South Carolina · TitleSouth Carolina quiet title: the action to determine adverse claims

South Carolina's quiet title remedy is the action to determine adverse claims. Any person in possession of real property, personally or through a tenant, or any person having or claiming title to vacant or unoccupied real property, may bring an action against anyone who claims – or who may or could claim – an estate or interest in the property or a lien on it adverse to the plaintiff, to determine that adverse claim and the rights of the parties (S.C. Code §15-67-10). Because claimants may include heirs or people who can't be found, the statute allows publication of the summons and service on out-of-state parties and unknown claimants once the sheriff has determined that a defendant can't be found in the county and the plaintiff or its attorney has filed an affidavit that a cause of action exists (§15-67-30).