Laurens County, SC Property Maintenance: Vacant Lot Maintenance (2026)
Key Facts
- Compliance window
- 60 days after the building official's warning letter
- Daily fine
- $200 per day after the 60-day deadline passes
- Enforcing office
- Laurens County Office of Building Codes
- Lien
- Abatement costs become a lien on the property
- Complaint required
- Written complaint triggers the nuisance determination
Summary
Unincorporated Laurens County makes it unlawful to dump junk, broken vehicles, waste materials or tires on any land, including vacant and unimproved lots, once a written complaint identifies the site as a nuisance. Accumulated trash that could harbor mosquitoes, vermin or rats is likewise banned, and the county's building codes office can fine a non-complying owner $200.00 per day.
Upon receiving a written complaint, it shall be declared a nuisance and hereby declared unlawful to place, deposit, leave or dump any manmade broken article, garbage, junk, including but not limited to vehicles or parts of vehicles not in condition for normal use, waste material, including but not limited to tires, or any object which shall constitute a hazard within the county except a duly authorized landfill. ... Within the unincorporated areas of the county, no person shall permit the accumulation of any type of waste materials, trash, rubbish, refuse or litter of any kind upon any land or inside or under any building or structure which may provide harborage or breeding places for mosquitoes, vermin or rats. ... After the 60 days, the property owner will be issued a summons and fined $200.00 per day until the site is cleaned up.
Full Breakdown
Article VI of Chapter 8 governs nuisances on property throughout unincorporated Laurens County, including vacant and unimproved lots. Sec. 8-518 declares it unlawful, once a written complaint is received, to place, deposit, leave or dump any manmade broken article, garbage, junk, vehicles or vehicle parts not fit for normal use, waste material including tires, or any other hazardous object anywhere in the county outside a duly authorized landfill; a building or structure so deteriorated or abandoned that it becomes a hazard or an attractive nuisance is also declared a nuisance under this section.
Sec. 8-519 separately bars accumulating waste materials, trash, rubbish, refuse or litter, or storing barrels, containers, old appliances, furniture or abandoned vehicles, anywhere on the property if the accumulation could harbor mosquitoes, vermin or rats; firewood and building material can still be stored if kept in a way that creates no danger to public health. Enforcement runs through the Laurens County Office of Building Codes under Sec. 8-524: after a valid written complaint, the building official visits the site and issues a letter of compliance giving the owner 60 days to clean it up, with a hearing available if the owner needs more time. A lien for the cost of any county-performed abatement, including attorney's fees, attaches to the property under Sec. 8-522.
Violations & Fines
An owner who misses the 60-day compliance deadline set by the building official's letter faces a summons and a fine of $200.00 per day under Sec. 8-524(b) until the lot is cleaned up, plus a required court appearance in magistrate's court if the violation still isn't resolved. If the county abates the nuisance itself, the owner is billed for the cost, including attorney's fees, and that bill becomes a lien recorded against the property under Sec. 8-522.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Laurens County fine me for junk on a vacant lot?
What counts as an illegal accumulation on my property?
What happens if I don't clean up after the 60-day notice?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Laurens County
Compare Laurens County to another location·View the South Carolina property maintenance overview
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