South Carolina has many rules and statutes regulating its housing market. These must be fully considered when preparing an application for rental properties in the state.
Following SC rules and statutes is essential for landlords when creating a Rental Application.
If you do not create your Rental Application based on these rules, you may accidentally create an invalid document.
For the application to be considered valid, review the following laws to understand how to write your Rental Application correctly.
Application Fee
There is no limit in terms of what application fee can be charged by South Carolina landlords. Furthermore, the application fee is non-refundable regardless of its amount.
Security Deposit
Similar to the application fee law, there is no South Carolina statute defining a limit on the amount landlords can charge tenants for security deposits.
However, any money collected must be returned within 30 days of the tenancy ending as long as deductions haven’t been made.
Failure to return any prepaid rent or the security deposit can result in the tenant recovering up to 3 times the amount that was withheld from them.
However, for this to be the case, the tenant must give the required notice along with a forwarding address (§ 27-40-410).
Housing Discrimination Law
In South Carolina, there is no specific state law relating to housing discrimination. However, the Fair Housing Act (FHA) is in place. The FHA states that it is illegal to discriminate based on the following characteristics:
- Race
- Color
- Nationality
- Religion
- Sex
- Familial status
- Disability
- Criminal history
As a consequence, you are not allowed to ask for any of these details on a South Carolina Rental Application form nor to include them in the decision-making process.
Notice of Eligibility
Potential tenants must be informed about the screening criteria and reasons for denial or approval. To prove that these facts were shared, a signature of acknowledgment must be provided within the application or alongside it.
Consent Credit Check
Within South Carolina, federal law is in effect that requires potential renters to provide written consent for a credit history check during the application process. This is known as the Federal Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).