Can I Sue My Landlord in South Carolina?
Yes — in many situations. These are the main claims South Carolina tenants bring, what the law lets you recover, and where to file. Each rule links to the statute or official source. Most claims under the small claims limit can be filed without a lawyer.
Before you sue
- Write down what happened, with dates, and keep photos, texts, emails and receipts.
- Send your landlord a written demand (templates below) and give a reasonable deadline.
- Check the deadline to sue and the court's dollar limit (below).
- If the amount is over the small claims limit, or you are facing eviction, talk to a lawyer or legal aid first.
Your security deposit wasn't returned
| Penalty for withholding | Three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney's fees. Source: S.C. Code § 27-40-410(b) |
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| Deposit return deadline | 30 days after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession and demand by the tenant. Tenant should give a forwarding address in writing; if not, the tenant loses the statutory damages where the landlord had no notice of the tenant's whereabouts and mailed to the last known address. Protected tenants terminating early under new § 27-40-350 (2026 Act 184) may have deposit return delayed to lease end if the lease so provides. Source: S.C. Code § 27-40-410(a) |
Free South Carolina security deposit demand letter
You were locked out or your utilities were cut off
| Lockouts & utility shutoffs | If the landlord unlawfully removes or excludes the tenant or willfully diminishes/interrupts essential services, the tenant may recover possession or terminate, and recover the greater of 3 months' periodic rent or twice actual damages, plus reasonable attorney's fees. On termination the landlord must return the deposit per § 27-40-410. Source: S.C. Code § 27-40-660 |
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Your landlord retaliated after you complained
| Landlord retaliation | Landlord may not increase rent above fair-market value, decrease essential services, or bring a possession action because the tenant complained to a code-enforcement agency about a material health/safety violation or complained to the landlord about a violation of the Act. Retaliation is a defense to eviction, but the tenant must notify the landlord in writing within 10 days after service of the Rule to Vacate or Show Cause that the tenant intends to raise it. A retaliating landlord is liable for up to 3 months' rent or treble actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees. No statutory presumption period. If the defense is without merit, the landlord gets reasonable attorney's fees; if raised in bad faith, the landlord may recover up to 3 months' rent or treble actual damages (§ 27-40-910(b)). Exceptions: tenant-caused violations, tenant in material noncompliance (incl. rent default), or code compliance requiring demolition/remodeling. If a landlord retaliates by non-renewal, it may not recover possession for 75 days (§ 27-40-910(g)). Source: S.C. Code § 27-40-910 |
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Your landlord won't make repairs
| Repair and deduct | No. The Act expressly does not authorize tenants to make repairs and deduct the cost from rent. Limited exception: for a landlord's negligent/willful failure to supply essential services, after written notice and a reasonable time, the tenant may procure reasonable amounts of the service and deduct the actual reasonable cost. Alternative: damages for diminished rental value plus attorney's fees. Tenant may also terminate after 14 days' notice for uncured material noncompliance (§ 27-40-610). Source: S.C. Code § 27-40-630 |
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| Withholding rent | No self-help withholding right. Landlord noncompliance may be raised as a defense/counterclaim in a possession or rent action, but the tenant must pay rent accruing after the Rule to Vacate into court and the rent allegedly owed before it, or face a warrant of ejectment. Defense waived for maintenance issues if the landlord had no notice 14 days before rent was due (non-essential) or reasonable time for emergency repairs (essential services). Bad-faith defenses expose tenant to landlord's damages and attorney's fees. |
| Mold | No statute — general habitability/repair duty applies. South Carolina has no mold disclosure, remediation or exposure-standard law for rentals; the landlord must comply with building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety and 'make all repairs and do whatever is reasonably necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition.' Tenant remedies for landlord noncompliance are in § 27-40-610 (written notice; termination or damages) and § 27-40-630 (essential services). Local codes may address mold. Source: S.C. Code § 27-40-440(a)(1)-(2) |
| Pests & bed bugs | No statute — no bed-bug or pest-specific law. The landlord's general duty to keep the premises fit and habitable applies; the tenant must keep the unit and the part of the premises the tenant uses reasonably safe and clean and dispose of garbage in a reasonably clean and safe manner. If the written lease conspicuously says so, the landlord may enter without consent between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., after announcing intent, for regularly scheduled termite, insect or pest treatment. No state bed-bug disclosure or inspection rule. Who pays for treatment generally depends on the lease and on whether the tenant caused the infestation. |
| Heat | Yes. The landlord must make available reasonable heat (and running and reasonable hot water) except where the building is not required by law to be equipped for heat or the heat is generated by an installation in the tenant's exclusive control on a direct utility connection, and must keep landlord-supplied heating facilities in reasonably good and safe working order. Heat is an 'essential service.' No statewide minimum temperature or heating season. Appliances or facilities needed for essential services cannot be excluded from the landlord's maintenance duty. Willful interruption of essential services lets the tenant recover the greater of three months' rent or twice actual damages plus attorney's fees (§ 27-40-660). |
Free South Carolina repair request letter to landlord
Your landlord entered without notice or invaded your privacy
| Landlord entry notice | At least 24 hours' notice and entry at reasonable times. Exceptions: emergencies (any time); regularly scheduled periodic services (9 a.m.-6 p.m.) if conspicuously stated in the written lease and announced at entry; tenant-requested services (8 a.m.-8 p.m.) with announcement. Tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent; tenant may not change locks without permission. Source: S.C. Code § 27-40-530 |
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| Cameras & privacy | No landlord-specific statute. Being an eavesdropper or 'peeping tom' on another's premises — including using video or audio equipment to spy on or invade the privacy of others — is a misdemeanor (up to $500 and/or 3 years). Knowingly viewing, photographing or recording another person without knowledge and consent, for sexual purposes, where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy is voyeurism (felony for repeat offenses). Intercepting wire, oral or electronic communications is lawful only if the person is a party or one party consents (one-party consent). The peeping-tom offense does not require sexual intent, so hidden cameras or audio devices aimed at tenants' private areas can violate it. 'Reasonable expectation of privacy' includes places where one expects to be safe from surveillance. Wiretap chapter: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t17c030.php. Landlords must give 24 hours' notice to enter except as allowed by § 27-40-530(b). |
You were refused or treated differently because of Section 8 or other income
| Statewide ban on refusing Section 8 / source of income | No. The South Carolina Fair Housing Law protects race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin (among other protections), but not source of income or voucher use. Source: S.C. Code 31-21-40 |
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Other claims tenants bring in South Carolina
| Constructive eviction (conditions forced you out) | No South Carolina statute uses the term "constructive eviction," but the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act lets a tenant end the lease when the landlord fails to maintain the unit. For a material breach of the lease, or a failure to maintain the unit that materially affects health and safety or the property's physical condition, the tenant may give written notice that the lease ends at least 14 days later unless the landlord fixes the breach within 14 days (or, for a breach not affecting health and safety that cannot be fixed that fast, starts within 14 days and finishes in good faith within a reasonable time). Unlike some states, South Carolina's essential-services section does not offer a substitute-housing remedy, and it expressly does not authorize a tenant to make repairs and deduct the cost from rent (§ 27-40-630(c)). A tenant who is locked out or whose essential services are willfully cut off may recover possession or end the lease and recover the greater of three months' rent or twice actual damages, plus attorney's fees (§ 27-40-660). Whether South Carolina courts also apply a common-law constructive-eviction doctrine is not addressed in the statute. Source: S.C. Code § 27-40-610(a) |
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| Injuries on the property | The landlord must comply with building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety, keep the premises fit and habitable, keep common areas reasonably safe, and keep supplied electrical, gas, plumbing, heating and other facilities and appliances in reasonably good and safe working order. A tenant may recover actual damages in magistrate's or circuit court for the landlord's noncompliance. A lease clause excusing or limiting the landlord's liability arising under law is unenforceable. The Act does not itself set a rule for personal-injury lawsuits; whether a landlord is liable for a particular injury is decided by the courts under negligence law. Talk to a lawyer about any injury claim — filing deadlines apply. |
Where and when to sue
| Small claims limit | $7,500 for civil claims, including contract debts, personal injury and property damage, recovery of personal property and damages for unreturned rental property. Magistrates also hear landlord-tenant and possession matters. Cases where the State is a party or title to real estate is in question are excluded. Source: S.C. Code 22-3-10, 22-3-20 |
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| Small claims filing fee | $45 statewide for issuing the summons and giving judgment in a civil action; rises to $65 on January 1, 2027. A person unable to pay may file a motion to proceed in forma pauperis with an affidavit. Service, execution and other fees are separate and several also increase on January 1, 2027. |
| Deadline to sue on a written lease | 3 years for an action on a contract, obligation, or liability, express or implied — the same 3-year period applies to written and oral leases. Sealed instruments are excepted (§ 15-3-520); a residential lease is rarely under seal. Source: S.C. Code § 15-3-530(1) |
How small claims court works in South Carolina →
Tenant lawyers and free legal aid in South Carolina · South Carolina tenant rights · Suing a landlord in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.