Getting The Deposit Back
S.C. Code 27-40-410 — an itemized notice within thirty days, or three times the amount withheld
Thirty days. When a tenancy ends, the landlord returns the deposit less accrued rent and damages from the tenant's failure to keep up the unit. Any deduction is itemized in a written notice to the tenant, with the amount due, within thirty days after the tenancy ends and possession is delivered, or after the tenant's demand, whichever is later.
Three times the amount. If the landlord fails to return prepaid rent or the deposit with that notice, the tenant may recover three times the amount wrongfully withheld, and reasonable attorney's fees.
The tenant gives the landlord a forwarding or new address in writing. A tenant who does not is not entitled to those damages, where the landlord had no notice of where the tenant was and mailed the notice and any amount due to the last known address.
A landlord renting more than four adjoining units who uses different standards for different tenants' deposits posts or hands out a statement of those standards before the agreement is made. If not, the difference between a tenant's deposit and the lowest one for a comparable unit cannot be used for damages.
Whoever holds the landlord's interest when the tenancy ends is bound by the section, and either side may still recover other damages the chapter allows. Whether a particular deduction was proper is a question for a licensed South Carolina attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- S.C. Code 27-40-410 — Security deposits; prepaid rent
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed South Carolina attorney.