What can a landlord do with a tenant’s belongings left behind in South Carolina?
In South Carolina, once a tenant has abandoned the unit or the lease has ended and the tenant has removed a substantial portion of their property or permanently cut off the utilities, a landlord may enter and dispose of personal property left behind worth five hundred dollars or less, but may have anything more removed only through the court ejectment process. The unexplained absence of a tenant for fifteen days after a default in paying rent is construed as abandonment, and abandonment is immediate if the tenant has voluntarily terminated the utilities and is absent after a rent default. Where the landlord disposes of property under the five hundred dollar rule and the property was in fact worth more, the landlord is not liable unless grossly negligent. This is S.C. Code § 27-40-730.
| What | South Carolina |
|---|---|
| Belongings left behind | Dispose of $500 or less at once; more needs ejectment |
| What the statute requires first | No waiting period before disposal |
What the statute says
“… has left personal property in the dwelling unit or on the premises with a fair-market value of five hundred dollars or less, the landlord may enter the dwelling unit, using forcible entry if required, and dispose of the property.”
Quoted word for word from the section’s text.
Source
S.C. Code § 27-40-730
Read the statute in the South Carolina Code of Laws (South Carolina Legislature): scstatehouse.gov.
Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.
This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.
How Seayora uses this rule
Seayora keeps a lease’s end date and every notice sent through it, with the date it went out, in the lease record — so the dates a rule like this one counts from are on file rather than remembered.
Guides on this rule
- Tenant Abandoned Property Laws by State — What a landlord must do with belongings a tenant leaves behind, with the notice and storage rule in each of the 43 jurisdictions that set one.
Compare this rule in every state
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- Every South Carolina rule on one page
The same question in other states
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii