Tenant Abandoned Property Laws in South Carolina

In South Carolina, a landlord may dispose of property worth $500 or less left in an abandoned or ended tenancy; anything else may be removed only through the court ejectment process.

Last checked October 2026. General information, not legal advice.

Written notice required: No (property worth $500 or less); Applies when the unit is abandoned or the lease has ended and the tenant removed a substantial portion of belongings or ended utilities. Other property must go through S.C. Code 27-37-10 to 27-37-150.
Holding period: No holding period (items worth $500 or less); After an eviction, property placed on a public street is removed by local officials after 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays.
After the holding period: Dispose of items worth $500 or less; others need court process; If property disposed of under this rule was worth more than $500, the landlord is liable only for gross negligence.

Sources

Last checked October 2026

The rules in South Carolina

Does a landlord in South Carolina have to notify the tenant before disposing of left-behind property?

No (property worth $500 or less). Written notice required in South Carolina: no (property worth $500 or less). Applies when the unit is abandoned or the lease has ended and the tenant removed a substantial portion of belongings or ended utilities. Other property must go through S.C. Code 27-37-10 to 27-37-150.

How long must a landlord in South Carolina keep a tenant's abandoned property?

Holding period in South Carolina: No holding period (items worth $500 or less). After an eviction, property placed on a public street is removed by local officials after 48 hours, excluding weekends and holidays.

What can a landlord in South Carolina do with abandoned property after the waiting period?

After the holding period in South Carolina: Dispose of items worth $500 or less; others need court process. If property disposed of under this rule was worth more than $500, the landlord is liable only for gross negligence.

Where do the South Carolina tenant abandoned property laws come from?

The rules above come from S.C. Code 27-40-730 and S.C. Code 27-40-710(D). Each source is linked on this page. We last checked them in October 2026.

Good to know

Where local officials do not collect trash from public streets, the landlord may remove and dispose of property set out after an eviction once 48 hours pass. The eviction notice must tell the tenant about this rule.

What this means in practice

Before treating anything as abandoned, confirm that the tenancy has actually ended. Some statutes define when a unit counts as abandoned, and removing property while a tenant still has a right to possession can expose a landlord to claims for wrongful eviction or conversion.

Keep a written record. Photos or a video of the items, a dated inventory, a copy of any notice sent and proof of how it was delivered make it much easier to show that the required steps were followed if the former tenant later asks for the property or its value.

Store items safely and in a reasonable way during any holding period. Where a statute allows the landlord to charge reasonable moving and storage costs, or to keep sale proceeds to cover those costs, the rules on what may be charged and what happens to any surplus vary, so check the exact text for your state.

General information, not legal advice. Laws change, and cities can add their own rules, so check the current statute before you rely on it.

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