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South Carolina security deposit law

Source: S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-410 · Checked against the statute

Maximum deposit
No statutory limit.
Return deadline
30 days (see details)
If the landlord keeps it wrongly
If the landlord fails to return the deposit or prepaid rent with the required notice, the tenant recovers three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney's fees (§ 27-40-410(b)).

Calculate your South Carolina deadline

Choose your state and move-out date to see when your landlord must return the deposit.

When the deposit must be returned

  • Send the written itemized notice and any amount due within 30 days after the tenancy ends and possession is delivered, or after the tenant's demand, whichever is later.

The tenant must give a forwarding or new address in writing. A tenant who does not cannot get damages under § 27-40-410(a), as long as the landlord had no notice of where the tenant was and mailed the notice and any refund to the last known address.

Itemized list of deductions

Required: Yes. Every deduction must be itemized in a written notice sent with the amount due, if any.

What can and can't be deducted

The statute does not use the phrase. The landlord may keep only accrued rent and damages caused by the tenant's failure to meet the tenant duties in § 27-40-510.

Nonrefundable fees

The statute does not address nonrefundable fees.

Interest, bank account and move-in inspection

  • Interest required: No. No statewide interest requirement.
  • Separate account required: No. The statute does not require a separate account. It does define a security deposit as money held in trust by the landlord (§ 27-40-210).
  • Move-in inspection required: No. The statute does not require a move-in inspection or condition report.

Penalties and bad faith

If the landlord fails to return the deposit or prepaid rent with the required notice, the tenant recovers three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus reasonable attorney's fees (§ 27-40-410(b)).

No bad-faith showing is required.

Getting your deposit back in court

Magistrate courts hear civil claims up to $7,500 (S.C. Code § 22-3-10). Court information

Before filing, many tenants send a written demand first. Write a South Carolina demand letter →

Also good to know

  • A landlord with more than 4 adjoining units who uses different deposit standards for different tenants must post or hand out those standards before the lease is signed. If not, the part of a tenant's deposit above the lowest deposit for a comparable unit cannot be used for damage deductions (§ 27-40-410(c)).

Sources

Laws change. This page was checked against the sources above on October 11, 2026. It is legal information, not legal advice; see our methodology.