Sample South Carolina Rental Lease Agreement
South Carolina Rental Lease Agreement
What do you know about the rental lease agreements in South Carolina? How about the rental laws that apply to the residential rental units?
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The Official Rules and Regulations
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Residential Landlord and Tenant Act - S.C. Code Ann. §§ 27-40
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Security Deposit
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The state of South Carolina doesn’t have statutes for the security deposit maximum, the security deposit interest, non-refundable fees, pet deposits or the need to set up a separate security deposit bank account.
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The deadline for returning the security deposit is 30 days after the termination of tenancy or after the delivery of possessions, or after the demand by the tenant; whichever comes later. For the return, the tenant should give the landlord their forwarding or new address in writing. But, if the tenant fails to provide the landlord with the new or the forwarding address, the tenant will wave away the damages under this section, as provided by the landlord of the landlord has no notice of the tenant’s whereabouts or if they mailed the written notice and the due amount to the tenant’s last-known address.
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The permitted uses of the deposit include the payment of outstanding payment or fees and payment of damages suffered by the tenant as a result of the tenant’s non-compliance
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The landlord must prepare an itemized list of charges and damages
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The law requires the landlord to disclose their method of calculating the deposit amount if the landlord has more than 4 adjoining units.
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If the landlord fails to comply with the rules, the tenant could recover the money and the property in an amount equal to three times the amount withheld wrongfully.
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Lease, Fees, and Rent
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Rent is due without demand or notice at the time and the place agreed upon by the parties. Otherwise, the rent is due at the beginning of the month
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No statutes govern rent increase notices, rent grace periods, application fees, prepaid rent, or late fees.
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You will pay $30 for returned checks.
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The landlord can withhold rent if the landlord fails to provide essential services like heat and water.
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The tenant cannot repair and deduct rent
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The landlord can recover attorney and court fees
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The landlord has to make a reasonable effort to mitigate any damages to the lessee, and this includes any attempts to re-rent
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If a tenant abandons their property, three things happen:
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15 days after defaulting, the unexplained absence from the unit is construed as abandonment of the dwelling unit
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The termination of utilities: if the tenant terminated the utilities voluntarily, the abandonment is perceived as immediate
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Personal Property: if the landlord abandons the unit legitimately, the landlord may enter the dwelling and dispose of the personal property for not less than $500.
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Notices and Entry
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The tenant cannot deny the landlord the right to enter the premises to make changes, repair, make improvements or decorations, among others.
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The notice for terminating a lease in a fixed-end lease isn’t necessary as the lease expires as per the rental lease agreement laws of South Carolina but a 60-day notice is recommended.
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For monthly and weekly leases, the notice needed are 30, and 7-day notices are required.
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No statutes guide notice entries for time/ date of move-out inspections.
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The notice of termination of all leases for nonpayment is a 5-day written notice which should be conspicuous in the lease. In the absence of the written notice in the lease, a 5-day written notice is required before lease termination and filing of the eviction.
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Termination of lease violations as per rental lease agreement requires 14-day notices.
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Notice before entry is required 24 hours in advance
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Entry is allowed for showings, with notice while entry for emergencies don’t require notices. A notice is, however, required for non-emergency repairs and maintenance
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No statute on entry after a tenant’s extended absence
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24-hour notice to tenants is necessary before pesticide use
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Lockouts and utility shut-offs are not allowed
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Disclosures and Miscellaneous Notes
This section has names and addresses, lock changes, landlord and tenant duties, lead disclosures, and retaliation.
Court Related Matters
The state of South Carolina has Small Claims Court Limits of $7,500. The courts also allow eviction cases.
The statute of limitation accepts written and oral contracts for up to 3 years.
Business Licenses
No state-wide statutes require business licenses, but the local counties and cities may need them.
Now that you have all the details of the South Carolina rental lease agreement in your fingertips fill in our free online rental lease agreement form here.
Sample
SC Rental Lease Agreement
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