Eviction and Ejectment Papers in South Carolina

01The rule to vacate

The Magistrate's Rule to Vacate Usually Travels With the Sheriff

A South Carolina eviction is an ejectment case in magistrate court. Under S.C. Code 27-37-10, a landlord may apply when a tenant fails to pay rent when due, holds over after the term ends, or violates the lease. The magistrate then issues a written rule under 27-37-20 requiring the tenant to vacate or to show cause within ten days after service of a copy. The guide to ejectment service in South Carolina follows the case from application to hearing.

The statute's wording leaves room on paper. Section 27-37-30(A) says the rule may be served in the same manner the law provides for a summons in common pleas or magistrate court. In practice, though, the county pages we read point to officers: in Beaufort County, papers from the Bluffton magistrate are processed and served by a sheriff's deputy, and the Beaufort County process server page notes that local practice. Kershaw and Hampton counties also describe the sheriff attempting service of the rule.

Because no county page we found invites private service of the rule, Delator Field Services does not advertise it. If a magistrate tells you in writing that a private server is acceptable for your case, we will discuss it then; otherwise the rule goes to the sheriff, and we handle the papers around it. Landlords who want a clear split between officer papers and private papers can start with our statewide South Carolina process serving page.

• Grounds: unpaid rent, holding over, or a lease violation (27-37-10)
• Rule issued by the magistrate (27-37-20)
• Ten days after service for the tenant to vacate or show cause
• Officer service in every county page we read

02When the tenant is not found

Two Attempts, Posting and a Clerk-Witnessed Mailing

Section 27-37-30(C) sets out what happens when personal service of the rule fails. Two attempts must be at least 48 hours apart and at times of day at least eight hours apart, documented by the officer's certificate or by affidavit. The rule is then posted on the premises and mailed by ordinary mail in the presence of the magistrates court clerk, who verifies the envelope and the mailing. Service is complete ten days after mailing. Hampton County's own sheriff practice, by contrast, is three attempts before posting.

A separate route in 27-37-30(B) covers abandoned property. If no one is in possession and the premises have been abandoned for fifteen days or more immediately before service, the rule may be affixed to the most conspicuous part of the premises. The magistrate bench book adds that the rule should be personally served whenever possible, and that a $5.00 fee under S.C. Code 8-21-1010(14) may apply to the posting-and-mailing route. The Hilton Head Island process server page covers seasonal and vacant addresses generally.

These steps belong to the officer and the clerk. Delator Field Services does not post rules, does not mail them for the court and does not sign attempt affidavits for a rule the sheriff is serving. Kershaw County, for example, lists a $40 filing fee, a $10 writ fee and the $5.00 charge if the tenant is not personally served after two attempts, all paid to the county. Our same-day and rush service page covers deadlines for the papers we do serve.

03After the hearing

Writs of Ejectment Stay With Constables and Deputies

If the tenant does not show cause within the ten days, S.C. Code 27-37-40 directs the magistrate to issue a warrant and says the tenant shall be ejected by the regular or special constable or by the sheriff of the county. After a verdict for the landlord, 27-37-100 provides for a writ of ejectment within five days, executed by the constable, a special constable or the sheriff. No part of that work is open to a private server, and the Richland County process server page explains how the sheriff's civil process division fits in.

Section 27-37-160 describes the execution itself. The constable or deputy sheriff goes to the premises and gives the occupants twenty-four hours to vacate voluntarily, and after that a deputy sheriff, not a constable, may enter by force using the least destructive means. Commercial leases follow 27-37-155, under which the landlord is put in possession by the sheriff, a deputy or a constable. Hampton County lists a $45 filing fee and a $10 writ fee.

Delator Field Services never posts, serves or executes a writ of ejectment, and we will say so on the first call. What we can do after judgment is serve the separate papers a landlord may still need, such as a common pleas summons for damages above the magistrate limit or a subpoena in a later collection matter. The process serving page for attorneys explains how counsel hand those off.

04New in 2026

Unlawful Occupant Orders Under the 2026 Act Are Officer Work

In 2026 South Carolina added a separate process for unlawful occupants, often described as squatters. Act No. 252 of 2026 (H.3387), effective June 30, 2026, created Article 3 of Chapter 37, beginning at S.C. Code 27-37-200. Under that article an authorized enforcement official, defined as the county sheriff or any county, city or township constable, enforces the ex parte order by removing the occupants under 27-37-270. The Charleston County process server page covers papers that remain open to private service.

The 2026 article also lets the enforcing officer charge the same fee as for other service or a reasonable hourly rate under 27-37-290. Those orders are not papers Delator Field Services serves or enforces. If an owner later sues an occupant for damages, that summons is ordinary civil process, and a qualifying private adult may serve it under SCRCP 4(c) or SCRMC 6(c), depending on the court and the amount. The Columbia process server page covers Richland County filings.

Jurisdiction matters too. Magistrates hear landlord-tenant and possession cases under Title 27 (S.C. Code 22-3-10(10)), but under 22-3-20 they have no jurisdiction where title to real property comes into question. If a dispute turns on ownership rather than a lease, counsel may need a common pleas action instead, and that summons and complaint can be served privately with an affidavit under Rule 4(g), as our explainer on who may serve process describes.

05What we can serve

Rent Suits, Damage Claims and Hearing Subpoenas We Deliver

Many landlords file a separate civil claim for unpaid rent or property damage. In magistrate court, where civil claims are capped at $7,500 under S.C. Code 22-3-10(1), SCRMC 6(c) lets the sheriff, a deputy, a magistrate's constable or any adult 18 or older who is not a party or an attorney in the case serve the summons. We serve those summonses with an affidavit under SCRMC 6(g), and our small claims service page explains the answer period and the methods.

Larger claims go to the Court of Common Pleas, where SCRCP 4(c) allows the same private service of a summons and Rule 4(d)(1) allows delivery at the defendant's dwelling to a resident of suitable age and discretion. Hearing witnesses can be subpoenaed as well: SCRMC 23(b) lets any non-party adult serve a magistrate subpoena, with witness pay of $25 a day plus mileage under 23(e). The subpoena service page covers property managers, contractors and other witnesses.

Business tenants are served through a registered agent, an officer or a managing agent under Rule 4(d)(3), and our registered agent service page explains what happens when a South Carolina corporation has no agent who can be served. Former tenants who have moved are a common problem, and logged attempts at a new address give counsel the record needed if service becomes disputed or publication is requested.

06Before filing and the other side

Pre-Suit Notices and Papers Filed by Tenants

South Carolina landlord-tenant law sets notice requirements before some eviction filings. The South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center's 2023 eviction guide describes a five-day written notice of late rent, once per lease term, and written notice of a lease violation. We have not reviewed the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act text for this page, so counsel should confirm the notice and method that apply. Our guide to serving legal papers in South Carolina covers documentation generally.

Where a lease and the law allow a written notice to be hand-delivered, a server can deliver it and sign a statement of the date, time, place and person who received it. That statement does not replace anything the court or the sheriff does once the rule issues, and we do not deliver notices that the statute or the lease reserves to another method. We confirm in writing what is being delivered and why before we accept the job.

Tenants file papers too. A tenant suing a landlord in magistrate court for an amount within the $7,500 limit can have the summons served by a qualifying private adult under SCRMC 6(c), the same as any other civil plaintiff. When the landlord is an out-of-state company, the page on papers from other states and the Secretary of State route under S.C. Code 15-9-245 for unregistered foreign corporations may both come into play.

07Where landlord work concentrates

Charleston, Columbia, the Upstate and the Grand Strand

Rental volume follows population. Charleston, North Charleston and Mount Pleasant together had more than 355,000 residents at the 2020 census, and Joint Base Lindsey Graham (formerly Joint Base Charleston) sits largely in North Charleston, so the North Charleston process server page notes that base access depends on the installation's rules. North Charleston also spans three counties, which changes which magistrate and which sheriff handle the rule.

In Columbia, the Richland County Sheriff's Department Civil Process Division serves papers for all Richland County Magistrates and posts its fees, including $15 per defendant for a summons and complaint. Fort Jackson, incorporated into Columbia in 1968, sits inside the city, and on-base addresses depend on the installation's access rules. In the Upstate, the Greenville process server page covers Greenville County, the most populous county in the state at an estimated 583,125 residents in 2025.

The Grand Strand has its own rhythm. Seasonal rentals in Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach turn over quickly, and a former tenant may already be living out of state by the time a rent suit is filed. The Myrtle Beach process server page explains returns filed at the Horry County clerk's Central Coast Complex. Rock Hill and Fort Mill, on I-77 south of Charlotte, round out the areas where landlord papers most often reach us.

Services

Landlord-Case Papers We Serve in South Carolina

• Unpaid rent summonsesMagistrate court summonses for back rent up to $7,500, served by a qualifying private adult under SCRMC 6(c) with an affidavit of service.Learn more
• Property damage suitsCommon pleas summonses and complaints for damage claims above the magistrate limit, served under SCRCP 4 by hand or at the dwelling.Learn more
• Hearing witness subpoenasSubpoenas for property managers, neighbors or contractors who must testify, served by a non-party adult under SCRMC 23(b) or SCRCP 45.Learn more
• Business tenants and landlordsCorporate parties served through a registered agent, officer or managing agent under Rule 4(d)(3), with the route chosen by counsel.Learn more
• Former tenants who movedAttempts planned at a new address with each visit logged, so the record supports the next step if the former tenant avoids service.Learn more
• Out-of-state partiesPapers for a landlord company or former tenant outside South Carolina, coordinated under one written quote and one documentation standard.Learn more
• Rush related papersUrgent, Rush or Same Day Rush tiers for a rent suit or subpoena tied to a near hearing date, confirmed in writing before the attempt.Learn more
• Written notice deliveryHand delivery of a written landlord notice where the lease and the law allow it, with a signed statement of when and to whom.Learn more
• Referral to the sheriffWhen a paper belongs to an officer, such as the rule to vacate or a writ of ejectment, we say so and point you to the sheriff.Learn more

How it works

How We Take a South Carolina Landlord Matter

1. 01

   Tell us the stage

   Send the county, the property address, what has been filed, any hearing date and the papers you need delivered, whether a summons, a subpoena or a written notice.

2. 02

   We sort the papers

   We confirm which papers a private server may deliver and which go to the sheriff or a constable, including every rule to vacate and every writ of ejectment.

3. 03

   Written quote

   You receive the county rate, the tier and the total in writing before any attempt. Charleston, Richland, Greenville and Horry counties start at $125 Routine.

4. 04

   Serve and affidavit

   The server makes logged attempts and signs an affidavit giving the date, time and place of service and the person served, ready to file with the clerk.

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Who Delivers Each South Carolina Landlord-Case Paper

Statewide coverage

South Carolina Cities Where Landlord Matters Reach Us

Landlord work is heaviest in the metro counties, so many requests start from the Charleston process server page or the Mount Pleasant service page. In the Upstate, the Spartanburg process server page covers the county courthouse on Magnolia Street, and the York County suburbs are covered by the Rock Hill process server page. For the coast south of Charleston, the Beaufort County courthouse on Ribaut Road handles Bluffton and Hilton Head filings. Each page explains which papers go to the sheriff and which a private server can deliver with a signed affidavit.

• Charleston
• North Charleston
• Columbia
• Greenville
• Myrtle Beach
• Rock Hill
• All of South Carolina

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Service areas

Process servers across South Carolina