Please communicate to your landlord clients to expect changing property management conditions due to the effort to minimize virus risks and virus impacts.

Tenants may experience income issues due to virus issues and the economy.  This may impact rents.

SC Supreme Court halts evictions through March

On Tuesday, March 17th, the South Carolina Supreme Court decided to halt all eviction proceedings statewide that were previously scheduled for March 17-31.Chief Justice Donald Beatty signed the order Tuesday requiring the eviction proceedings be rescheduled on a date “not earlier than May 1, 2020.”

The order said there would be exceptions made on a case-by-case basis for circumstances that involve “essential services and/or harm to person or property.”

Other potential complications

  • Tenants may be ordered into quarantine or volunteer themselves into quarantine.  The quarantine may occur over the end of the lease or during an eviction.
  • Virus disclosure and cleaning issues and costs may arise.
  • Landlords and property managers may experience virus issues and economic issues themselves.
  • Utilities may suspend shutoffs for these issues.
Please prepare for these issues. We are all learning how to practice real estate during COVID-19 pandemic in real-time.  Please share any issues you’ve encountered with SCR so SCR can work on solutions, mitigation, and education.
Contact the Legal Hotline at info@screaltors.org or call us at 803-772-5206.