How can a landlord dispose of a tenant's bicycle and other personal property in South Carolina?
Full Question:
My tenant moved of the rented unit I own at Annapolis last week but has left behind a bicycle, some documents related to his insurance as well as old clothes. What do I do about these belongs as it is highly unlike that he will be back to claim it?
05/08/2017 |
Category: Abandoned Pr... ยป Landlord Ten... |
State: South Carolina |
#36825
Answer:
Relevant sections dealing with abandoned property are quoted below for reference:
S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-710 (D)
Personal property belonging to a tenant removed from a premises as a result of an eviction proceeding under this chapter which is placed on a public street or highway shall be removed by the appropriate municipal or county officials after a period of forty-eight hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, and may also be removed by these officials in the normal course of debris or trash collection before or after a period of forty-eight hours. If the premises is located in a municipality or county that does not collect trash or debris from the public highways, then after a period of forty-eight hours, the landlord may remove the personal property from the premises and dispose of it in the manner that trash or debris is normally disposed of in such municipalities or counties. The notice of eviction must clearly inform the tenant of the provisions of this section. The municipality or county and the appropriate officials or employees thereof have no liability in regard to the tenant if he is not informed in the notice of eviction of the provisions of this section.
S.C. Code Ann. § 27-40-730
(a) The unexplained absence of a tenant from a dwelling unit for a period of fifteen days after default in the payment of rent must be construed as abandonment of the dwelling unit.
(b) If the tenant has voluntarily terminated the utilities and there is an unexplained absence of a tenant after default in payment of rent, abandonment is considered immediate and the fifteen day rule as described in (a) does not apply.
(c) If the tenant abandons the dwelling unit, the landlord shall make reasonable efforts to rent it at a fair rental. If the landlord rents the dwelling unit for a term beginning before the expiration of the rental agreement, it terminates as of the date of the new tenancy, subject to the landlord's remedies under Section 27-40-740. If the landlord fails to use reasonable efforts to rent the dwelling unit at a fair rental or if the landlord accepts the abandonment as a surrender, the rental agreement is considered to be terminated by the landlord as of the date the landlord has notice of the abandonment. If the tenancy is from month to month or week to week, the term of the rental agreement for this purpose is considered to be a month or a week, as the case may be.
(d) When a dwelling unit has been abandoned or the rental agreement has come to an end and the tenant has removed a substantial portion of his property or voluntarily and permanently terminated his utilities and has left personal property in the dwelling unit or on the premises with a fair-market value of five hundred dollars or less, the landlord may enter the dwelling unit, using forcible entry if required, and dispose of the property.
(e) When a dwelling unit has been abandoned or the rental agreement has come to an end and the tenant has left personal property in the dwelling unit or on the premises in the cases not covered by subsection (d) above, the landlord may have the property removed only pursuant to the provisions of Sections 27-37-10 to 27-37-150.
(f) Where property is disposed of by the landlord pursuant to subsection (d) and the property was in excess of five hundred dollars, the landlord is not liable unless the landlord was grossly negligent.
Other South Carolina Statutes dealing with abandoned property in other situations are below.
SC Code § 27-18-30
(A) Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, all intangible property, including any income or increment derived therefrom, less any lawful charges, that is held, issued, or owing in the ordinary course of a holder's business and has remained unclaimed by the owner for more than five years after it became payable or distributable is presumed abandoned.
(B) Property is payable or distributable for the purpose of this chapter notwithstanding the owner's failure to make demand or to present any instrument or document required to receive payment.
SC Code § 27-18-40
Unless otherwise provided in this chapter or by other statute of this State, intangible property is subject to the custody of this State as unclaimed property if the conditions raising a presumption of abandonment under Sections 27-18-30 and 27-18-60 through 27-18-170 are satisfied and:
(1) the last known address, as shown on the records of the holder, of the apparent owner is in this State;
(2) the records of the holder do not reflect the identity of the person entitled to the property and it is established that the last known address of the person entitled to the property is in this State;
(3) the records of the holder do not reflect the last known address of the apparent owner, and it is established that:
(a) the last known address of the person entitled to the property is in this State; or
(b) the holder is a domiciliary or a government or governmental subdivision or agency of this State and has not previously paid or delivered the property to the state of the last known address of the apparent owner or other person entitled to the property;
(4) the last known address, as shown on the records of the holder, of the apparent owner is in a state that does not provide by law for the escheat or custodial taking of the property or its escheat or unclaimed property law is not applicable to the property and the holder is a domiciliary or a government or governmental subdivision or agency of this State;
(5) the last known address, as shown on the records of the holder, of the apparent owner is in a foreign nation and the holder is a domiciliary or a government or governmental subdivision or agency of this State; or
(6) the transaction out of which the property arose occurred in this State and
(a)(i) the last known address of the apparent owner or other person entitled to the property is unknown, or
(ii) the last known address of the apparent owner or other person entitled to the property is in a state that does not provide by law for the escheat or custodial taking of the property or its escheat or unclaimed property law is not applicable to the property, and
(b) the holder is a domiciliary of a state that does not provide by law for the escheat or custodial taking of the property or its escheat or unclaimed property law is not applicable to the property.
SC Code § 27-18-50
(A) Subject to subsection (D), any sum payable on a travelers check that has been outstanding for more than fifteen years after its issuance is presumed abandoned unless the owner, within fifteen years, has communicated in writing with the issuer concerning it or otherwise indicated an interest as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file prepared by an employee of the issuer.
(B) Subject to subsection (D), any sum payable on a money order or similar written instrument, other than a third-party bank check, that has been outstanding for more than seven years after its issuance is presumed abandoned unless the owner, within seven years, has communicated in writing with the issuer concerning it or otherwise indicated an interest as evidenced by a memorandum or other record on file prepared by an employee of the issuer.
(C) A holder may not deduct from the amount of a travelers check or money order any charge imposed by reason of the failure to present the instrument for payment unless there is a valid and enforceable written contract between the issuer and the owner of the instrument pursuant to which the issuer may impose a charge and the issuer regularly imposes such charges and does not regularly reverse or otherwise cancel them.
(D) No sum payable on a travelers check, money order, or similar written instrument, other than a third-party bank check, described in subsections (A) and (B) may be subjected to the custody of this State as unclaimed property unless:
(1) the records of the issuer show that the travelers check, money order, or similar written instrument was purchased in this State;
(2) the issuer has its principal place of business in his State and the records of the issuer do not show the state in which the travelers check, money order, or similar written instrument was purchased; or
(3) the issuer has it principal place of business in this State, the records of the issuer show the state in which the travelers check, money order, or similar written instrument was purchased and the laws of the state of purchase do not provide for the escheat or custodial taking of the property or its escheat or unclaimed property law is not applicable to the property.
(E) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, subsection (D) applies to sums payable on travelers checks, money orders, and similar written instruments presumed abandoned on or after February 1, 1965, except to the extent that those sums have been paid over to a state prior to January 1, 1974.
SC Code § 27-18-180 (2013)
(A) A person holding tangible or intangible property, that is presumed abandoned and subject to custody as unclaimed property pursuant to this chapter, shall report to the administrator concerning the property as provided in this section. The action taken to report an unclaimed tax refund check to the administrator is not a violation of disclosure prohibitions described in Section 12-54-240.
(B) The report must be verified and must include:
(1) except with respect to travelers checks and money orders, the name, if known, and last known address, if any, of each person appearing from the records of the holder to be the owner of property of the value of fifty dollars or more presumed abandoned under this chapter;
(2) in the case of unclaimed funds of fifty dollars or more held or owing under any life or endowment insurance policy or annuity contract, the full name and last known address of the insured or annuitant and of the beneficiary according to the records of the insurance company holding or owing the funds;
(3) in the case of the contents of a safe deposit box or other safekeeping repository or of other tangible property, a description of the property and the place where it is held and may be inspected by the administrator and any amounts owing to the holder;
(4) the nature and identifying number, if any, or description of the property and the amount appearing from the records to be due, but items of value under fifty dollars each may be reported in the aggregate;
(5) the date the property became payable, demandable, or returnable, and the date of the last transaction with the apparent owner with respect to the property; and
(6) other information the administrator prescribes by rule as necessary for the administration of this chapter.
(C) If the person holding property presumed abandoned and subject to custody as unclaimed property is a successor to other persons who previously held the property for the apparent owner or the holder has changed his name while holding the property, he shall file with his report all known names and addresses of each previous holder of the property.
(D) The report must be filed before November first of each year as of June thirtieth, next preceding. On written request by any person required to file a report, the administrator may postpone the reporting date.
(E) Not more than one hundred twenty days before filing the report required by this section, the holder in possession of property presumed abandoned and subject to custody as unclaimed property under this chapter shall send written notice to the apparent owner at his last known address informing him that the holder is in possession of property subject to this chapter if:
(1) the holder has in its records an address for the apparent owner which the holder's records do not disclose to be inaccurate;
(2) the claim of the apparent owner is not barred by the statute of limitations; and
(3) the property has a value of fifty dollars or more.
(F) Notwithstanding Section 27-18-190, the State Treasurer shall only be required to publish a notice not later than April thirtieth of the year immediately following the report required by this section by electronic means or at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in this State which is the last known address of any person named in the notice.
SC Code § 27-18-190 (2013)
(A) The administrator shall publish a notice not later than April 30 of the year immediately following the report required by Section 27-18-180 at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of this State in which is located the last known address of any person named in the notice. If a holder does not report an address for the apparent owner, or the address is outside this State, the notice must be published in the county in which the holder has its principal place of business within this State or another county that the administrator reasonably selects.
(B) The notice must be in a form that, in the judgment of the administrator, is likely to attract the attention of the apparent owner of the unclaimed property. The form must contain:
(1) the name of each person appearing to be the owner of the property, as set forth in the report filed by the holder;
(2) the last known address or location of each person appearing to be the owner of the property, if an address or location is set forth in the report filed by the holder;
(3) a statement explaining that property of the owner is presumed to be abandoned and has been taken into custody of the administrator; and
(4) a statement that information about the property and its return to the owner is available to a person having a legal or beneficial interest in the property upon request to the administrator.
(C) The administrator is not required to publish the name and address or location of property having a total value of less than fifty dollars or information concerning a traveler's check, money order, or similar instrument.
SC Code § 27-18-230 (2013)
(A) Except as provided in subsections (B) and (C), the administrator, within three years after the receipt of abandoned property, shall sell it to the highest bidder at public sale in whatever municipality in the State affords in the judgment of the administrator the most favorable market for the property involved. The administrator may decline the highest bid and reoffer the property for sale if in the judgment of the administrator the bid is insufficient. If in the judgment of the administrator the probable cost of sale exceeds the value of the property, it need not be offered for sale. Any sale held under this section must be preceded by a single publication of notice, at least three weeks in advance of sale, in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the property is to be sold.
(B) Securities listed on an established stock exchange must be sold at prices prevailing at the time of sale on the exchange. Other securities may be sold over the counter at prices prevailing at the time of sale or by any other method the administrator considers advisable.
(C) Unless the administrator considers it to be in the best interest of the State to do otherwise, all securities other than those presumed abandoned under Section 27-18-110, delivered to the administrator must be held for at least one year before he may sell them.
(D) Unless the administrator considers it to be in the best interest of the State to do otherwise, all securities presumed abandoned under Section 27-18-110 and delivered to the administrator must be held for at least three years before he may sell them. If the administrator sells any securities delivered pursuant to Section 27-18-110 before the expiration of the three-year period, any person making a claim pursuant to this chapter before the end of the three-year period is entitled to either the proceeds of the sale of the securities or the market value of the securities at the time the claim is made, whichever amount is greater, less any deduction for fees pursuant to Section 27-18-240(B). A person making a claim under this chapter after the expiration of this period is entitled to receive either the securities delivered to the administrator by the holder, if they still remain in the hands of the administrator, or the proceeds received from sale, less any amounts deducted pursuant to Section 27-18-240(B), but no person has any claim under this chapter against the State, the holder, any transfer agent, registrar, or other person acting for or on behalf of a holder for any appreciation in the value of the property occurring after delivery by the holder to the administrator.
(E) The purchaser of property at any sale conducted by the administrator pursuant to this chapter takes the property free of all claims of the owner or previous holder thereof and of all persons claiming through or under them. The administrator shall execute all documents necessary to complete the transfer of ownership.
SC Code § 27-18-320
(A) Every holder required to file a report under Section 27-18-180 as to any property for which it has obtained the last known address of the owner, shall maintain a record of the name and last known address of the owner for ten years after the property becomes reportable, except to the extent that a shorter time is provided in subsection (B) or by rule of the administrator.
(B) Any business association that sells in this State its travelers checks, money orders, or other similar written instruments, other than third-party bank checks on which the business association is directly liable, or that provides such instruments to others for sale in this State, shall maintain a record of those instruments while they remain outstanding, indicating the state and date of issue for three years after the date the property is reportable.
