South Carolina Mobile Home Park Lease Law: What Operators Need to Include

What must a mobile home lot lease include in South Carolina?

South Carolina regulates mobile home lot rentals under the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act, S.C. Code sections 27-47-10 through 27-47-620. If you rent lots to residents who own their own manufactured homes, this Act governs your lease, and a written agreement is mandatory, not optional.

The Act lists eleven specific items your written lease must address (Section 27-47-310). Where the Act is silent, the general Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Chapter 40 of Title 27) fills the gaps under Section 27-47-110, so its prohibited-clause and disclosure rules also apply to your lot leases.

One correction on citations: the operative written-agreement section is Section 27-47-310 (the chapter has no Section 27-47-330), the prohibited-provisions rule lives in the general landlord-tenant chapter at Section 27-40-330, and Section 27-47-530 governs eviction rather than rules. This guide is educational, not legal advice, so confirm current text and have counsel review your form lease.

The written lot lease and required disclosures (Section 27-47-310, Section 27-40-420)

Section 27-47-310 states that an owner who offers a park space for lease shall provide the resident an agreement in writing containing the terms by which the space is leased. The agreement must provide for eleven items.

Those items are: the location and approximate size of the lot; the monthly rental rate; the date payment is due; the place of payment; the personal property, services, and facilities the owner provides; the regulations governing residency which, if violated, may be cause for eviction; a statement of amounts the resident must pay, including but not limited to security deposits, service fees, and installation charges; improvements the resident may make to the lot, including landscaping; improvements the resident is required to make; restrictions on pets, children, number of occupants, and vehicle storage; and the notice required to exercise a renewal option or to terminate the tenancy.

Disclose who to serve and pay. Section 27-47-410 requires the owner to disclose a name and address (or an authorized agent) for service of process and receiving notices and demands, and Section 27-40-420 requires that disclosure in writing at or before the commencement of the tenancy. Put the owner or agent name and address directly in the lease.

Clauses you cannot put in the lease (Section 27-40-330)

The Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act does not contain its own list of banned lease clauses, but Section 27-47-110 applies the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act where it is not inconsistent. That pulls in Section 27-40-330, prohibited provisions in rental agreements.

Under Section 27-40-330(a), a rental agreement may not provide that the tenant (1) agrees to waive or forego rights or remedies under the chapter, (2) authorizes any person to confess judgment on a claim arising out of the rental agreement, or (3) agrees to the exculpation or limitation of any liability of the landlord arising under law or to indemnify the landlord for that liability or the costs connected therewith.

The penalty is real. Section 27-40-330(b) makes any such provision unenforceable, and if a landlord deliberately uses a lease with a clause known to be prohibited and tries to enforce it, the tenant may recover actual damages plus up to the security deposit and reasonable attorney's fees; if done maliciously, up to three months periodic rent and attorney's fees. Scrub any waiver-of-rights, confession-of-judgment, hold-harmless, or indemnification language from your form. One carve-out: Section 27-40-330(c) preserves a bona fide liquidated-damages provision for loss of rent on a premature lease termination.

Park rules and regulations (Section 27-47-510, Section 27-47-430)

Your park rules are enforceable through the lease, not separately. Section 27-47-310 requires the lease to state the regulations governing residency which, if violated, may be cause for eviction, so a rule you never disclosed generally cannot support eviction.

On the resident's side, Section 27-47-510 provides that a resident shall comply with applicable building, housing, and health codes; keep the manufactured home lot clean; comply with the regulations and the rental agreement (and require guests present with the resident's consent to do the same and not disturb other residents unreasonably); keep rent current; and give written notice within thirty days of a new-rate notice under Section 27-47-420 about continuing the tenancy beyond the original term.

If you change appearance or upkeep standards, mind the notice rule. Under Section 27-47-430 on aesthetic standards, notice of the requirement must be given by the owner to the tenant at least thirty days before the effective date of the change. Build a 30-day notice step into any rules update, and keep one clean, dated set of park rules incorporated into every lease so enforcement rests on a document the resident actually received.

Lease requirements at a glance in South Carolina

• Written agreement is mandatory
  Section 27-47-310 requires owners to provide a written lease stating the terms by which the lot is leased.
• Eleven required terms
  Cover lot location and size, rent, due date, place of payment, services provided, residency regulations, all resident charges, allowed and required improvements, restrictions, and renewal or termination notice.
• Disclose the owner or agent
  Sections 27-47-410 and 27-40-420 require the owner's name and address (or agent) in writing at or before the tenancy begins.
• No banned clauses
  Section 27-40-330 bars waiver of tenant rights, confession of judgment, and landlord exculpation or indemnification; such clauses are unenforceable and carry damages.
• Rules must be stated
  Only residency regulations written into the lease under Section 27-47-310 can serve as eviction grounds; residents must comply per Section 27-47-510.
• 30-day notice to change standards
  Section 27-47-430 requires at least thirty days notice before an aesthetic-standard change takes effect.
• General landlord-tenant law fills gaps
  Section 27-47-110 applies Chapter 40 of Title 27 to lot tenancies where not inconsistent with the Act.

Operator best practices in South Carolina

• Use a written lease every time
  Never place a resident on a lot on a handshake; Section 27-47-310 makes the written agreement mandatory and it protects your eviction rights.
• Map your lease to the eleven items
  Walk the Section 27-47-310 list and confirm each of the eleven required terms appears; missing terms weaken enforcement.
• Attach and acknowledge park rules
  Incorporate dated regulations into the lease so Section 27-47-310 and Section 27-47-510 make them enforceable.
• Audit for prohibited clauses
  Remove waiver, confession-of-judgment, hold-harmless, and indemnification language to avoid Section 27-40-330 damages.
• Disclose owner or agent in writing
  Name and address for service and notices in the lease itself satisfies Section 27-47-410 and Section 27-40-420.
• Give 30 days before rule changes
  Send written notice at least thirty days ahead of any aesthetic-standard change per Section 27-47-430.
• Build a relationship with a South Carolina MHP attorney
  Have counsel who knows the Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act review your lease form and park rules before rollout, and confirm the live statute text on scstatehouse.gov.