South Carolina · Repairs and Unsafe Conditions
Landlord Won't Make Repairs in South Carolina: What Can I Do?
This is not legal advice. We explain what the law says. We cannot tell you what to do in your situation. For that, talk to a lawyer. Find free legal and rent help in South Carolina.
You or a neighbor can ask the city to send a code inspector. Be careful: if the home is in very bad shape, the inspector can condemn it (say no one may live there). Then everyone must move out, you too, sometimes on short notice. Think about where you would go before you call.
South Carolina law sets basic repair duties for every landlord. This page explains what your landlord must fix, how to ask in writing, and what you can do if your landlord ignores you.
What your landlord has to fix
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Your landlord must follow local building and housing codes that materially affect health and safety (affect it in an important way). Your landlord must also make all repairs needed to keep your home fit to live in.
Source:Tip.Take photos of each problem, with the date. Take more if it gets worse.
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Your landlord must give you running water, reasonable hot water, and reasonable heat at all times. This does not apply if the law does not require your building to have heat or hot water. It also does not apply if you control the equipment that makes your heat and hot water. You would pay for it directly to the water, electric, or gas company.
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Your landlord must keep your home's electrical, gas, plumbing, heating, and air conditioning systems in good, safe working order. Appliances in your home are assumed to be provided by your landlord unless your lease clearly says otherwise. Your landlord cannot use the lease to say they do not have to provide equipment needed for water, heat, gas, or electricity.
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If it is still not fixed
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You can sue your landlord in magistrate's or circuit court for money you lost from a broken repair duty or lease term. You do not have to post a bond to file this case. If your lease ends because your landlord failed to fix the problem after your 14-day written notice, your landlord must return your deposit. This is required under South Carolina's security deposit law. If your landlord's failure to fix the problem was done on purpose, you can also make your landlord pay your reasonable lawyer's fees. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.
Sources:Tip.Keep a copy of every letter you give your landlord, and keep your mail receipt. Save the texts and emails you send your landlord, and any replies.
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If your landlord carelessly or deliberately fails to provide essential services (water, heat, electricity), you must first send written notice of the problem. After that notice, if your landlord still fails to act within a reasonable time, you can arrange those services yourself. You can then take the actual, reasonable cost of those services out of your rent. This does not apply if you, your family, or your guests caused the problem on purpose or through carelessness. If you take out more than the actual, reasonable cost, your landlord could treat the extra as unpaid rent and try to evict you.
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If you arrange essential services yourself and take their cost out of your rent, you cannot also use the 14-day notice rule for that problem.
Sources:Your landlord can take you to court.If you hold back rent, pay less, or take repair costs out of your rent, your landlord can file an eviction case for unpaid rent. If the judge rules for your landlord, you can owe the rent and court costs and have to move out. Your proof matters. Even a case you win can show up when you apply for a new place. Get legal help first.
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South Carolina law does not let you make general repairs yourself and take the cost off your rent. You may only arrange and pay for essential services, like water or heat, when your landlord carelessly or deliberately fails to provide them.
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If your landlord takes you to court for not paying rent, you can defend yourself. You can rely on your lease or South Carolina's renter law to defend yourself. If a judge decides your defense has no merit and was not raised honestly, your landlord can make you pay their lawyer's fees.
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If your landlord did not properly maintain your home, that can be a defense in an eviction case for not paying rent. You lose that defense for problems that are not about essential services (water, heat, or electricity). That applies if you did not warn your landlord about the problem at least 14 days before rent was due. For essential services, you lose that defense if your landlord did not have a reasonable chance to make emergency repairs before rent was due.
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Your landlord usually cannot raise your rent above fair market value (what nearby homes rent for) because you complained about a code problem. For the same reason, your landlord cannot cut essential services or try to evict you in court. This applies if you complained to a government agency about a building or housing code problem that seriously affects health and safety. It also applies if you complained to your landlord about a violation of South Carolina's renter law. This protection does not always apply.
Source:Tip.If you can pay for it, a private home inspector can check the problems. Their written report and photos help show the conditions.
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There are three situations where your landlord can still file to evict you after your housing complaint. First, your landlord can still file to evict you if you, your family, or your guests mainly caused the code problem through carelessness. Second, your landlord can still file to evict you if you seriously broke your lease or your duties as a tenant. Third, your landlord can still file if fixing the problem needs major changes that would stop you from using the home.
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Your landlord can still try to evict you after you complained, but only for specific reasons. Your landlord can evict you if the code problem was mainly caused by a lack of reasonable care by you, your family, or guests. Your landlord can also evict you if you broke an important part of your lease or the state's renter law in another way. Your landlord can also evict you if fixing the code problem would legally require rebuilding or tearing down part of your home. This would take away your use of your home.
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Moving out
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Write your landlord a letter that lists exactly what is broken. South Carolina law lets you use this written notice to start ending your lease. This works if your landlord materially breaks your lease (breaks an important part of it). It also works if your landlord fails a repair duty in a way that materially affects your health, safety, or your home's condition.
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If your landlord does not fix the problem within 14 days of getting your notice, your lease ends automatically on the date you named. Your lease does not end if your landlord finishes the repair before that date. It also does not end for a repair that does not involve health or safety. That repair can take longer if your landlord starts within 14 days, works on it in good faith, and finishes within a reasonable time.
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South Carolina lets you end your lease if your landlord fails to fix a covered problem after you give 14 days' written notice. But you cannot use this rule for a problem that you, your family, or your guests caused on purpose or through carelessness.
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