South Carolina · Code §§27-40-410, 27-40-450South Carolina tenant security deposits when you sell a rental

South Carolina's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act decides who answers for deposits after a sale. A landlord who conveys a rented dwelling in a good-faith sale to a bona fide purchaser is, unless otherwise agreed, relieved of liability for events after written notice of the conveyance to the tenant – but remains liable for the security deposit unless the deposit is transferred from the seller to the purchaser and the tenant is notified in writing a reasonable time after the transaction, in which case the purchaser is liable (S.C. Code §27-40-450(a)). Subject to that rule, the holder of the landlord's interest when the tenancy ends is bound by the deposit section (§27-40-410(e)). That section requires the deposit, less accrued rent and damages from the tenant's noncompliance, to be returned with an itemized written notice within 30 days after the tenancy ends and possession is delivered and the tenant demands it, whichever is later; a landlord who fails to do so may owe three times the amount wrongfully withheld plus reasonable attorney's fees (§27-40-410(a), (b)). The landlord also discloses in writing, at or before the start of the tenancy, the name and address of an owner or the owner's agent, and that duty is kept current and enforceable against any successor landlord, owner or manager (§27-40-420).