South Carolina Roommate Agreement
The South Carolina rules that shape the document: the subtenant status of an unauthorized roommate, the magistrate-court removal process, and the fair housing exemption's advertising quirk.
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Introduction
A roommate agreement is a private contract between co-tenants who share a home. It is not a lease, and it does not bind the landlord or change what the lease says. In South Carolina, a handful of state rules sit on top of the national template: a roommate added without the landlord's written consent is legally a subtenant of the original tenant, not a co-tenant of the landlord (S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-35-60); South Carolina has no lodger law, so removing an unwanted roommate always runs through a magistrate-court ejectment process, never self-help; and South Carolina's owner-occupied fair housing exemption reaches further than the federal exemption it otherwise mirrors, disapplying the state's own advertising rule as well as its selection rule. Everything else, the rent split, chores, guests, and quiet hours, is covered by the national template.
Key Things to Know
- 1
A roommate added without the landlord's written consent is legally a subtenant of the original tenant, not a co-tenant of the landlord. Under S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-35-60, the sublease is void as to the landlord's rights, and between the two roommates the original tenant is treated as the 'landlord' and the roommate as the 'tenant' under the state's landlord-tenant chapters.
- 2
Removing that subtenant is not self-help. Section 27-35-60 applies South Carolina's general ejectment chapter (Sections 27-37-10 to 27-37-160): the primary tenant must file a magistrate-court application, and the roommate has 10 days after being served with the magistrate's rule to show cause before a warrant of ejectment can issue.
- 3
South Carolina has no lodger law. Its code separately defines a 'roomer' as someone sharing bath or kitchen facilities, but a roomer only gets the ordinary default tenancy term, week-to-week or month-to-month, and is removed through the same magistrate-court ejectment process as any other tenant. There is no owner-occupant shortcut.
- 4
No South Carolina statute gives a tenant the right to add a roommate over the landlord's objection, unlike New York's Roommate Law. Whether a new roommate may move in, and whether that person becomes a co-tenant or a subtenant, depends on the landlord's written consent.
- 5
No South Carolina statute or appellate decision sets a default rule on whether roommates are jointly and severally liable for rent to the landlord. The lease controls, and this agreement should state each roommate's payment share explicitly rather than assume state law fills the gap.
- 6
No South Carolina statute addresses how departing roommates split a security deposit refund. S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-40-410(a) governs only the landlord's return of the deposit to the tenant, so the split between roommates is left entirely to this agreement.
- 7
South Carolina's fair housing law tracks the federal protected-class list with no state additions, and its owner-occupied exemption mirrors the federal threshold (a dwelling of four or fewer families, owner occupying one unit). Unlike federal law, South Carolina's own exemption text also disapplies the state's advertising ban, but the separate federal advertising ban still applies on its own force.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Roommate Agreement in South Carolina, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Roommate Agreement guide walks through them.
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South Carolina Requirements for Roommate Agreement
Under S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-35-60, a roommate added without the landlord's written consent is legally a subtenant of the original tenant, not a co-tenant of the landlord, and the sublease is void as to the landlord's rights. Between the two roommates, the original tenant is treated as the landlord and the roommate as the tenant under the state's landlord-tenant chapters.
South Carolina has no lodger law and no roommate-to-roommate removal right. Section 27-35-60 applies the general ejectment chapter (Sections 27-37-10 to 27-37-160): the primary tenant must file a magistrate-court application, and the roommate has 10 days after service of the magistrate's rule to show cause before a warrant of ejectment can issue. State plainly that no self-help removal is authorized.
No South Carolina statute or appellate decision sets a default rule on joint-and-several liability for rent among roommates. Draft the payment clause to state each roommate's share explicitly rather than relying on an assumed South Carolina default.
No South Carolina statute addresses how roommates split a security deposit refund; S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-40-410(a) governs only the landlord's return of the deposit to the tenant. State the split or reimbursement rule explicitly in the agreement.
No South Carolina statute gives a tenant the right to add an occupant over the landlord's objection, unlike New York's Roommate Law. The landlord's written consent controls whether a new roommate may move in and whether that person becomes a co-tenant or a subtenant.
South Carolina's owner-occupied fair housing exemption (Section 31-21-70(A)) mirrors the federal Mrs. Murphy threshold and adds no state protected classes, but its own text disapplies the state advertising ban too, unlike the federal exemption. Note that the separate federal Fair Housing Act advertising ban still applies on its own force regardless of the state exemption's silence.
Frequently Asked Questions
The lease is between the tenants and the landlord. A South Carolina roommate agreement is a separate contract between the co-tenants themselves, covering rent splits, chores, guests, and issues South Carolina's landlord-tenant statutes do not address, like how a security deposit is split among roommates or how a departed roommate is reimbursed.
It depends on the landlord's written consent, not on the roommate agreement. Under S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-35-60, a sublease made without the landlord's written consent is void as to the landlord's rights, and the original tenant is treated as the landlord and the roommate as the tenant between the two of them. A roommate added with the landlord's written consent and named on the lease is a co-tenant instead.
No. South Carolina has no lodger law and gives roommates no private right to remove one another. Where the roommate is an unauthorized subtenant, Section 27-35-60 applies the state's general ejectment chapter, which requires the primary tenant to file a magistrate-court application. A lockout or other self-help removal is not authorized by this Agreement and is not lawful under South Carolina law.
Because an unauthorized roommate is treated as a subtenant, Section 27-35-60 makes the primary tenant the landlord for removal purposes and applies the general ejectment chapter (S.C. Code Ann. Sections 27-37-10 to 27-37-160). The primary tenant files a magistrate-court application, the magistrate issues a rule for the roommate to vacate or show cause, and the roommate has 10 days after service of that rule to contest it before a warrant of ejectment can issue.
No. South Carolina's code defines a 'roomer' as someone sharing bath or kitchen facilities, but a roomer only receives the ordinary default tenancy term, week-to-week or month-to-month, and is removed through the same magistrate-court ejectment process as any other tenant. There is no owner-occupant shortcut comparable to California's lodger statute.
No. A South Carolina roommate agreement is a contract between the co-tenants only. It does not bind the landlord, does not alter the lease, and does not require the landlord to accept a new occupant. Whether a roommate may move in, and whether they become a co-tenant or a subtenant, is decided by the landlord's written consent.
No South Carolina statute or appellate decision sets a default rule on this. Whether roommates are jointly and severally liable to the landlord depends on the lease itself. Because South Carolina law does not fill this gap, the roommate agreement should state each person's payment share and responsibility explicitly.
South Carolina law does not say. S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-40-410(a) governs only the landlord's return of the deposit to the tenant, less amounts withheld for rent or damages, and says nothing about how a departing roommate's share is settled among the roommates. The roommate agreement is the only thing that governs that split.
An owner who occupies one unit in a dwelling of four or fewer independent units may choose a roommate on nearly any basis under South Carolina's owner-occupied fair housing exemption, which tracks the federal Mrs. Murphy threshold and adds no state protected classes. South Carolina's own exemption text also disapplies its advertising rule, unlike the parallel federal exemption. That does not make a discriminatory ad safe: the federal Fair Housing Act's advertising ban applies on its own force regardless of what South Carolina's exemption is silent on.