Bed bug laws in South Carolina Who pays for treatment?
Habitability law only
No bed bug statute and pests are not named — an infestation reaches the law through 'fit and habitable'. Two things make South Carolina risky for tenants. The landlord's duties can be shifted onto you by agreement in the rental contract, which most states forbid. And there is a waiver trap with a hard deadline: if the landlord did not have notice of the problem at least 14 days before rent was due, you LOSE the right to raise it as a defense when they sue you for non-payment. Raise a defense the court finds meritless and not made in good faith and you can be ordered to pay the landlord's legal fees. Notify early and in writing.
Who pays for treatment
Landlord, unless shifted by the rental agreement
Landlord response deadline
14 days after written notice
Disclosure before lease
No
What the law actually says
No bed bug provision. Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, S.C. Code Ann. ch. 27-40 (1986 Act No. 336). § 27-40-440 (landlord to maintain premises) — comply with applicable building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety; make all repairs and do whatever is reasonably necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition; keep all common areas in a reasonably safe condition AND, only for premises containing more than four dwelling units, in a reasonably clean condition; make available running water, reasonable hot water and reasonable heat; and maintain in reasonably good and safe working order all electrical, gas, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air conditioning and other facilities and appliances including elevators. Note the four-unit threshold — common-area CLEANLINESS is only owed in buildings above it. WAIVABILITY: § 27-40-440 permits the landlord and tenant to agree that the tenant performs specified duties, subject to conditions including that the agreement does not diminish or affect the landlord's obligations to other tenants; unlike Nevada, there is no express bad-faith bar where the landlord already owes the duty, so read your lease for a pest clause. § 27-40-610 (non-compliance by landlord) — written notice, 14 days to remedy, then termination; where a breach NOT affecting health and safety cannot be cured in 14 days, it suffices that the cure is commenced within the period and pursued in good faith to completion within a reasonable time; a tenant may NOT terminate for a condition caused by the deliberate or negligent act or omission of the tenant, a family member, or another person on the premises with the tenant's permission or allowed access by them. The tenant may recover actual damages and obtain injunctive relief in a magistrate's or circuit court WITHOUT POSTING BOND, and reasonable attorney's fees where the non-compliance is wilful; on termination the landlord returns the deposit under § 27-40-410. THE TRAP AT § 27-40-640: a tenant is considered to have WAIVED a violation of the landlord's § 27-40-440 duties as a defense in an action for possession based on non-payment, or in an action for rent, where the landlord had no notice of the violation fourteen days before rent was due (for violations involving services other than essential services) — and if the tenant's defense or counterclaim is without merit and not raised in good faith, the LANDLORD may recover actual damages plus reasonable attorney's fees. Also relevant: § 27-40-310 disclosure of manager and owner; § 27-40-510 tenant duties; § 27-40-630 wrongful failure to provide essential services; § 27-40-720 non-compliance affecting health and safety. SOURCE WARNING: a site trading as 'South Carolina Legal Services Authority' on a .com domain describes a repair-and-deduct remedy of up to one month's rent under § 27-40-630; that section is titled wrongful failure to provide essential services and no general repair-and-deduct appeared in the chapter index. The genuine legal aid provider in the state is South Carolina Legal Services. Verify before publishing.
Hiring someone in South Carolina? Check they are actually licensed for structural pest control before you pay a deposit. Verify a South Carolina exterminator →
What to do, in order
Photograph everything before you touch it
Live insects, shed skins, dark staining along the mattress seam. Timestamps are the evidence.
Notify the landlord in writing
Email or certified letter, never a phone call alone. Written notice is what starts the clock in every state that has one.
Do not throw out furniture yet
Discarded items can't be inspected, and moving them spreads the infestation down the hallway.
Let the deadline above run
Escalating before it expires generally forfeits the remedy.
Escalate to the housing agency, then to court
An independent inspection report is worth more than your own photographs. Rent withholding rules vary sharply — check the section above before you try it.
Read it yourself
Everything above was written by reading the sections named in the citation, not by summarizing another summary. You should not take our word for it — open the statute and check. Look up the section numbers quoted above.
The state's own legislature or code site. Search it for the section numbers quoted above — they are the whole basis for this page.
Last checked against the South Carolina code: . Statutes change every legislative session — if you are reading this long after that date, open the cited sections yourself before relying on them.
Not legal advice. This is a plain-language reference to publicly available statutes, verified against the South Carolina code. Liability turns on your lease, your local ordinance and your specific facts. Talk to a tenant attorney or legal aid before withholding rent or filing anything.