Security Deposit Law
What South Carolina landlords must do with security deposits — the cap, interest, return deadline, account rules, and penalties — with citations to the statute itself.
Verified as of June 11, 2026
This page is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change — verify with the cited sources or an attorney.
Deposit cap
No statutory cap — South Carolina does not limit how much a landlord may charge.
Interest
No. South Carolina does not require landlords to pay interest on security deposits.
Return deadline
30 days, with an itemized written notice of any deductions.
S.C. Code § 27-40-410 governs security deposits but sets no maximum amount. Landlords may charge what the market bears, though landlords with more than four adjoining units who use different deposit standards for different tenants must disclose how deposits are calculated.
Neither § 27-40-410 nor any other section of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act requires interest on deposits.
Any deduction must be itemized in a written notice to the tenant, together with the amount due, 'within thirty days after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession and demand by the tenant, whichever is later.' The tenant must provide a forwarding or new address in writing; if the tenant fails to, the tenant is not entitled to damages provided the landlord had no notice of the tenant's whereabouts and mailed the notice and amount due to the tenant's last known address.
South Carolina law does not require security deposits to be held in a separate, escrow, or interest-bearing account; the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act is silent on deposit banking.
If the landlord fails to return prepaid rent or the deposit with the required notice, 'the tenant may recover the property and money in an amount equal to three times the amount wrongfully withheld and reasonable attorney's fees.' The section does not preclude either party from recovering other damages they are entitled to.
No South Carolina municipality is known to impose its own residential security deposit ordinance; the statewide Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (§ 27-40-410) governs. Note the Act's exemptions in § 27-40-120 (e.g., transient hotel/motel occupancy, occupancy conditioned on employment on the premises, primarily agricultural rentals).
Deductions are limited to accrued rent and damages from the tenant's noncompliance with § 27-40-510 (tenant maintenance duties), and each must be itemized in a written notice sent with any balance due within 30 days of the latest of termination, delivery of possession, and tenant demand.
If the tenant never provides a forwarding address in writing, the tenant cannot recover damages under subsection (a) as long as the landlord had no notice of the tenant's whereabouts and mailed the notice and any amount due to the tenant's last known address. Mail the accounting regardless.
A landlord who rents more than four adjoining dwelling units on a premises and uses different standards to set deposits for different tenants must, before lease signing, post the calculation standards conspicuously (or where rent is paid) or hand each prospective tenant a statement of them.
Failing to return the deposit and prepaid rent with the required notice exposes the landlord to three times the amount wrongfully withheld plus the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees.
Subject to § 27-40-450 (which relieves a selling landlord after written notice to the tenant and transfer of the deposit), whoever holds the landlord's interest when the tenancy ends is bound by the deposit-return rules.
The tenant may recover three times the amount wrongfully withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees.
The safe harbor only protects a landlord who had no notice of the tenant's whereabouts AND mailed the notice and amount due to the tenant's last known address; skipping the mailing forfeits the protection.
The difference between that tenant's deposit and the lowest deposit charged for a comparable unit on the premises cannot be used for damage deductions.
Deductions are limited to accrued rent and damages suffered 'by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with Section 27-40-510'; anything else is wrongful withholding with treble-damages exposure.
No. South Carolina sets no statutory cap on residential security deposits. But if you rent more than four adjoining units and calculate deposits differently for different tenants, you must post or provide your calculation standards before lease signing.
30 days after the latest of: termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession, and the tenant's demand. The refund must include a written notice itemizing every deduction.
No. Neither § 27-40-410 nor any other part of the SC Residential Landlord and Tenant Act requires interest on deposits.
No. The statute is silent on how deposits are held, so there is no escrow or separate-account requirement — though separating deposit funds is still sound bookkeeping.
A landlord who fails to return the deposit or prepaid rent with the required itemized notice can be ordered to pay three times the amount wrongfully withheld plus the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees.
Mail the itemized notice and any refund to the tenant's last known address. If you had no notice of the tenant's whereabouts and made that mailing, the tenant is not entitled to damages under subsection (a).
This page is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change — verify with the cited sources or an attorney.
Statute facts on this page were verified against the cited official sources on June 11, 2026.
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