When a tenant stops paying or overstays a notice, the frustrated response some landlords reach for is the fastest one: change the locks while the tenant is at work, pull the belongings to the curb, or call the utility to have the power shut off. In South Carolina, all three are illegal. The Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (S.C. Code Ann. Title 27, Chapter 40) prohibits landlord "self-help" and channels every eviction through the magistrate court instead. A landlord who takes the shortcut does not just lose the shortcut; the tenant gets a statutory remedy that can dwarf the unpaid rent that started the dispute.
This guide covers the two provisions that do the work: Section 27-40-660, which sets the tenant's remedy for an unlawful lockout or a deliberate shutoff of essential services, and Section 27-40-760, which limits how a landlord may recover possession at all. Together they answer a single practical question: why must a landlord go through the eviction process instead of simply changing the locks?
The rule against self-help: Section 27-40-660
Section 27-40-660 is the tenant's remedy provision. It addresses three distinct wrongs: unlawfully removing the tenant, unlawfully excluding the tenant (the classic lockout), and wilfully diminishing services by interrupting or causing the interruption of essential services (the utility shutoff). Any one of them triggers the same remedy.
Read the remedy carefully, because it is what makes self-help so costly. The tenant may either recover possession (get back into the unit) or terminate the lease, and in either case recover money. The money is not simply the tenant's out-of-pocket loss. It is the greater of two figures: three months' periodic rent, or twice the actual damages the tenant sustained. On a $1,400-a-month apartment, the three-months' floor alone is $4,200, plus the tenant's attorney's fees, awarded regardless of how small the tenant's actual losses were. A landlock over one month of missed rent can turn into a four-figure judgment against the landlord.
What counts as an "essential service"
The utility-shutoff half of the statute turns on the defined term "essential services." The definition sits in the Act's definitions section, not in 27-40-660 itself.
The practical point: heat, running water, hot water, electricity, gas (for heat, hot water, or cooking), and sewer service are all protected. A landlord who stops paying the utility bill so the service is cut, or who physically disconnects it, has "wilfully diminished services" and exposed the same remedy as a lockout, even if the landlord never touched the locks. The exception at the end covers only the situation where the tenant controls and pays for the service directly through a public utility connection.
Possession is recovered only through court: Section 27-40-760
Section 27-40-660 tells a landlord what it costs to use self-help. Section 27-40-760 tells the landlord that self-help is not an available route at all. It is the provision that closes the door.
The phrase "or as permitted in this chapter" points to the court process. A landlord recovers possession by filing an eviction (an "ejectment" action) in the magistrate court for the county where the property sits, serving the tenant, and getting a court order. Only a court, through the constable, can lawfully remove a tenant. The three lawful exceptions the statute names are narrow: the tenant abandoned the unit, the tenant surrendered it voluntarily, or the tenancy terminated and the tenant has actually left. None of them describes a landlord deciding, on his own, that the time has come to change the locks.
This is why the eviction process is the only route. A landlord who is legally right about the rent, and would win the eviction handily, still loses by locking the tenant out first. The eviction takes a few weeks; the self-help remedy under 27-40-660 (three months' rent or double damages, plus the tenant's attorney's fees) attaches the moment the locks change or the power goes off. Being right about the debt does not cure an unlawful ouster. See the South Carolina eviction process guide for the lawful steps.
Landlord and tenant at a glance
If you are the landlord
- Never change the locks, remove belongings, or shut off utilities to force a tenant out, even for clear nonpayment.
- Recover possession only by filing an eviction in magistrate court and obtaining a court order.
- Do not stop paying a utility bill you are responsible for as a way to pressure a tenant; that is a "wilful diminution" of essential services.
- The self-help remedy (three months' rent or double damages, plus attorney's fees) applies no matter how much rent the tenant owes.
- The lawful exceptions are narrow: genuine abandonment, voluntary surrender, or a tenancy that has actually ended with the tenant gone.
If you are the tenant
- A lockout or a deliberate shutoff of heat, water, power, or gas is unlawful, even if you are behind on rent.
- You may either get back into the unit or terminate the lease, and recover money in either case.
- The recovery is the greater of three months' rent or twice your actual damages, plus reasonable attorney's fees.
- Document the date, take photos of the changed locks or the cut service, and keep any texts or notices from the landlord.
- File in the magistrate court for the county where the property is located; if the lease also ends, recoverable deposits must be returned.
The statute at a glance
| Rule | Detail | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Self-help prohibited | Landlord may not remove or exclude the tenant, or cut essential services, to take possession | Section 27-40-660; Section 27-40-760 |
| Possession only by court | Recovered only by court action ("as permitted in this chapter"), except genuine abandonment, surrender, or termination | Section 27-40-760 |
| Tenant's choice of relief | Recover possession or terminate the rental agreement | Section 27-40-660 |
| Money remedy | The greater of three months' periodic rent or twice the actual damages, plus reasonable attorney's fees | Section 27-40-660 |
| Protected essential services | Sanitary plumbing/sewer, electricity, gas (heat/hot water/cooking), running water, reasonable hot water and heat | Section 27-40-210(17) |
| Deposit on termination | If the lease is terminated, recoverable security deposits must be returned | Section 27-40-660 |
| Where to file | Magistrate court for the county where the rental property is located | (Court of jurisdiction) |
Lockout, abandonment, or a lawful end?
The three lawful exceptions in 27-40-760 are worth separating from the unlawful lockout, because landlords sometimes conflate them. A tenant who has genuinely left for good may allow the landlord to retake the unit without a court order, but abandonment is a legal conclusion with its own standard, not a guess a landlord makes after a quiet week. Retaking a unit the landlord only assumes is abandoned carries the same 27-40-660 risk as a lockout. If a tenant appears to have moved out but you are not certain, read the South Carolina tenant abandonment guide before doing anything, and when in doubt, file the eviction anyway. A court order is the only thing that makes retaking possession safe.
Where to read the statute: The full text of both sections is on the South Carolina Legislature's site: Title 27, Chapter 40 (Residential Landlord and Tenant Act). Section 27-40-660 is the tenant's remedy; Section 27-40-760 limits how possession may be recovered; the essential-services definition is Section 27-40-210(17).
Sources
- South Carolina Code of Laws, Title 27, Chapter 40 (Residential Landlord and Tenant Act), Sections 27-40-210(17), 27-40-660, and 27-40-760, South Carolina Legislature scstatehouse.gov
Published September 2026. This guide is a reading of the South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (S.C. Code Ann. Title 27, Chapter 40) and is not legal advice. Confirm current requirements with an attorney or the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs.