The eviction process in South Carolina is a court-supervised sequence that starts with a written notice to the tenant, moves to an Application for Ejectment filed in the magistrate court for the county where the property sits, and ends with a constable or sheriff’s deputy executing a writ of ejectment. From the first notice to physical removal, an uncontested case usually takes three to six weeks. A tenant who answers and requests a hearing can extend it well beyond that.
Step 1: Give the Tenant Written Notice
Nothing can be filed in court until the tenant has received proper written notice, and the required notice depends on why the landlord wants them out.
For unpaid rent, the landlord must deliver a written five-day notice stating that rent is overdue and that the lease will terminate if payment isn’t made within five days of the due date. South Carolina allows this warning to be built into the lease itself. If the lease contains the required language, the tenant gets no fresh notice each month that rent is late, and the landlord can proceed to court once the five days pass.1South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-40-710 – Noncompliance With Rental Agreement; Failure to Pay Rent; Removal of Evicted Tenant’s Personal Property
For any other lease violation, the notice period is fourteen days. The written notice must identify the specific breach and say the lease will end if the tenant doesn’t cure the problem within those fourteen days.1South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-40-710 – Noncompliance With Rental Agreement; Failure to Pay Rent; Removal of Evicted Tenant’s Personal Property
Either way, the notice should name the tenant correctly, state the property address, and describe the problem plainly enough that a magistrate reading it later understands what the tenant was supposed to fix or pay. Delivery can be in person or by mail. Document how and when the notice went out, because the court will ask. A notice with a wrong name, wrong address, or vague description gives the tenant an easy procedural challenge.
Step 2: File an Application for Ejectment
Once the notice period expires without the tenant paying or curing, the landlord files an Application for Ejectment in the magistrate court for the county where the property is located. The magistrate then issues a Rule to Vacate or Show Cause, which is the court order telling the tenant to leave or appear and explain why they should stay.2South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-37-20 – Ejectment Proceedings
Names, address, and the stated grounds on the application should match the earlier notice exactly. Any mismatch is a procedural opening for the tenant. Filing and service fees vary by county but commonly run around $40 when the court’s constable serves the paperwork.3Orangeburg County, SC. Fees and Filings
Step 3: Serve the Rule and Wait Ten Days
The Rule to Vacate is served on the tenant by a court constable, a deputy sheriff, or a private process server, using the same methods allowed for any civil summons. The server files a return with the court confirming the date and manner of delivery.4South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-37-30 – Service of Rule; Posting and Mailing Requirements
If two attempts at personal service fail, the server can post the rule on the most visible part of the property and mail a second copy to the tenant.4South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-37-30 – Service of Rule; Posting and Mailing Requirements Defective service costs the court jurisdiction and sinks the case.
After service, the tenant has ten days to either move out or file an answer requesting a hearing.2South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-37-20 – Ejectment Proceedings If the tenant does neither, the magistrate issues a warrant of ejectment and the removal process begins.5South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-37-40 – Tenant Ejected on Failure to Appear and Show Cause Many evictions end this way because the tenant never responds.
Before a default judgment can be entered, the landlord has to file an affidavit stating whether the tenant is on active military duty. That requirement comes from the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and submitting a false affidavit is a criminal offense.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments
Step 4: The Hearing, If the Tenant Answers
When a tenant files an answer, the magistrate schedules a hearing. The landlord should bring the original lease, a copy of the written notice, the return of service, and a rent ledger showing exactly what’s owed. For lease-violation cases, photographs, inspection reports, or witness testimony about the breach become the core of the case.
Common tenant defenses include defective notice, retaliatory eviction (South Carolina prohibits evicting a tenant for exercising a legal right such as reporting a code violation or requesting required repairs7South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 27 Chapter 40 – South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act – Section 27-40-590), the landlord’s failure to maintain the property, discrimination prohibited by the federal Fair Housing Act,8U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act and, in nonpayment cases, proof that rent was actually paid or tendered and refused. Tenants who show up with documentation have a chance; tenants who show up with only a verbal explanation almost never prevail in magistrate court.
One point that catches landlords off guard: rent continues to accrue at the pre-filing rate for the full time the tenant stays in possession during the proceeding, and accepting that rent does not waive the right to ejectment or renew the tenancy.9South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 27 Chapter 37 – Ejectment of Tenants – Section 27-37-150 Refusing rent during the case is giving up money the landlord is entitled to collect.
If the magistrate rules for the landlord, the court issues a writ of ejectment.
Step 5: Execution of the Writ
The writ does not mean removal the same day. A constable or deputy sheriff first delivers the writ to the tenant and gives twenty-four hours to leave voluntarily. If the tenant is still there after that, the officer returns and physically removes the occupants and their belongings.10South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-37-160 – Execution of Writ of Ejectment
The tenant’s personal property is placed on the public roadway next to the premises, where it must remain at least forty-eight hours (not counting weekends and holidays) before municipal or county officials can remove it. If the property is in an area without public trash collection, the landlord can dispose of the belongings after that window. The eviction notice itself must inform the tenant of these rules.11South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 27 Chapter 40 – South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act – Section 27-40-710
What a Landlord Cannot Do
The court process is the only legal path, no matter how obvious the tenant’s default. Changing the locks, shutting off water or electricity, removing doors, or hauling belongings to the curb without a court order are all illegal self-help evictions. A tenant subjected to any of those can sue and recover three months’ rent or double their actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney’s fees, and the court can restore them to possession.12South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 27 Chapter 40 – South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act – Section 27-40-660
If the Tenant Appeals
A tenant who loses at the magistrate level has thirty days to appeal to the circuit court. If the ruling was announced in open court with both parties present, that thirty-day clock starts at the hearing.13South Carolina Judicial Branch. South Carolina Magistrate Court Rule 18 The notice of appeal is filed with both the magistrate and the circuit court and must state the specific grounds.
Filing the appeal does not pause the eviction. To stop enforcement, the tenant has to post a surety bond covering the full judgment amount plus costs.14South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code Title 18 Chapter 7 – Section 18-7-10 – Appeals From Inferior Courts; Supersedeas Without the bond, the writ can still be executed while the appeal is pending.
When the Tenant Is on Active Military Duty
Federal law overrides the standard timeline when the tenant is an active-duty servicemember. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the court must stay eviction proceedings for at least ninety days if military duties prevent the servicemember from defending the case. If a default judgment is entered during service or within sixty days afterward, the servicemember can petition to reopen it within ninety days of leaving the military.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3931 – Protection of Servicemembers Against Default Judgments
Servicemembers also have a separate right to break a residential lease without penalty on permanent change-of-station orders or a deployment of ninety days or more, by giving the landlord written notice and a copy of the orders. The lease ends thirty days after the next rent payment comes due following the notice.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3955 – Termination of Residential or Motor Vehicle Leases These rules come up often in South Carolina given the state’s military installations.
What an Eviction Leaves Behind
An eviction judgment is a civil court record, and under the Fair Credit Reporting Act it can appear on a tenant’s record for up to seven years from the date it was entered.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports Tenant screening services used by landlords and property managers pull these records, and a judgment makes future rentals substantially harder to secure. Any unpaid rent or damages tied to the eviction can also be sent to collections and reported as a separate delinquent account. A tenant who later pays or settles the judgment should get written confirmation and verify the resolution shows up on screening reports, because the seven-year clock runs from the entry date, not from the date of payment.