Section 27-40-510 gets its own 14-day notice, or an immediate deadline "as promptly as conditions require" if it's an emergency. (S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-40-720(b))

6. 6

   Notice may be delivered in hand to the tenant, or mailed by registered or certified mail to the tenant's designated address or last known residence; the landlord doesn't need proof the tenant actually received it, only proof of mailing. (S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-40-240)

7. 7

   There's no state-mandated form for the notice itself. A nonpayment notice requirement can instead be satisfied permanently by putting a specific statutory warning sentence directly in the written lease, in conspicuous language, so no separate notice is needed for that lease term or the month-to-month tenancy that follows it. (S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-40-710(B))

South Carolina Requirements for Eviction Notice

• Notice Period for Nonpayment of Rent (South Carolina Code of Laws Section 27-40-710(B))

  5-day notice, counted from the rent due date, not from service of the notice. The landlord must give written notice of nonpayment and intent to terminate if rent isn't paid within that period. This duty is fully satisfied, for the current lease term and any month-to-month tenancy that follows it, by a specific statutory warning sentence placed in conspicuous language directly in the written lease.

• Notice Period for Material Lease Violations (South Carolina Code of Laws Section 27-40-710(A))

  14-day notice from receipt of the notice, for material noncompliance with the rental agreement other than nonpayment of rent, an illegal-use violation, or a health-and-safety violation. Curable: the tenant may remedy the breach before the deadline, or, if the remedy can't be finished within 14 days, start it within that window and pursue it in good faith to completion within a reasonable time.

• Service of Notice Requirements (South Carolina Code of Laws Section 27-40-240)

  Notice may be delivered in hand to the tenant, or mailed by registered or certified mail to the tenant's designated address for notices, or in the absence of a designation, to the tenant's last known place of residence. Proof of mailing alone constitutes notice; the landlord does not additionally need proof the tenant received it. Either method is sufficient on its own, with no statutory order of preference.

• Governing Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (South Carolina Code of Laws Section 27-40-10 et seq.)

  The South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, South Carolina Code of Laws Section 27-40-10 and following, sets the notice requirements for each eviction ground and the ejectment process that follows if the tenant does not comply.

• Illegal Use, Activity, and Health-and-Safety Noncompliance (South Carolina Code of Laws Section 27-40-710(A), (B); Section 27-40-540; Section 27-40-720(b))

  Illegal use or activity under Section 27-40-540 is excluded from the 14-day cure track and instead follows the 5-day nonpayment track under Section 27-40-710(B), though that subsection's cure-avoidance language is phrased in terms of paying rent, an unresolved textual mismatch flagged for attorney review. A Section 27-40-510 health-and-safety violation gets its own 14-day notice under Section 27-40-720(b), or an immediate deadline (as promptly as conditions require) if it is an emergency.

• No Prescribed Statewide Form, Statutory Wording for Lease Clause (South Carolina Code of Laws Section 27-40-710(B))

  There is no government-mandated form for the pre-filing notice itself. The magistrate's court forms that exist (Application for Ejectment, Rule to Vacate or Show Cause) apply only after filing, once the notice period has run. A landlord relying on a lease clause instead of a separate nonpayment notice must use the specific statutory sentence, or substantially equivalent conspicuous wording, set out in Section 27-40-710(B).

• No-Cause Termination Notice Period (South Carolina Code of Laws Section 27-40-770)

  Distinct from the for-cause notices above: either the landlord or the tenant may end a month-to-month tenancy without cause with at least 30 days' written notice, or a week-to-week tenancy with at least 7 days' written notice, before the termination date stated in the notice.