USA - SOUTH CAROLINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Matt Norton and Christian Kolic, K&L Gates
6.22 Termination by a Third Party Condemnation of property that is subject to a lease will result in termination of the lease. As between the property owner and any tenant, a condemnation award is divided in accordance with the terms of the lease. Absent a governing provision in the lease, the allocation of the award between landlord and tenant will be decided by the courts. 6.23 Remedies/Damages for Breach In the event of a tenant breach that results in termination of the lease, a residential landlord is obligated to mitigate damages in South Caro - lina (S.C. Code Title 27, Chapter 40), which in general, means that the landlord must try to replace the tenant instead of simply collecting rent from the breaching tenant. If, despite efforts to mitigate, the landlord is unable to replace the tenant, the tenant would still be liable for the rent owed, and may also owe the landlord for its costs incurred in seeking to have the tenant replaced. It is typical for a landlord to hold a security deposit, usually equal to one month’s rent, and although letters of credit are some - times used, cash deposits are more common. 7. Construction 7.1 Common Structures Used to Price Construction Projects The most common form of construction contract pricing is the use of a fixed-price contract. Also used are cost-plus contracts, with general con - tractor compensation based either on a percent - age of total costs or a negotiated fixed-fee basis. 7.2 Assigning Responsibility for the Design and Construction of a Project In most projects, design responsibilities are separated from construction responsibilities
assignee fails to satisfy their lease obligations after assignment. 6.19 Right to Terminate a Lease A landlord has a statutory right to terminate the lease upon non-payment of rent. Most commer - cial leases also contain a detailed list of defaults that will allow the landlord to terminate the lease and evict the tenant. These defaults frequently include the non-payment of rent, the failure to maintain the premises, the unauthorised use of the premises, the unauthorised assignment of the lease, the unauthorised subleasing of the premises, a violation of environmental laws with respect to the premises, abandonment of the premises, and the insolvency of the tenant. Investors should consult with South Carolina counsel to verify that the list of defaults in a com - mercial lease is appropriate and sufficient. 6.20 Registration Requirements South Carolina does not require that the lease itself be notarised, but a memorandum of lease requires notarisation to be recorded. If the lease permits the recordation of a memorandum of lease, the tenant typically bears the cost of the de minimis recording fees, and it would be worthwhile for the tenant to co-ordinate same, as recording the memorandum of lease puts third parties on notice of tenant’s occupancy rights and can be used to provide notice of spe - cial lease terms such as a purchase option. 6.21 Forced Eviction If the lease contains appropriate language, a tenant in default under a lease may be evicted prior to the expiration of the lease by way of a summary eviction proceeding. Eviction proceed - ings typically take between several weeks and several months to complete.
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