South Carolina Rent, Late Fees, and Lease Rules: What the Law Does and Does Not Regulate

Does South Carolina cap rent?

No. There is no rent control anywhere in Chapter 40, and no dollar limit on what a landlord may charge. Rent is a term the parties agree to in the lease. The statute treats it as one of the ordinary contract terms the parties are free to set.

The only place the statute puts a number on rent is when the parties never agreed on one. In that situation, the tenant owes the fair market rental value, not a rate fixed by the state.

When is rent due, and is there a grace period?

Rent is due when the lease says it is due, without the landlord having to ask for it. If the lease is silent on timing, the statute supplies a default: rent is payable at the dwelling unit, at the beginning of each rental period.

There is no statutory grace period. Rent that is not paid on the date the lease sets is late that day. The five-day period that appears elsewhere in the Act is often mistaken for a grace period, but it is not one. It is the minimum window a landlord must allow before terminating the tenancy for nonpayment (covered below). It does not change when rent is legally due, and it does not by itself bar a lease-defined late fee from applying.

Are late fees regulated?

No. Chapter 40 does not address late fees at all. It sets no maximum late fee, no required grace period before one can be charged, and no formula. A late fee is enforceable only because the lease creates it, and its size is a matter of what the lease provides and the general rule that contract charges must be reasonable rather than a penalty. Because the statute is silent, a late fee that is not written into the lease has no basis in South Carolina law.

Rent increases and required notice

Chapter 40 sets no notice period for a rent increase as such, and no cap on how much rent can rise. During a fixed-term lease, rent cannot be raised unless the lease itself allows it, because rent is a fixed term of that contract. For a month-to-month tenancy, a rent increase is accomplished the same way any change to the tenancy is: the current arrangement is ended on proper notice and continued occupancy is offered at the new rate. The notice period for ending a periodic tenancy is the governing rule.

The practical effect: a month-to-month rent increase requires at least thirty days' written notice, because that is the notice needed to reset the tenancy on new terms. There is no separate rent-increase statute, no larger notice period keyed to the size of the increase, and no percentage limit. If the lease does not fix a definite term, the tenancy defaults to month-to-month (or week-to-week for a roomer paying weekly), so the thirty-day rule is the usual one.

The tenant's obligations

Paying rent is the tenant's central obligation under the lease, but it is not the only duty the statute imposes. Section 27-40-510 lists the tenant's ongoing responsibilities for the condition of the unit. These matter to rent because a breach of them is what a landlord may deduct against a security deposit at move-out, and a material breach can support termination separate from nonpayment.

For how these obligations interact with the deposit at the end of a tenancy, see our guide to South Carolina move-out inspections and security deposit deductions.

The landlord's remedy for nonpayment

When rent goes unpaid, the statute gives the landlord a specific path, and it requires notice before the tenancy can be terminated. The landlord must give the tenant written notice of nonpayment and the intent to terminate, and must allow five days for payment.

The written-notice requirement can be satisfied in advance. The Act lets the landlord meet it once for the whole tenancy, or by including a conspicuous provision in the lease itself, in which case no separate notice is needed for each late payment.

The statute even supplies model language. A lease that contains this or a substantially equivalent provision fully satisfies the written-notice requirement, and it continues to apply into a month-to-month tenancy after the original term:

If the tenant still does not pay, the landlord pursues eviction in magistrate's court. The statute also addresses attorney's fees: if the tenant's nonpayment of rent is not in good faith, the landlord is entitled to reasonable attorney's fees, provided the landlord is represented by an attorney.

For the full eviction sequence, from notice through the magistrate's court hearing and writ, see our guide to the South Carolina eviction process.

Required disclosures

Chapter 40 imposes one affirmative disclosure on the landlord: the identity and address of the owner or the owner's agent, given in writing at or before the start of the tenancy. This is the person a tenant serves with legal process and sends notices to.

A person who signs a lease on the landlord's behalf but does not make this disclosure becomes the landlord's agent for service of process and for performing the landlord's obligations under the chapter. Separately, federal law (not Chapter 40) requires a lead-based-paint disclosure for most housing built before 1978; that is a federal obligation and applies regardless of state landlord-tenant law.

What a lease may not contain

The Act also limits what a lease can require of a tenant. A rental agreement may not make the tenant waive rights under the chapter, authorize confession of judgment, or shift the landlord's own liability onto the tenant.

What this means for landlords

Because the state does not set rent, late fees, or a grace period, the lease is the entire source of those terms. A right that is not written into the lease usually does not exist. Practical consequences:

• Put the late fee in the lease, with a specific amount and the day it attaches. An unwritten late fee is not collectible, and a fee that reads as a penalty rather than a reasonable charge is exposed if challenged.
• Include the Section 27-40-710(B) nonpayment language verbatim (or substantially equivalent) in the lease. Doing so satisfies the written-notice requirement for the whole tenancy, including any month-to-month holdover, so you are not re-serving notice before each eviction.
• Make the Section 27-40-420 owner or agent disclosure in writing at or before move-in. Skipping it makes whoever signed the lease the landlord's agent for service and obligations.
• To raise rent on a month-to-month tenant, give at least thirty days' written notice ending the current term at the old rate and offering continuation at the new one. There is no shortcut and no separate rent-increase notice.

What this means for tenants

The flip side of no rent caps is that the lease controls, so read it before signing. Points worth checking:

• There is no legal grace period. Rent is late the day after it is due unless the lease grants a grace period. Any late fee comes from the lease, so know its amount and trigger before you sign.
• Nonpayment cannot lead to eviction until the landlord has given written notice and allowed five days to pay. That notice may already be built into your lease as the standard warning language, which counts as the required notice for the whole tenancy.
• On a month-to-month tenancy, a rent increase requires at least thirty days' written notice, the same notice needed to end the tenancy. A mid-lease increase during a fixed term is not allowed unless the lease itself permits it.
• A lease clause that makes you waive your rights under the Act, confess judgment, or release the landlord from liability is prohibited by Section 27-40-330 and is not enforceable, even if you signed it.

The statute at a glance

Related guides

• South Carolina move-out inspections and security deposit deductions
• South Carolina security deposit rules
• The South Carolina eviction process

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.