Key Takeaways
- Selling does not end the lease. The tenant keeps whatever term is left and the buyer becomes the landlord.
- You are released only as to events after the tenant gets written notice. Closing alone does not.
- You stay liable for the deposit unless it is transferred and the tenant told in writing.
- A paying tenant on a sound lease is worth more to an investor, not less. See how a direct sale works.
Can I Sell a Rental Property in Columbia With Tenants Still In It?
Yes. A tenancy does not prevent a sale, and a sale does not end a tenancy. The lease travels with the property, the buyer becomes the landlord on the same terms, and the seller is released only as to events after the tenant has written notice.
Does Selling End the Lease?
No. A lease attaches to the property, not the owner. A tenant with nine months left still has nine months left the day after closing. That cuts both ways: a paying tenant on a documented lease is income an investor will pay for, so talk to an agent who sells to investors before any cash buyer, us included.
When Do You Stop Being the Landlord?
Not at the closing table. South Carolina law relieves a landlord who sells in a good faith sale of liability under the rental agreement as to events after written notice to the tenant. The deed moves the property, the notice moves the exposure.
General educational information for South Carolina, not legal advice. What your lease permits and what notices you need should be reviewed with a licensed attorney.
What Notice Does a Tenant Get Before Anyone Has to Leave?
A notice, then a court, then an officer. The period depends on what the tenant has done and what your lease says. The removal runs through the magistrates court, where the tenant gets ten days after service to vacate or show cause.
| Situation | Notice required |
|---|---|
| Rent unpaid when due | Five days, in writing, stating the nonpayment and the intention to terminate. They run from the due date, not from service |
| Another breach that can be fixed | Fourteen days to remedy, by written notice specifying the breach |
| Ending a week to week tenancy | Seven days written notice |
| Ending a month to month tenancy | Thirty days written notice |
Check Your Lease Before You Serve Anything
This is the part almost nobody knows. The written notice requirement for unpaid rent is treated as satisfied if that notice appears in conspicuous language in the rental agreement itself, and the statute sets out the wording that qualifies. Read the lease first.
How Does the Removal Itself Work in Richland or Lexington County?
Through the magistrates court, on an application for ejectment. Same rules in both counties.
How an ejectment runs, and who does what
- The landlord applies to a magistrate with jurisdiction.
- The magistrate issues a written rule requiring the tenant to vacate or show cause.
- The tenant has ten days after that rule is served to vacate or to show cause.
- If the landlord wins, a constable or the sheriff carries out the removal, not the landlord.
What you cannot do is remove a tenant yourself. Changing locks or shutting off utilities is unlawful in South Carolina, and a tenant wrongfully dispossessed has an action for damages. Entry is the related rule, needing twenty four hours notice, which covers contractors and showings.
General educational information for South Carolina, not legal advice. Peak Home Buyers cannot shorten or influence an ejectment. A notice served incorrectly has to be served again, so take advice first.
How Peak Home Buyers Helps Columbia Landlords
Peak Home Buyers is run by Matt and Emily Hipp from an office at 1122 Lady St in Columbia and buys rental property across the Midlands with the company’s own funds. No lender is underwriting it, so nobody has to inspect the property.
You tell us about the property, the lease and the tenancy as it is. We look at it in whatever condition it is in, then explain the number and how we reached it. Our Columbia service area covers the offices and courts that apply.
The honest version. If the tenant pays and the lease is sound, a property manager or an investor listing beats a discounted sale. A direct sale earns its lower number when the work has outgrown the rent.
What Working With Us Looks Like
- Looked at as it is, belongings and deferred maintenance included.
- No repairs and no make-ready before an offer.
- A number with the reasoning behind it.
- If keeping it would serve you better, you will be told.
| Step | What happens | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Tell us about it | The address, the condition, the rent and what the lease says. | A read on whether a direct sale fits. |
| 2. One walkthrough | Arranged around the tenant and the notice the law requires. | A written figure to weigh against a manager or a listing. |
| 3. You decide | An attorney handles title and closing, with the deposit and tenant notice dealt with as part of it. | Decline and you are not chased. |
Honest note on timing. We will not tell you how quickly this can be done, and be careful with anyone who does. The pace is set by the tenant notice rights, the title search and any payoff.
Find Out What the Property Is Worth As It Stands
One conversation covers the lease, the deposit and whether selling is your best move.
See Your Cash Offer, We Handle the Rest
You do not need the lease to hand or the tenant told anything.
Who Is Responsible for the Security Deposit After the Sale?
The seller stays liable unless two things both happen: the deposit is transferred to the purchaser, and the tenant is notified in writing a reasonable time after the transaction. Otherwise selling changed nothing.
Why This One Is Worth Getting Right
Because of what sits behind it. A South Carolina landlord who fails to return money held as security owes three times the amount wrongfully withheld plus attorney fees, and that liability survives the sale.
A 1,200 dollar deposit, three ways
- Transferred to the buyer and the tenant notified in writing: the buyer is liable.
- Not transferred, or no written notice: the seller stays liable.
- Later wrongfully withheld: three times the amount, so 3,600 dollars, plus attorney fees.
Two pieces of paper matter at a sale, not one. Raise both with the closing attorney beforehand.
General educational information for South Carolina, not legal advice. How a deposit is dealt with in a specific sale is a question for a licensed attorney.
Your Options, Side by Side
The Things People Do Not Say Out Loud
“I have not been to the property in two years.”
Common with out of state owners. The condition is probably worse than your last picture of it, so get eyes on it before you set a number.
“I think I have handled the notices wrong.”
Usually fixable, because an incorrectly served notice means serving it again rather than losing the right. An hour with an attorney costs less than a dismissed ejectment.
“I feel bad about the tenant.”
Worth separating from the decision. Selling puts nobody out: the lease carries over. What changes is who the landlord is.
“I am embarrassed at how far I let it slide.”
Almost everybody who calls about a rental has let something slide. It is information that goes into a number, not a verdict.
What Makes a Rental Sale Work, and What Stalls One
| What moves a sale forward | What stalls one |
|---|---|
| The tenant allows access on proper notice, so the property can be seen. | Access is refused, and a property that cannot be shown cannot be listed conventionally. |
| The lease, the ledger and the deposit position exist as documents. | Nobody can say what the lease says or where the deposit sits, so buyers price the uncertainty. |
| The notices already served were served correctly and kept on file. | A notice went out the wrong way, so the clock starts again before anything else happens. |
| The condition is known and the price expectation matches it. | The price expectation was set years ago, on a property nobody has inspected since. |
None of that predicts an outcome. It describes constraints, and a landlord who deals with the two or three that apply is better placed whichever route they take.
What Owners Say
Left on Google by the people who sold, rather than collected by us. Reproduced word for word.
“I truly appreciated their honesty, excellent communication, and commitment to making everything as smooth as possible.”
Where We Buy Rental Property
Peak Home Buyers works with landlords across Columbia and the Midlands. Which magistrates court hears an ejectment depends on where the property sits, and that changes between Richland and Lexington County.
Columbia, Forest Acres, Irmo, Chapin, Blythewood, Lexington, West Columbia, Cayce, Lake Murray, Elgin
Not seeing your town? Call and ask.
Why Landlords Choose Peak Home Buyers
Peak Home Buyers is a South Carolina company buying with its own money. Everything below can be checked.
An Office In The Midlands
1122 Lady St, 3rd Floor, Columbia, SC 29201. Not a call center.
Owner Operated
Matt and Emily Hipp own the company and take the calls.
Funded By The Company
No lender has to inspect the property or approve a buyer.
Rentals Taken As They Stand
No repairs, no make-ready and no cleaning asked for before an offer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Under the South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act the lease carries over on the same terms, so the buyer becomes the landlord and the tenant keeps whatever term is left. What a sale does not do is end the tenancy, or by itself end your own obligations.
You are, unless the deposit is transferred to the buyer and the tenant notified in writing a reasonable time after the transaction. Where both happen, the buyer takes on the liability. Failing to deal with a deposit correctly carries three times the amount wrongfully withheld plus attorney fees.
It depends on the reason. Five days from the due date for unpaid rent, in writing, stating the nonpayment and the intention to terminate. Fourteen days to remedy a different curable breach. Seven days to end a week to week tenancy, thirty for month to month.
Possibly not. The written notice requirement for unpaid rent is treated as satisfied if that notice appears in conspicuous language in the rental agreement, and the statute sets out wording that qualifies. Read your lease and have a South Carolina attorney confirm it before relying on it.
Through the magistrates court. The landlord applies, and under the South Carolina ejectment statute the magistrate issues a rule requiring the tenant to vacate or show cause, with ten days after service to do one or the other. If the landlord wins, a constable or the sheriff carries out the removal.
No. Removing a tenant yourself is unlawful in South Carolina, and a tenant wrongfully dispossessed has an action for damages. A landlord already owed months of rent who then loses a damages claim has made the position worse.
It depends on the assistance contract and the housing authority administering it. The Columbia Housing Authority administers voucher programs locally and can say what a change of ownership requires. Raise it early.
Probably something, and often more than owners expect. A rental does not get the basis reset an inherited property gets, and depreciation claimed over the years is treated separately on sale. No figures here, because the answer depends on your records. Speak to a CPA before agreeing a price.
By buying below what a prepared house fetches on the open market and carrying the risk: the repairs, the holding costs, the tenancy and the resale. That discount is the business model. Be careful with any buyer who will not explain their number.
Peak Home Buyers, from an office at 1122 Lady St, buys across Columbia and the Midlands, rental and vacant property included. Matt and Emily Hipp own the company, the money is the company’s own rather than a lender, and an attorney handles every closing. The number is (803) 991-0959.
Find Out What the Property Is Worth As It Stands
You do not need the lease in front of you, the arrears added up, or a decision made about the tenant.
Nothing is charged and nothing owed. If keeping the property or listing it to investors would put more in your pocket, you will be told.
See Your Cash Offer, We Handle the Rest