Charleston, SC Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

Any city resident, acting alone as a public authority representative or together with at least four other residents (five total), can file a petition with the public safety and housing officer, a duty assigned to the chief building official, charging that a dwelling is unfit for human habitation under City Code Section 7-92. The officer can also open an investigation on personal motion. If a preliminary investigation finds a basis for the charge, the officer must issue and serve a written complaint on the owner and other parties in interest, and must set a hearing between 10 and 30 days after service.

Section 7-93 gives the owner the right to file a written answer and appear with testimony at that hearing, without being bound by the formal rules of evidence used in court. If the officer determines after the hearing that the dwelling is unfit, Section 7-94 requires a written order either to repair, alter or vacate the dwelling, or, where repair is not cost-justified against the dwelling's value, to remove or demolish it. Charleston separately protects tenants who use this process: Section 7-80(b) makes it unlawful to reduce services or utilities or raise rent in retaliation for a tenant reporting a violation, Section 7-80(d) makes retaliatory eviction for reporting a violation unlawful, and Section 7-79 bars an owner from collecting rent once a dwelling has been declared unfit and a compliance deadline has passed.

A dissatisfied owner can petition the circuit court for an injunction against the officer's order under Section 7-99, but must do so within 60 days of the order being posted and served.