South Carolina Legislature Online

View Amendment Current Amendment: 1 to Bill 3387

The Committee on Judiciary proposes the following amendment (LC-3387.HDB0001H):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 1.A., by striking Section 27-37-200(1), (2), and (3) and inserting:

(1) "Authorized enforcement official" means the county sheriff for the county in which the property is located or any county, city, or township constable, pursuant to Section 22-9-10, for the county, city, or township in which the property is located.
(2) "Petitioner" means the owner of property containing a residential dwelling who has filed a verified petition under the provisions of this article.
(2)(3) "Representative of the property owner" includes any authorized agent or personal representative of the property owner. If the property at issue is part of an estate being probated, "representative of the property owner" refers to the representative of the estate during probate proceedings.
(4) "Respondent" means the person or persons unlawfully occupying property containing a residential dwelling, against whom a verified petition has been filed.
(3)(5) "Unlawful occupant or occupants" means any person or persons who detain, occupy, or trespass on property containing a residential dwelling without the permission of the property owner, who otherwise have no legal right to occupy the property under state law, and who are not afforded any protections provided to a tenant under state law.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 1.A., by striking Section 27-37-210 and inserting:

Section 27-37-210. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, a property owner or his or her authorized agentrepresentative of the property owner may seek relief for the removal of a person or persons unlawfully occupying property containing a residential dwelling under this article by filing a verified petition with the clerk of court or chief magistrate of the county in which the property is located.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 1.A., by striking Section 27-37-230(A)(1) and inserting:

(1) the petitioner is the property owner or authorized agenta representative of the property owner;

Amend the bill further, SECTION 1.A., by striking Sections 27-37-270, 27-37-280, and 27-37-290 and inserting:

Section 27-37-270. Once the court grants the order under this article, the sheriff of the county in which the property is locatedauthorized enforcement official shall enforce such order by removing the person or persons unlawfully occupying the property.

Section 27-37-280. If appropriate, the sheriff authorized enforcement official may arrest any person found in the dwelling for trespass, outstanding warrants, or any other legal cause.

Section 27-37-290. The sheriff authorized enforcement official is entitled to the same fee for the service of the ex parte order granted under this article as that provided for the execution of a warrant for the ejection of a trespasser pursuant to Section 15-67-630. After the sheriff authorized enforcement official serves the order, the property owner or authorized agentrepresentative of the property owner may request that the sheriff authorized enforcement official stand by to keep the peace while the property owner or agent of therepresentative of the property owner changes the locks and removes the personal property of the occupants from the premises to or near the property line. When such a request is made, the sheriff authorized enforcement official may charge a reasonable hourly rate, and the person requesting the sheriff authorized enforcement official to stand by and keep the peace is responsible for paying the reasonable hourly rate set by the sheriffauthorized enforcement official. The sheriff authorized enforcement official is not liable to the unlawful occupant or occupants or to any other party for the loss, destruction, or damage of property. The property owner or his or her authorized agentrepresentative of the property owner is not liable to an unlawful occupant or any other party for the loss, destruction, or damage to the personal property unless the removal was wrongful.

Amend the bill further, by adding an appropriately numbered SECTION to read:

SECTION X. Section 27-40-800 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

Section 27-40-800. (a) Upon appeal to the circuit court, the case must be heard, in a manner consistent with other appeals from magistrates' court, as soon as is feasible after the appeal is docketed.
(b) It is sufficient toNo court shall stay an execution of a judgment for ejectment. that Upon appeal to the circuit court, the tenant sign an undertaking that he willmay file an affidavit with the circuit court or the magistrate having jurisdiction, in which the tenant promises to pay to the landlord the amount of rent, determined by the magistrate in accordance with � 27-40-780, as it becomes due periodically after the judgment was entered, in exchange for a stay of the execution of a judgment for ejectment. Once the affidavit is accepted by the court, Anyany magistrate, clerk, or circuit court judge shall order a stay of execution upon the undertaking.
(c) The undertaking affidavit by the tenant and the order staying execution may be substantially in the following form:

	State of South Carolina
	County of ___________

	_____________________ Landlord

	vs.

	_____________________ Tenant

Bond to Stay
Execution on Appeal
to Circuit Court
Now comes the tenant in the above entitled action and respectfully shows the court that a judgment of ejectment was issued against the tenant and for the landlord on the ____ day of ___________ , 1920_, by the magistrate. The Tenanttenant also shows the court the tenant has appealedfiled an appeal of the judgment of ejectment to the circuit court on the ___ day of ________, 20__.
Pursuant to the findings of the magistrate, the tenant is obligated to pay rent in the amount of $ ______ per ______ , due on the ____ day of each ___________ .
Tenant hereby undertakes promises to pay the periodic rent hereinafter due according to the aforesaid findings of the court and moves the circuit court to stay execution on the judgment for ejectment until this matter is heard on appeal and decided by the circuit court.
This the ___________ day of ___________ , 1920 ____
_
Tenant
Upon execution of the above bond, execution on the judgment of ejectment is hereby stayed until the action is heard on appeal and decided by the circuit court. If tenant fails to make any rental payment within five days of the due date under the agreed terms, upon application of the landlord to whichever court accepted the affidavit in exchange for the stay of ejectment following the initiation of the appeal, the stay of execution shall dissolve, the appeal by the tenant to the circuit court on issues dealing with possession must be dismissed and the sheriff may dispossess the tenant. If the application is submitted to the magistrate, the landlord shall be required to provide notice of the application to the circuit court having appellate jurisdiction prior to ejecting the tenant and to effectuate proper dismissal of the appeal.
This the ___________ day of ___________ , 19 20 ____
_
Judge
(d) If either party disputes the amount of the payment or the due date in the undertakingaffidavit, the aggrieved party may move for modification of the terms of the undertaking affidavit before the circuit court. Upon the motion and upon notice to all interested parties, the court shall hold a hearing as soon as is feasible after the filing of the motion and determine what modifications, if any, are appropriate. No judgment for ejectment may be executed pending a hearing on the motion, provided the tenant complied with the terms of the undertakingaffidavit prior to moving for modification. During the pendency of the motion, the tenant shall continue to pay rent in accordance with the terms of the affidavit, and at the discretion of the judge, make payments directly to the landlord or deposit the payments into an escrow account. Upon resolution of the motion, any difference between the total rent amount paid during the appeal and the total amount owed to the landlord, as modified by the court, shall be either refunded to the tenant or become an additional obligation of the tenant to be paid to the landlord.
(e) If the tenant fails to make a payment within five days of the due date according to the undertakingaffidavit and order staying execution, the clerk, upon application of the landlord to whichever court accepted the affidavit in exchange for the stay of ejectment following the initiation of the appeal, shall issue a warrant of ejectment to be executed pursuant to � 27-37-40 of the 1976 Code. If the application is submitted to a court not having appellate jurisdiction over the matter, the landlord shall be required to provide notice of the application to the court having appellate jurisdiction prior to ejecting the tenant.
(f)(1) Upon appeal to the Supreme Court or to the court of appeals, it is sufficient toa court shall not stay an execution of a judgment for ejectment that unless the tenant sign an undertaking that he will files an affidavit with the proper appellate court, in which the tenant promises to pay to the landlord the amount of rent, determined by order of the judge of the circuit court, as it becomes due periodically after judgment was entered. The Once the affidavit is accepted by the court, the judge of the court having jurisdiction shall order stay of execution upon the undertaking.
(2) The tenant's failure to comply with the terms of the undertaking affidavit entitles the landlord to execution of the judgment for possession in accordance with the provisions of subsection (e) of this section.

Renumber sections to conform.

Amend title to conform.