Free South Carolina Lease Termination Letter Template

A South Carolina lease termination letter is written notice that a periodic tenancy ends on a specific date. Landlords and tenants both use it, and S.C. Code § 27-40-770 gives each side the same right to end a week-to-week or month-to-month tenancy this way.

This comes up more often than people expect. Section 27-40-310(d) makes a tenancy month-to-month whenever the rental agreement fixes no definite term — week-to-week only for a roomer who pays weekly rent. So a lease that quietly ran out has probably become a month-to-month tenancy already.

Two periods cover most moves, and both require the notice in writing:

• Week-to-week — at least 7 days before the termination date named in the notice, under § 27-40-770(a).
• Month-to-month — at least 30 days before the termination date named in the notice, under § 27-40-770(b).

Two other situations run on their own clocks. A tenant ending the agreement over the landlord’s material noncompliance gives at least 14 days under § 27-40-610(a). And where fire or casualty substantially impairs normal use of the unit, § 27-40-650(a) lets the tenant vacate immediately, then notify the landlord in writing within 7 days.

Unpaid rent works differently again. Section 27-40-710(B) lets a landlord terminate where rent goes five days past due, after written notice of the nonpayment and of the intent to terminate. South Carolina allows that warning to live permanently in the lease: a rental agreement carrying the statutory paragraph that opens IF YOU DO NOT PAY YOUR RENT ON TIME satisfies the written notice requirement, and no separate letter is needed.

For a breach other than nonpayment, § 27-40-710(A) sets 14 days. The landlord delivers written notice specifying the acts or omissions, and the agreement terminates on a date not less than 14 days after receipt unless the tenant remedies the breach.

South Carolina defines when notice is legally received, and the definition rewards mailing it carefully.

Under § 27-40-240(B), a tenant receives notice when it comes to their attention, when it is handed to them, or when it is mailed by registered or certified mail to the address they hold out for communications — or, absent that, their last known residence. Proof of mailing under that subsection counts as notice without proof of receipt.

A landlord receives notice at the place of business where the rental agreement was made, or anywhere else the landlord holds out for receiving communications. Tenants should send a South Carolina lease termination letter to that address rather than to a leasing agent’s personal inbox.

Move-out and the deposit are governed separately from the notice itself.

Section 27-40-410(a) requires the landlord to itemize any deductions in a written notice and send it, with any amount owed, within 30 days after the latest of the tenancy terminating, possession being delivered, and the tenant’s demand. The tenant has to supply a forwarding or new address in writing, and a tenant who does not may lose the right to damages where the landlord had no notice of their whereabouts and mailed everything to the last known address.

If a tenant stays without consent, § 27-40-770(c) lets the landlord bring an action for possession; the circuit and magistrate courts hold concurrent jurisdiction under § 27-40-130(a). These statutory periods change from time to time, so confirm the current ones before counting your days.