South Carolina: Late Rent Fee Limits

Requirements one by one

What the Act sets — and what it leaves to your lease

South Carolina's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act does not fix a late-fee
amount, a grace period, or a way to calculate the fee. Instead it recognizes a
late charge as part of the rent and leaves the terms to the rental agreement.
The definitions section builds the late charge into "rent" itself:

"rent" means the consideration payable for use of the premises including late
charges whether payable in lump sum or periodic payments, excluding security
deposits or other charges.

And the terms section lets the parties set rent terms by agreement:

A landlord and a tenant may include in a rental agreement terms and conditions
not prohibited by this chapter or other rule of law, including rent, term of
the agreement, and other provisions governing the rights and obligations of
the parties.

So the size of a late fee, when it applies, and whether it recurs are questions
the lease answers, not the statute. Nothing in the Act states a maximum, a
number of days of grace, or whether the fee runs on the whole month's rent or
only the overdue balance.

Unconscionability is the outer limit

The one statutory check on a late-charge term is the Act's unconscionability
provision. A court that finds a rental-agreement provision unconscionable when
made may decline to enforce it or trim it back:

any provision of a rental agreement was unconscionable when made, the court
may enforce the remainder of the agreement without the unconscionable
provision or limit the application of any unconscionable provision to avoid an
unconscionable result.

This is a case-by-case judicial standard, not a fixed cap, and it is decided as
a matter of law by the court.

What trips people up

The five-day clock is an eviction cure period, not a late-fee grace period.
Section 27-40-710(B) lets a landlord move to terminate the tenancy if rent stays
unpaid "within five days from the date due" after written notice. That is the
deadline to pay before eviction can begin — it does not mean a late fee is
barred for the first five days. The lease, not this section, controls when a
late fee attaches.

Because "rent" includes late charges, an unpaid late fee is unpaid rent.
The § 27-40-210(11) definition folds a late charge into "rent." That has a
practical bite: an accumulated, unpaid late charge is treated as overdue rent,
so it can feed into a nonpayment situation rather than being a separate,
lower-stakes debt.

"No statutory cap" is not "anything goes." The amount still has to be a term
of the agreement to be collectible, and an unconscionable late-charge provision
can be refused or limited by a court under § 27-40-230.

Common questions

Is there a maximum late fee in South Carolina? No statute sets one. The
amount comes from your lease. The only ceiling the Act supplies is that a court
may refuse to enforce or cut down a provision it finds unconscionable.

My tenancy is oral — can I still be charged a late fee? The Act's "rental
agreement" includes oral agreements, and rent terms may be set by agreement, so
there is no statutory rule that a late fee must be in a written lease. As a
practical matter, an oral late-charge term is harder for a landlord to prove.

Can an unpaid late fee alone lead to eviction? Potentially, because the Act
defines "rent" to include late charges. If unpaid late charges are treated as
overdue rent, the § 27-40-710(B) nonpayment process — five days from the due
date after written notice — can apply to them.

Statutes and sources

• S.C. Code § 27-40-210(11), (12) — "rent" includes late charges; a "rental
  agreement" may be written or oral.

  (11) "rent" means the consideration payable for use of the premises including
  late charges whether payable in lump sum or periodic payments, excluding
  security deposits or other charges; (12) "rental agreement" means all
  agreements, written or oral ...

Official source: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t27c040.php (accessed 2026-07-20)

• S.C. Code § 27-40-310(a), (c) — the parties set rent terms by agreement;
  rent is payable at the time and place agreed upon, without a statutory late
  charge or grace period.

  (a) A landlord and a tenant may include in a rental agreement terms and
  conditions not prohibited by this chapter or other rule of law, including
  rent, term of the agreement, and other provisions governing the rights and
  obligations of the parties. ... (c) Rent is payable without demand or notice
  at the time and place agreed upon by the parties.

Official source: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t27c040.php (accessed 2026-07-20)

• S.C. Code § 27-40-230(a) — a court may refuse to enforce or limit an
  unconscionable rental-agreement provision.

  If the court as a matter of law, finds: (1) a rental agreement was
  unconscionable when made, the court may refuse to enforce the rental
  agreement; (2) any provision of a rental agreement was unconscionable when
  made, the court may enforce the remainder of the agreement without the
  unconscionable provision or limit the application of any unconscionable
  provision to avoid an unconscionable result ...

Official source: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t27c040.php (accessed 2026-07-20)

• S.C. Code § 27-40-710(B) — five-day nonpayment cure period before a
  landlord may terminate for unpaid rent (an eviction clock, not a late-fee
  grace period).

  If rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay rent within five days
  from the date due ... the landlord may terminate the rental agreement
  provided the landlord has given the tenant written notice of nonpayment and
  his intention to terminate the rental agreement if the rent is not paid
  within that period.

Official source: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t27c040.php (accessed 2026-07-20)