Pickens County, SC Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

Pickens County Code § 8-101, titled Compliance required, bars any person from letting or subletting to another for occupancy any dwelling unit designed or intended for living, sleeping, cooking or eating, and bars any vacant dwelling building from existing, unless the unit complies with the minimum standards for basic equipment and facilities outlined in the Standard Housing Code adopted by the county. This sits within Division 3, Housing Standards, of Article II, the Standard Housing and Abatement Ordinance of Pickens County (Ord. No. 250, adopted December 8, 1997).

The article applies to buildings, portions of buildings, or accessory structures used, designed or intended to be used for human habitation, under § 8-43, and it establishes minimum standards only for occupancy of existing structures; new construction must instead meet the building codes adopted for new construction. Under § 8-44, the owner, or the occupier where a lease or enforcement order says so, must keep the structure's required fixtures, devices and safeguards in good working order. Where a landlord lets a substandard unit, the housing enforcement officer can pursue the § 8-73 through § 8-80 process: investigation, a noticed hearing held not less than 10 nor more than 30 days after service, written findings, and an order to repair or vacate the unit, backed by a lien on the property for county-incurred costs under § 8-80.