SC Renters are Ready to Be Heard!

We often hear conversations about how the pandemic disrupted lives and affected so many people’s ability to make rent and mortgage payments but data shows that too many South Carolina residents were spending more than they could afford on housing and utilities even before the pandemic. Factors like population growth, systemic racism & discrimination, housing shortages, and inflation are all in play.

  • Rent is Too Damn High: The average South Carolina renter cannot afford a basic two-bedroom apartment in 40 of the state’s 46 counties. There are only 46 affordable and available rental homes for every 100 extremely low-income renter households in the state.

  • Evictions are Too Easy: SC policies are well outside the norm when it comes to landlord-tenant relations starting with the low filing fee of $40 for an eviction case. This makes it possible to use the eviction process not as a last resort for removing a tenant, but as a means of leveraging the fear of losing their home as a means of maximizing revenue. With more than 150,000 eviction filings occurring in 2019 – 1 for every 4 renters face removal - SC has one of the highest eviction rates in the United States.

  • Our Future is Impacted: Roughly one in 60 K-12 public school students statewide (nearly 13,000 overall) do not have homes or permanent residences. These children are either on the streets, in a homeless shelter, couch-hopping with relatives or friends, or living in motels.

That’s why SC Housing Justice Network has joined the fight locally for renters to have eviction right to counsel and nationally to push for a Tenant Bill of Rights that includes rent increase regulation. We've already visited Washington, DC to tell President Biden that, "THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH!" and we've got his and lawmakers' attention and we HAVE to keep applying pressure so the renter's voices are heard. Learn more here! Locally, we've teamed up with the ACLU of SC to push for eviction right to counsel. Learn more about Eviction Right to Counsel here.

Tell us about your SC Renter Story!

Now we need YOU! Lawmakers need to hear directly from renters about how rent increases and evictions impact them. We're asking you to share your story with us and help initiate a transition toward housing policy that puts people before profit.

Our SC Stories ensure we’re included in the conversation! Share below.