South Carolina Eviction Process: Notices, Hearing, and Writ

The South Carolina eviction process, called “ejectment” in the statutes, runs through five mandatory steps: a written notice to the tenant, an application filed in magistrate’s court, formal service of a Rule to Vacate, a hearing (or a default if the tenant doesn’t respond), and enforcement of a writ by law enforcement. An uncontested case can move from first notice to lockout in about three to four weeks. Contested cases and service problems stretch it longer. Two statutes govern the process together: the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act in Chapter 40 of Title 27 sets the notice rules and tenant protections, and the Ejectment of Tenants statutes in Chapter 37 of Title 27 set the court procedure.

Grounds a Landlord Can Use

South Carolina law allows a landlord to file for ejectment on three grounds: the tenant failed to pay rent, the lease term ended and the tenant stayed, or the tenant violated the lease.¹ Which ground applies determines the notice you need before anything else can happen.

Nonpayment is the most common. The landlord doesn’t have to prove anything about the tenant’s intentions, only that rent was due, the grace period passed, and it wasn’t paid. Holdover is similar in simplicity: the lease ended and the tenant refused to leave. Lease violations demand more, because the landlord has to identify the specific term broken and, in most cases, give the tenant a chance to fix it.

Illegal activity on the premises is treated as its own category. A tenant’s statutory duties include not conducting or permitting illegal activity in the unit.² When that happens, the landlord can terminate on the same five-day timeline used for unpaid rent, and the 14-day cure period that applies to ordinary lease breaches does not apply.³

The Notice That Has to Come First

A landlord can’t walk into court without first delivering the correct written notice. The type of notice and the time it gives the tenant depend on the reason for the eviction.

Five-Day Notice for Nonpayment

When rent isn’t paid on the due date, the landlord must give the tenant written notice that they have five days to pay before the rental agreement can be terminated. There is a wrinkle that catches many tenants off guard: the five-day notice can be written directly into the lease. If the lease contains conspicuous language warning that failure to pay within five days will result in termination, signing the lease itself satisfies the notice requirement.³ The landlord can then file for ejectment the moment rent is five days late, with no separate notice sent. That provision carries over into any month-to-month holdover after the original lease term.

Fourteen-Day Notice for Lease Violations

For lease violations other than nonpayment or illegal activity, the notice must specify what the tenant did wrong and state that the agreement will terminate in at least 14 days unless the problem is fixed. A tenant who corrects the violation in that window stops the eviction. If the repair reasonably takes longer, the tenant is still protected as long as work started within 14 days and finished within a reasonable time.³

Thirty-Day Notice for Month-to-Month

Either party can end a month-to-month tenancy with at least 30 days’ written notice before the termination date, and no reason is required.⁴ If the tenant stays past the date given, the landlord files for ejectment as a holdover.

Filing the Application for Ejectment

Once the notice period runs out with no compliance, the landlord files an application for ejectment in the magistrate’s court covering the property’s location. Circuit courts technically share jurisdiction over landlord-tenant matters, but nearly all evictions happen at the magistrate level.²

The application requires the tenant’s full legal name, the property address, the rent owed if applicable, the date the notice period expired, and the specific ground. Filing fees vary by county, generally in the $40 to $80 range. Landlords should bring the lease, any notice letters, and proof of delivery. A misspelled name or a vague description of the violation can cause a delay, so accuracy matters at this stage.

After the magistrate accepts the application, the court issues a Rule to Vacate or Show Cause. This document orders the tenant either to leave the property or to appear in court within ten days and explain why ejectment shouldn’t be granted.⁵

How the Rule to Vacate Gets Served

Service is what actually starts the tenant’s response clock. South Carolina law provides several methods.⁶

Personal service. The rule is delivered directly to the tenant, typically by a process server, constable, or sheriff.
Posting on abandoned premises. If no one is at the property and it has been abandoned for at least 15 days, the rule can be affixed to the most visible part of the premises.
Posting and mailing after failed attempts. When two personal-service attempts fail (made at least 48 hours apart and at different times of day), the server can post the rule on the premises and mail a copy through the magistrate’s clerk. Service by mail is not complete until ten days after mailing, and the tenant’s ten-day response window starts on the eleventh day.

The mailing method still gives real notice to a tenant who can’t be reached in person, but it adds meaningful time. The clerk has to verify the mailing and put it into the court record; a landlord can’t just drop an envelope in the mail.

The Hearing, or a Default

If the tenant responds within ten days and asks for a hearing, the magistrate schedules a Show Cause hearing. Both sides present evidence. The landlord has to prove the ground for eviction. The tenant can raise defenses. The proceeding is informal compared to circuit court, but the ruling is binding.

If the tenant never responds or doesn’t show up, the magistrate issues a warrant of ejectment without a hearing.⁷ Ignoring the Rule to Vacate does not make the case go away. It hands the landlord a default.

Executing the Writ

When the court rules for the landlord, it issues a Writ of Ejectment authorizing law enforcement to remove the tenant. A constable or deputy sheriff goes to the premises, presents the writ, and gives the occupants 24 hours to leave voluntarily.⁸

If the tenant hasn’t left after 24 hours, only a deputy sheriff (not a constable) can force entry to carry out the removal, and the statute requires the least destructive means possible. If the premises look occupied but no one answers, the officer posts the writ on the door and waits another 24 hours before forcing entry. Filing the writ typically costs an additional $10 to $25 depending on the county.

What Happens to Belongings After the Lockout

Personal property removed during an eviction goes on the nearest public street or sidewalk. Municipal or county workers clear it after 48 hours, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays. In areas without public trash collection, the landlord can dispose of the belongings after the same 48-hour window.³ The eviction notice must inform the tenant of these rules. A tenant has 48 hours after the lockout to collect what’s at the curb.

Self-Help Removal Is Illegal

South Carolina prohibits landlords from taking the process into their own hands. Changing the locks, removing doors or windows, cutting off electricity or water, or physically blocking a tenant from entering the property all count as unlawful removal or exclusion. A landlord who does any of these things is on the hook: the tenant can either recover possession or terminate the lease, and in either case collect damages equal to three months’ rent or twice the actual harm, whichever is greater, plus attorney’s fees.⁹ Even a landlord with an airtight case for eviction becomes the wrongdoer by skipping the court process. The only legal route to removing a tenant runs through the magistrate’s court.

Defenses a Tenant Can Raise

Retaliation

A landlord cannot file for eviction, raise rent above fair market value, or cut essential services because a tenant complained about housing code violations to a government agency, or complained to the landlord about violations of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.¹⁰ A tenant who wants to raise retaliation as a defense must give the landlord written notice within ten days after being served with the Rule to Vacate. Waiting until the hearing and springing it without that written notice can forfeit the defense. Retaliation also doesn’t apply where the tenant caused the code violation, is in material noncompliance with the lease, or where fixing the code issue would require demolishing or substantially remodeling the unit. If a landlord retaliates by refusing to renew a lease and the tenant is current on rent, the landlord cannot recover possession for 75 days and cannot raise rent above market or reduce services during that period.

Habitability

Landlords have maintenance duties under the Act. A tenant facing eviction for nonpayment can argue that the landlord’s failure to keep the unit habitable justified withholding rent. Whether this works depends on whether the tenant gave the landlord notice, whether the condition genuinely affected health or safety, and whether the tenant’s own actions contributed. A frivolous retaliation or habitability defense carries risk: if the court finds bad faith, the landlord can recover up to three months’ rent or triple actual damages.¹⁰

Active-Duty Military Status

Active-duty service members and their dependents get additional protections under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. A landlord cannot evict a covered service member without a court order when the property is the primary residence and monthly rent falls below an annually adjusted threshold, set at $9,812.12 as of January 2024.¹¹ If military duties have materially affected the service member’s ability to pay rent, the court can stay the proceedings for at least 90 days. Coverage extends to full-time active duty across all branches, reservists on federal active duty, and National Guard members serving on federal orders longer than 30 days.

Appealing the Judgment

Either party can appeal an ejectment ruling under the same rules that govern any civil appeal from magistrate court.¹² The appealing party has 30 days from written notice of the judgment to file a notice of appeal with both the magistrate and the circuit court.¹³

Filing the appeal does not stop the eviction on its own. A tenant who wants to stay while the appeal is pending must post an appeal bond within five days of filing the notice. The magistrate sets the amount, which has to cover the landlord’s potential costs and damages during the appeal. Miss the five-day window and the magistrate dismisses the appeal.¹² That bond requirement is why most ejectment appeals don’t actually delay the process; a tenant behind on rent rarely has the money to fund one.

1
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-37-10 – Grounds for Ejectment of Tenant
2
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws – Title 27 – Chapter 40 – Residential Landlord and Tenant Act
3
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-40-710 – Noncompliance With Rental Agreement; Failure to Pay Rent; Removal of Evicted Tenants Personal Property
4
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-40-770 – Periodic Tenancy; Holdover Remedies
5
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-37-20 – Ejectment Proceedings
6
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-37-30 – Service of Rule; Posting and Mailing Requirements
7
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-37-40 – Tenant Ejected on Failure to Appear and Show Cause
8
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-37-160 – Execution of Writ of Ejectment
9
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-40-660 – Tenants Remedies for Landlords Unlawful Ouster or Exclusion
10
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-40-910 – Retaliatory Conduct Prohibited
11
Federal Register. Publication of Housing Price Inflation Adjustment
12
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code 27-37 – Ejectment of Tenants
13
South Carolina Legislature. South Carolina Code of Laws – Title 18 – Chapter 7