SC chief judge extends eviction stay. Some renters protected until August
Tenants who have been unable to pay their rent could avoid eviction until August because of a new order from South Carolina’s chief justice.
Chief Justice Donald Beatty extended a statewide stay on evictions until May 15 and ordered that property managers adhere to a federal law that stops some evictions until August.
Beatty issued the order late Thursday.
In March, Beatty ordered a halt to eviction proceedings against renters until May 1. The new order extends the initial ban on most evictions from being filed in South Carolina by two weeks.
Beatty also ordered that landlords or other entities seeking an eviction must certify in writing that the property at issue is not backed by the federal government.
The federal CARES Act, which passed March 27, prohibits evictions at properties financed by federal mortgages and subsidies until Aug. 24.
If property managers file for eviction on a federally backed property the case will be thrown out, Beatty said in the order.
The order does not mean renters don’t have to pay rent, Beatty previously said. If renters do not pay rent, they could be evicted or penalized later, according to housing attorneys.
A consortium of South Carolina legal service providers and other organization recently called for Beatty to extend the state’s eviction stay until the federal stay under the care act ends. If the state stay wasn’t extended, one lawyer with the consortium said illegal evictions are almost guaranteed.
In requiring property management to certify that properties aren’t covered by federal protection, he compromised with what advocates for low to moderate income renters were asking for.
The order also stayed foreclosures until May 15 and halted foreclosures if forbidden by the CARES Act.
Eviction hearings can be held remotely if the technology is available to the parties, according to the order.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 10:33 AM.