How Eviction (Ejectment) Papers Are Served in South Carolina

01S.C. Code 27-37

What a South Carolina Ejectment Case Is

South Carolina law calls the eviction process ejectment, and it runs through the magistrate court. Under S.C. Code 27-37-10(A), a landlord may apply to eject a tenant who fails or refuses to pay rent when due or demanded, whose term has ended, or who has violated the lease terms. Magistrates hear landlord-tenant and possession cases under Title 27, a separate grant from their $7,500 limit on ordinary civil claims, and our Horry County service coverage sees both kinds of case. Our overview of South Carolina process serving shows where ejectment sits among the other paper types.

Before filing, landlords usually give written notice. A 2023 South Carolina Appleseed guide describes a five-day written notice of late rent, given once per lease term, and a written notice for lease violations; the underlying Residential Landlord and Tenant Act sections were not reviewed here, so landlords should confirm the current requirements with counsel. Handling eviction papers in South Carolina correctly starts with knowing which stage you are in. Our landlord-side paper service explains what DFS can deliver at each stage.

02S.C. Code 27-37-20 and -30

The Rule to Vacate or Show Cause

Once a landlord applies, the magistrate issues a written rule under S.C. Code 27-37-20 requiring the tenant to vacate or to show cause why not within ten days after service of a copy of the rule. Section 27-37-30(A) says the copy may be served in the same manner as a summons in common pleas or magistrate court. Read alone, that sentence could suggest any qualifying adult may serve it. The magistrate benchbook adds that the rule should be personally served on the tenant whenever possible. Our guide to who may serve process here explains the summons rule the statute borrows.

Practice is narrower than the statute's wording. Every county magistrate page reviewed for this guide routes the rule through the sheriff's office, and no county page offering private service of a rule to vacate was found. So Delator Field Services does not treat the rule as a standard private serve. We serve one only if the magistrate court confirms that private service is accepted, and we confirm that in writing before taking the paper. Ordinary magistrate summonses are different, as our magistrate court summons service explains.

03What county courts say

How Counties Handle the Rule in Practice

County pages show the sheriff route plainly. Beaufort County's civil form page for the Bluffton magistrate says papers are processed and served by a sheriff's deputy. Kershaw County's eviction sheet says the sheriff's office attempts personal service, lists a $40 filing fee and a $10 writ fee, and notes a $5.00 charge if the tenant is not personally served after two attempts. Hampton County says the sheriff's department will attempt to serve the rule three times before posting it, with a $45 filing fee and a $10 writ fee. Our Bluffton process servers see the Beaufort County system firsthand.

Not every county could be checked. Charleston County's eviction and sheriff pages blocked automated access when checked, and the Greenville, Richland, Horry and Spartanburg magistrate eviction practices were not read. Landlords in those counties should ask the magistrate's office directly, and our Spartanburg County process servers suggest the same. Fees, attempt counts and posting practice can differ from county to county, and the court's own instructions control. For the Hilton Head and Bluffton area, our Beaufort County service coverage can serve the related civil papers a landlord needs.

04S.C. Code 27-37-30(B) and (C)

When the Rule Is Posted and Mailed

The statute has two alternatives to personal service. Under 27-37-30(B), if no one is in possession and the premises have been abandoned for fifteen days or more before service, the rule may be affixed to the most conspicuous part of the premises. Under 27-37-30(C), after two unsuccessful attempts that are at least 48 hours apart and at times of day at least eight hours apart, documented by affidavit or by an officer's certificate, the rule is posted on the premises. Our step-by-step service guide explains how ordinary civil service differs.

The mailing step involves the court itself. The rule is mailed by ordinary mail in the presence of the magistrates court clerk, who verifies the envelope and the mailing, and service is not complete without that verification. Mailing counts as service once those steps are met and ten days have passed. The benchbook notes a $5.00 fee under S.C. Code 8-21-1010(14) and says the tenant's ten days begin on the eleventh day after mailing. DFS does not post eviction papers. For ordinary civil cases with an evasive party, see what happens when someone avoids service.

05Officers only

The Writ of Ejectment and Removal

If the tenant does not show cause within ten days, S.C. Code 27-37-40 provides that the magistrate issues a warrant and the tenant is ejected by the regular or special constable or the sheriff of the county. When the landlord wins at trial, 27-37-100 has the writ of ejectment issue within five days, for execution by the constable, a special constable or the sheriff. Under 27-37-160, the constable or deputy sheriff goes to the premises and gives the occupants twenty-four hours to vacate voluntarily. Our South Carolina attorney service page lists other officer-only papers.

After that period, the statute allows a deputy sheriff, not a constable, to enter by force using the least destructive means. For commercial leases, 27-37-155 has the sheriff, a deputy or a constable put the landlord back in possession. None of this is private work, as our priority service page also makes clear. Delator Field Services never posts, serves or executes a writ of ejectment and never takes part in a removal. Where a commercial tenant is a company, a separate rent suit can be served through our business tenant service through registered agents.

06New in 2026

The 2026 Unlawful Occupant Law

South Carolina added a separate procedure for unlawful occupants in 2026. Act No. 252 (H.3387), effective June 30, 2026, created Article 3 of Chapter 37, beginning at S.C. Code 27-37-200. It is aimed at people occupying property without a right to be there, rather than tenants. Under 27-37-270, 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. Owners anywhere in the state, including the Grand Strand, should read it with counsel, and our Myrtle Beach process servers can serve related civil papers.

Section 27-37-290 lets the enforcement official charge the same fee as for other service or a reasonable hourly rate. This is officer work from start to finish. DFS does not serve or enforce orders under the unlawful occupant article, and we say so before any owner sends papers. If an owner later sues an occupant for damages, that summons is an ordinary civil paper, and our Greenville process servers and every other county team can serve it with a signed affidavit.

07Where DFS fits

What Delator Field Services Can Serve for Landlords

As the process serving division of Nashville-based Delator Group, DFS has no South Carolina office. We serve the landlord papers a private adult may carry: summonses in suits for unpaid rent or property damage in magistrate court (up to $7,500) or common pleas, and subpoenas for hearing witnesses. Any non-party adult may serve a magistrate subpoena under SCRMC 23(b), with witness pay of $25 a day plus mileage. Our witness subpoena delivery covers those, and our interstate service for former tenants covers tenants who moved away.

Every serve starts with the paper type. We confirm in writing that the document is one a private adult may serve, send any rule to vacate back to the sheriff route unless the court confirms otherwise, and quote the county's published Routine starting rate and final price before the first attempt. In Charleston, Horry and Greenville counties, Routine starts at $125. Rates for all 46 counties are on our published South Carolina rate map, and eviction papers in South Carolina that belong to officers stay with officers.

Services

South Carolina Landlord Papers DFS Can Serve

• Rent and damages suitsSummonses and complaints in separate suits for unpaid rent or property damage, served under SCRCP 4 or SCRMC 6 with a signed affidavit.Learn more
• Hearing witness subpoenasSubpoenas for property managers, contractors or neighbors who must testify, served by a non-party adult under SCRMC 23(b) or SCRCP 45.Learn more
• Magistrate court claimsLandlord claims up to $7,500 served on former tenants by a qualifying adult under SCRMC 6(c), proven by affidavit under SCRMC 6(g).Learn more
• Company tenantsCommercial tenants served in a related suit through a registered agent, officer or managing agent, with the recipient's capacity recorded.Learn more
• Former tenants who movedSeparate-suit summonses served at a former tenant's new address, including personal service in another state, which S.C. Code 15-9-750 permits.Learn more
• Hard-to-reach tenantsVaried attempts and a dated log in a rent or damages suit when a former tenant avoids the door, ready for counsel's next step.Learn more
• Landlord counsel supportWritten quotes and affidavits for law firms representing landlords, with officer-only papers such as rules to vacate flagged before any attempt is made.Learn more
• Priority landlord servesUrgent, Rush or Same Day Rush service of a hearing subpoena or rent suit summons when a court date is close, priced in writing.Learn more
• Paper-type checkA written answer on whether a private adult may serve your document, and the officer route if the court requires one.Learn more

How it works

How DFS Handles Landlord Papers in South Carolina

1. 01

   Identify the paper

   We confirm whether the document is a rent suit summons, a subpoena or an ejectment paper, and send rules to vacate and writs back to the officer route.

2. 02

   Confirm price in writing

   We confirm the county, the service tier, the published Routine starting rate and the final price in writing before the first delivery attempt is made.

3. 03

   Serve and log

   Each attempt is logged with date, local time and address, and the person who received the papers is named, or described in detail, on the record.

4. 04

   Return the affidavit

   You receive a signed affidavit stating the date, time and place of service and the person served, ready for the magistrate or common pleas file.

Compare

South Carolina Ejectment Steps and Who Handles Them

Statewide coverage

Landlord Papers Served Across South Carolina

Rental housing runs through every region, from Upstate cities to Lowcountry military communities. Our Sumter County process servers work near Shaw Air Force Base, and our Summerville service page covers a town spread across three counties. In the Midlands, our Columbia process servers handle the capital and the Fort Jackson area, and on the coast our Charleston County delivery team serves related papers out of the 100 Broad Street filing location. Every quote, for every county and every paper, is confirmed in writing before the first attempt.

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Service areas

Process servers across South Carolina