A Guide to the Eviction Process in Hilton Head South Carolina

The 5-Day Notice to Pay gives the tenant five days to pay rent or they will be evicted. If the tenant fails to pay rent, you can proceed with the eviction process. 

14-Day Notice to Comply

For a tenant who violates the lease agreement, you must serve them a 14-Day Notice to Comply. This will give the tenant 14 days to cure or correct the violation. Examples of breaking the lease agreement where the 14-Day Notice to Comply applies include: 

• When the tenant exceeds the rental unit occupancy limit.
• If the renter causes excessive property damage.
• If the tenant keeps an unauthorized pet on the premises. 

This may not be necessary if there is proper disclosure on page 1 of the lease agreement contract, in all caps and underlined.

For violations impacting a tenant’s health or safety, the tenant must fix them immediately. If the tenant doesn’t do so within the appropriate timeframe, you can proceed with the eviction process. 

X-Day Notice to Quit

For tenants who overstay their lease, the notice to serve them will depend on the frequency of rent payment. This also applies to tenants without a written lease agreement. For tenants who pay rent on a weekly basis, you must serve them a 7-Day Notice to Quit from your rental property.

And for tenants who pay rent on a monthly basis, you must serve them a 30-Day Notice to Quit. You may then proceed with the eviction if the tenant refuses to vacate the property after the notice has expired. 

Summons and Rule or Order to Show Cause

In the next step, South Carolina eviction laws require landlords to apply for a Rule, or Order, to Show Cause. You must do this in an appropriate court. 

After you’ve completed the application for ejectment process, the court’s clerk will issue you with a summons, which will need to be served to the tenant. The summons and rule to show cause must be served to the tenant through a process server. The court may handle this as part of your filing the application for ejectment.

This service must be done in any of the following ways:

• Give a copy to the tenant in person.
• Use a commercial delivery service.
• Through certified mail.
• Leave a copy with someone who occupies the rental property together with the tenant.

Unlike some other states, South Carolina law doesn’t address the date when the hearing will occur after the service of the summons.

Court Hearing and Judgment

Once the tenant has received the summons and Rule to Show Cause, according to South Carolina state laws, they must respond within 10 days. This will give them an opportunity to object to being evicted and explain why they deserve to continue to pay rent your property.

The following are some defenses the tenant may provide in their response.

• The eviction notice provided wasn’t adequate.
• The landlord failed to maintain the unit to the required habitability standards.
• The landlord discriminated against them on the basis of race, color, religion, nationality, gender, familial status, or disability.
• The landlord failed to provide them with essential services and utilities.
• The eviction was in retaliation to the tenant exercising any of their rights such as, joining or forming a tenant’s union.
• The tenant remedied their lease violation, but the landlord continued with the eviction process anyway.
• Their landlord made exaggerated claims just to evict them.
• The landlord tried to evict the tenant through means such as shutting down the property’s utilities services, removing the tenant’s personal belongings from the rental, or locking the tenant out of the unit.

Writ of Ejectment

This is the tenant’s final notice to leave the rental unit. It gives them an opportunity to remove any possession from the property before being physically forced to vacate the premises by a constable or deputy sheriff.

If the ruling is in your favor, then the magistrate will issue you with a writ of ejectment no more than 5 days after the ruling.

Return of Possession

After the writ of ejectment is posted, the tenant will have 24 hours to move out of the unit by themselves. But if they will not, the sheriff will return and remove them from the unit forcefully. The writ of ejectment gives a tenant a maximum notice of 24 hours to move out.

Bottom Line

If you have questions regarding the eviction proceedings in South Carolina or other South Carolina landlord-tenant laws, AIM Real Estate Management can help. AIM Real Estate Management is a Bluffton and Hilton Head property management company you can trust. 

Our goal is to help reduce the stress landlords and property owners experience when leasing out their investment properties to a new tenant. Among other things, we can help you rent your vacancies, rent to a high-quality tenant, collect any payment on time, and respond to maintenance issues quickly. 

Get in touch to learn more about how we can help you achieve your investment goals!

Disclaimer: This information isn’t intended to be a substitute for professional legal advice. Also, laws change, and this information may not be updated at the time you read it.