Selling a Property With Squatters in South Carolina
You can sell a South Carolina property with unauthorized occupants in it, and you do not have to remove them first. An investor buyer prices the situation and handles it after closing.
Two things are worth knowing before you panic. Someone who moved in recently is not acquiring your property, because adverse possession in South Carolina requires ten years. And you cannot remove them yourself, however clear your ownership is.
Homebuyers SC buys occupied and problem properties across Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties.
Can someone take my house by living in it?
Not quickly. South Carolina requires a long period of possession.
Under SC Code 15-67-210, an adverse possession claim requires that the premises “have been held and possessed adversely to such legal title for ten years before the commencement of such action.” Ten years of continuous adverse possession, not ten weeks, and the other elements of such a claim have to be met as well.
So a person who broke into a vacant house last spring is a trespasser with no ownership claim. That is the reassuring half. The frustrating half is that removing them is still a legal process rather than something you can do on a Saturday.
Adverse possession law involves elements this page does not cover, and the analysis is fact-specific. If anyone has occupied your property for a long period, talk to a licensed South Carolina attorney rather than relying on the ten-year figure alone.
Why can I not just remove them myself?
Because self-help is not available, and using it converts your problem into a different and worse one.
Changing the locks, cutting the power or water, removing doors or windows, or putting belongings on the curb exposes you to liability, and it can hand the occupant a claim against you. This holds whether the person is a former tenant, a relative who overstayed, or a stranger.
Removal runs through the court. Which procedure applies depends on the relationship, and that distinction is the first thing an attorney will establish:
| Who is in the property | Generally treated as |
|---|---|
| A tenant with a lease, current or expired | Landlord-tenant, with the notice periods in SC Code 27-40 |
| A former tenant holding over | Landlord-tenant |
| A relative or guest allowed in without a lease | Depends on the facts. Frequently still a court process |
| A person who entered without permission | Trespass, and a court action to recover possession |
| A former owner after a foreclosure sale | Its own procedure |
People use the word “squatter” for all five. The law does not, and getting the category wrong is how a removal action gets dismissed and restarted.
What does removal cost in time and money?
More than most owners expect, which is the honest reason selling occupied is often the better route.
- Filing fees and, realistically, an attorney
- A court date set by the docket, not by you
- The possibility the occupant appears and contests it
- Enforcement afterward
- Every month of carrying costs while it runs
- Damage and deterioration during the process, and often after
Meanwhile the property is generating nothing, may be uninsurable as a vacant or occupied-without-authority property, and can attract code enforcement. See selling a house you cannot insure anymore and selling a house with code violations.
Can I really sell without removing them?
Yes, to the right buyer.
A retail buyer cannot do this. Their lender needs an appraisal and an inspection, which needs access, and a mortgage buyer expects possession at closing. You cannot promise it.
An investor buyer can, and does. The offer accounts for the estimated cost and time of resolving occupancy, plus the condition of the property, and the buyer takes it from there.
| Remove first, then sell | Sell occupied | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash out of pocket | Filing fees, attorney, carrying costs throughout | None |
| Time before you are paid | The court’s timeline, then a listing period | Usually 1 to 3 weeks |
| Condition risk | Property often worse afterward | The buyer’s problem |
| Certainty | The occupant can contest and extend it | Closing date is set |
| Price | Higher on a clean, vacant house | Lower, reflecting the situation |
What helps the price?
Documentation and candor, in that order.
- What you know about who is in there. How they got in, how long they have been there, whether there was ever a lease or permission, whether anyone has paid you anything.
- Anything filed already. Police reports, notices, court papers.
- Honest access expectations. Whether a walkthrough is realistic, and whether anyone has been hostile.
- The condition, as best you know it. Assume it is worse inside than the last time you saw it, and say so.
What hurts the price is a buyer discovering any of this after the contract. A buyer who is surprised renegotiates or walks.
In South Carolina the closing must be supervised by a licensed attorney, from State v. Buyers Service Co., 292 S.C. 426, 357 S.E.2d 15 (1987). Ask any buyer which closing attorney they use. See how to choose a cash home buyer in Charleston.
Frequently asked questions
Should I call the police?
Worth doing, and the response varies with the facts. Police frequently treat a disputed occupancy as a civil matter and decline to remove anyone, which is the point at which most owners call an attorney. Report it regardless, because the record helps later.
What if they claim they have a lease?
Then the landlord-tenant procedures likely apply, even if the lease is fake or was signed by someone with no authority. Sorting that out is exactly what the court process is for.
They have been there years. Have I lost the house?
Ten years of adverse possession is the statutory period, and a claim requires more than time alone. If someone has been there that long, get an attorney involved now rather than later.
Can I sell if I cannot get inside?
Often yes. A buyer experienced with these properties will price the unknown conservatively. Expect a lower offer for the uncertainty than you would get with access.
What if it is a former tenant rather than a stranger?
Different procedure, same conclusion about selling. See selling a house after a tenant stops paying rent and getting out of being a landlord.
How fast can it close?
Usually one to three weeks once the closing attorney confirms clear title. Occupancy does not delay the closing, it affects the price. See how fast can I sell my house in South Carolina.
Need to sell this house?
We buy houses across Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties for cash, exactly as they sit. No repairs, no cleaning, no commissions, and you choose the closing date.
Caleb Pearson is the founder of Homebuyers SC and a licensed South Carolina real estate agent (License #83101) with 15+ years of real estate investing experience. He has personally been involved in over 500 purchases across South Carolina.