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

Sec. 14-77, part of the county's Unsafe Dwellings article, Ord. No. 20-07, effective July 28, 2020, sets the substantive standard the building official applies once a complaint or inspection flags a rental unit, house or other structure. A dwelling is unfit for human habitation if conditions exist that are dangerous or injurious to the health, safety or morals of its own occupants, of neighboring occupants, or of other county residents. The ordinance lists qualifying conditions without limiting itself to them: defects that increase fire, accident or other calamity hazards; inadequate ventilation, light or sanitary facilities; dilapidation; disrepair; structural defects; and uncleanliness.

Because the standard is not limited to owner-occupied housing, it applies equally to rental property: a landlord whose unit meets any of these conditions can be ordered under Sec. 14-73 to repair it to a habitable condition or to vacate and close it, and under Sec. 14-74 the county can post a placard barring occupancy if the landlord does not comply. Tenants gain no independent right to sue under this article; the enforcement mechanism runs through the building official against the owner. An owner who disputes an unfitness finding has 60 days from the order's posting and service to petition circuit court for an injunction under Sec.

14-79, and the court must schedule the hearing within 20 days and give it calendar priority. Once the court reviews the case, the building official's factual findings control if the record supports them, and the ordinance bars the owner from recovering damages for compliance with, or enforcement of, a properly issued order.