Rental Application and Tenant-Screening Fee Requirements in South Carolina

At a glance

South Carolina has no special statewide fee process

The current South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, S.C. Code §§ 27-40-10 through 27-40-940, regulates rental agreements for dwelling units in the state. S.C. Code § 27-40-20 states the chapter's purposes, while S.C. Code §§ 27-40-110 and 27-40-120 establish territorial coverage and exclusions. The official chapter contains no rule specifically addressing a residential application, processing, credit-check, background-check, or tenant-screening fee.

The current real-estate licensing scheme in Title 40, chapter 57 was also audited. It regulates brokers, property managers, trust accounts, disclosures, discipline, and related professional conduct, but supplies no separate applicant-fee cap or tenant-screening process.

Accordingly, there is no statewide fee-specific rule requiring:

• a maximum dollar amount or actual-cost formula;
• proof that a unit is available or that the application will be considered;
• advance disclosure of the fee basis, screening criteria, or report source;
• a special receipt, report copy, or unused-fee refund;
• acceptance of an applicant-supplied or reusable report;
• first-in-order or first-qualified processing; or
• a state-format denial or conditional-approval notice.

What governs without a fee statute

S.C. Code § 27-40-30 says that general principles including contract, agency, fraud, misrepresentation, duress, coercion, mistake, and other law supplement the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act unless displaced. Section 27-40-310(a) allows rental-agreement terms not prohibited by the chapter or another rule of law.

For an applicant, that makes the written application and fee terms important: the document should identify whether the charge is refundable, what it pays for, and what happens if the unit is filled or the application is not processed. Those terms do not create a statewide statutory cap or refund right; they document the parties' arrangement for analysis under generally applicable law.

The proposal did not become law

South Carolina H 3462 would have required certain prospective-tenant fee information and post-denial notices. It remained in its initial House committee and died when the regular session adjourned sine die on May 14, 2026. It does not alter the current answer.

Common questions

Is there a statewide maximum application fee? No numeric or cost-based cap appears in the current audited state statutes.

Must the landlord refund a fee if someone else rents the unit? South Carolina has no special statewide screening-fee refund rule. The application terms and generally applicable law control.

Must the landlord give me the credit or background report? The audited state schemes impose no special report-copy duty for an application fee. Federal consumer-reporting law may apply separately.

Does the state require reusable screening reports? No statewide portable or reusable-report process appears in the current audited statutes.

Statutes and sources

• S.C. Code §§ 27-40-10 to -940 — official Residential Landlord and Tenant Act audited for the statewide negative.

  This chapter applies to, regulates, and determines rights, obligations, and remedies under a rental agreement ... for a dwelling unit located within this State.

Official source: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t27c040.php (accessed 2026-08-16) - S.C. Code §§ 27-40-30 and 27-40-310(a) — supplementary general law and permissible agreement terms.

Unless displaced by the provisions of this chapter, the principles of law and equity ... shall supplement the provisions of this chapter.

Official source: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t27c040.php (accessed 2026-08-16) - S.C. Code Title 40, chapter 57 — official real-estate licensing scheme audited for applicant-fee and screening rules.

Official source: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t40c057.php (accessed 2026-08-16)