South Carolina Mobile Home Park Laws — Lot Rent and Evictions (2026)

✓ Law Verified August 2026

South carolina mobile home park laws are their own world: you own the home, you rent the ground, and a separate set of rules, different from ordinary landlord-tenant law, decides what the park can charge, when it can evict, and what happens if the land is sold out from under the whole community.

This guide covers those rules in plain English, verified against official South Carolina sources as of August 2026.

South Carolina Mobile Home Park Laws at a Glance

Why Park Living Has Its Own Rulebook in South Carolina

South Carolina has a separate act just for people who own the manufactured home and rent only the lot, Chapter 47 applies to the rental of a residential manufactured home lot, while ordinary apartment renting is covered by the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Title 27, Chapter 40).

Under Section 27-47-120 the park act does NOT apply if you rent both the home and the lot from the park, if the space is for a recreational vehicle, or if the park offers fewer than five lots for rent, in those cases you fall back to Chapter 40.

Section 27-47-110 provides that Chapter 40 still applies to your lot tenancy where it is not inconsistent with Chapter 47, so many lot renters can rely on both acts, and Section 27-47-310 requires the park to give you a written rental agreement stating the terms of the lot lease.

Owning the home while renting the ground under it creates a kind of leverage no apartment landlord has: moving a manufactured home typically costs thousands of dollars, and many older homes cannot be moved at all without falling apart.

Lawmakers know that “just move” is not a real option for park residents, which is exactly why South Carolina mobile home park laws give lot renters protections apartment tenants never get, limited eviction grounds, longer notice periods, and rules about what happens when the park itself changes hands.

Lot Rent Increases: Your Rights Before You Pay More

Required notice: 30 days, Section 27-47-420 requires the park owner to give the resident written notice of a new rental rate at least thirty days before it takes effect where the tenancy continues beyond the original term; Section 27-47-510(5) then requires you to tell the owner in writing within thirty days of receiving that notice whether you want to continue the tenancy

Is there a cap? NO CAP

Whatever the number on the notice, read it against the rules above before paying. An increase served with short notice, or one that violates a cap where South Carolina has one, is challengeable, and park residents who organize respond far more effectively than neighbors acting alone. Many states saw lot-rent fights turn into new legislation in the last two years for exactly this reason.

The Park Cannot Evict You for Just Any Reason

Section 27-47-530 limits eviction to eight listed grounds, (1) failure to comply with a local, state, or federal law governing manufactured homes after written notice of noncompliance and a reasonable opportunity to fix it; (2) repeated conduct that interferes with other residents’ quiet enjoyment of the park; (3) noncompliance with the rental agreement or park regulations that is not cured within fourteen days after the owner’s written notice; (4) not paying rent within five days of the due date;

(5) noncompliance with a law or lease provision affecting the health, safety, or welfare of other residents or the physical condition of the park; (6) willfully and knowingly making a false or misleading statement in the rental application or rental agreement; (7) taking of the park, or the part affecting your lot, by eminent domain; and (8) any other reason sufficient under common law.

Because ground (8) imports common-law reasons, South Carolina’s list is not as tight as some states’ park acts, so you may want to ask your magistrate court or a legal aid lawyer whether the stated reason really qualifies.

This list matters enormously: it means a park in South Carolina cannot simply non-renew you to free up the lot the way an apartment landlord might. If an eviction notice arrives, check it against the legal grounds first, park evictions fail in court most often because the stated reason is not on the list, or the notice skipped a required warning step.

If the Park Sells or Closes

When the park is sold: 30 days after closing, Section 27-47-610 requires that when a park is sold but keeps operating as a park, the NEW owner notify residents of the change in ownership within thirty days after the date of closing.

South Carolina gives residents NO advance notice of an intended sale, NO right of first refusal, and NO resident or nonprofit purchase-opportunity law, unlike states such as Oregon, Colorado, Minnesota, and Maryland.

Separately, Section 27-47-440 protects your ability to sell your own home in place: the buyer needs the park owner’s approval to become a resident, but approval may not be unreasonably withheld, and if the owner does not respond in writing within fifteen days of the buyer’s written application, the application is approved.

When the park closes: NONE in statute, South Carolina sets no park-closure or land-use-conversion notice period, no relocation assistance, and no relocation trust fund; there is no dollar figure in South Carolina law.

The only closely related provisions are Section 27-47-620, which requires a notice of proposed rezoning to be posted at the park at least 5 days before the public hearing on the rezoning, and Section 27-47-530(7), which makes a taking by eminent domain a ground for eviction on 30 days’ notice.

Residents may also get notice of a rezoning hearing under the general zoning law, S.C. Code Ann. Section 6-29-760, and you may be able to speak at that hearing.

Fees the Park Can and Cannot Charge in South Carolina

Section 27-47-310 restricts user fees, a “user fee” is an amount charged on top of the lot rental amount for nonessential optional services provided by or through the park under a separate written agreement, and during the rental agreement the owner must NOT start charging a user fee for a service or amenity that was previously provided and included in the lot rental amount unless there is a corresponding decrease in the lot rental amount within the contract terms.

South Carolina law does NOT specifically bar entry fees, exit or transfer fees, guest fees, or utility markups in manufactured home parks, UNVERIFIED that any such express prohibition exists. Section 27-47-230 lets a court refuse to enforce a rental agreement or any clause it finds unconscionable, so a tenant facing an abusive fee may be able to raise that defense.

The park’s side of the bargain: Section 27-47-450 requires the park owner to provide access to the common areas of the park at reasonable times for residents and their guests and to maintain the utility connections and systems in proper working condition. Section 27-47-460 imposes a duty to maintain safe premises, while expressly stating the owner is not a guarantor of resident safety.

Section 27-47-470 requires the owner to maintain the cleanliness and appearance of the common areas.

The act does not separately itemize road, water, or sewer standards, so tenants may also be able to rely on the landlord’s Section 27-40-440 fit-and-habitable duties under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, which Section 27-47-110 makes applicable where not inconsistent.

The Trapped-Equity Problem and How to Protect Yourself

The economics of a mobile home park in South Carolina are unlike any apartment: you own the home, but moving it typically costs thousands of dollars, often more than an older home is worth, and many parks will not accept a home past a certain age. That is why lot-rent disputes feel so different here: walking away is rarely a real option, and park owners know it.

The law is what balances that power gap, which makes knowing the exact notice rules, fee limits, and eviction grounds in South Carolina worth more to a park resident than to almost any other kind of tenant.

Protect yourself the way the long-time residents do: keep every rent notice and rule change in writing, photograph the condition of your lot and the park’s common areas a couple of times a year, and read the community rules before signing anything, in most states the written rules you were given are what a court will hold both sides to.

Selling Your Home Without Losing Its Value

When it is time to leave, most residents sell the home in place rather than move it, and this is where park rules matter most.

Many states limit a park’s power to block an in-place sale: the park can usually screen the buyer the way it screens any new resident, but it generally cannot force you to remove a home just because you are selling, and it cannot demand a cut of your sale price unless it actually acted as your sales agent.

Get the park’s buyer-approval requirements in writing early, keep the lot rent current through the sale, and never sign a rule change mid-sale without reading it, a home that can stay on its lot is worth far more than one that has to be moved.

The Strongest Protection Is the Lot Next Door

Everything about park life is shared, the roads, the water lines, the rent schedule, the fate of the land itself. That is why the single most effective move a park resident in South Carolina can make is joining or forming a residents association. A park owner can ignore one complaint about a rent increase; ignoring a letter signed by sixty households is a different decision.

Associations are also how residents use park-sale rights in the states that grant them, organized communities have bought their own parks across the country, usually with help from nonprofit lenders who specialize in exactly this.

Keep your own records the same way any tenant should: the lease for your lot, every rent notice, every rule change, photos of anything the park fails to maintain. South carolina mobile home park laws reward the resident who can show a judge dates and documents, and most disputes never reach a judge once the park realizes you have them.

Recent changes in South Carolina: The Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act has not been substantively amended since 1991, and no 2024-2026 bill has added a lot-rent cap, a park-sale right of first refusal, or a park-closure relocation payment.

H.3346, the proposed “South Carolina Rent Control Act,” was introduced January 14, 2025 and remained in House committee without passage, so there is still no rent cap of any kind in South Carolina.

H.5113, signed by the Governor on May 19, 2026, deals with manufactured and modular homes by protecting nonconforming-use status when a preexisting manufactured home is replaced, which may help residents who need to replace an older home.

South Carolina Mobile Home Park Laws: Quick Answers

Can the park raise lot rent whenever it wants? The South Carolina mobile home park laws above set the notice rules, and any cap, that apply before an increase is valid.

Can the park make me remove my home? Only for the legal grounds listed in the South Carolina mobile home park laws, and only through the court process, never by padlock or tow truck.

Do apartment tenant rights apply to me? Partly. The South Carolina mobile home park laws are their own chapter, and this page plus the state guides linked below cover both layers.

Official South Carolina Sources & Resources

• South Carolina State Agency: llr.sc.gov/manu
• South Carolina Park Act Statute: scstatehouse.gov/code/t27c047.php
• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: hud.gov
• Cornell Legal Information Institute: law.cornell.edu/wex

Making South Carolina Mobile Home Park Laws Work for You

The South Carolina mobile home park laws only protect residents who use them, and parks count on most residents never reading the act. Read your lot lease against this page, calendar every notice deadline the moment a letter arrives, and talk to your neighbors, nearly every protection in the South Carolina mobile home park laws gets stronger when residents act together.

If the park ignores the rules, the state agency and local legal aid both handle park disputes, and a written complaint citing the act gets a very different response than a phone call. Under the South Carolina mobile home park laws, the resident with documents and neighbors is never as trapped as the park hopes.

This guide to south carolina mobile home park laws was last verified against official sources in August 2026. Lot-rent caps and park-sale laws are moving fast in many states, re-check before acting on a deadline.

More South Carolina Tenant Rights Guides

• South Carolina Tenant Rights
• South Carolina Eviction Process
• South Carolina Security Deposit Law
• South Carolina Rent Increase Laws
• South Carolina Repairs & Habitability
• Breaking a Lease in South Carolina
• Eviction Timeline Calculator
• All 50 States

Disclaimer: This guide is informational only and is not legal advice. Landlord-tenant laws change and vary by city and county within a state. Verify current rules with your state, your local court, or a free legal-aid office before acting. If you are facing eviction, contact a local tenant attorney or legal-aid organization right away.