Lead paint disclosure in South Carolina

If you're buying or renting, the federal lead disclosure rule reaches most housing built before 1978. The EPA explains that sellers and landlords have to disclose any lead-based paint or lead hazards they know about. They also have to share any records on hand and give you the EPA's lead pamphlet.

The lease or contract needs a Lead Warning Statement too. That's a brief, standard paragraph alerting you to the dangers lead can pose in an older home. Buyers receive a 10-day window to have the home checked for lead.

Under the state's property condition disclosure law, the owner of a 1 to 4 unit home must give you a completed disclosure form. The form must be the one issued by the South Carolina Real Estate Commission, and you should receive it before you sign the purchase contract.

Under the law, the statement must speak to things like lead paint, asbestos, radon, buried tanks, and similar environmental hazards. On the current form, effective June 2023 and revised in June 2025, part six of the form has the owner write down any lead paint or lead hazards they know about on the property.

S.C. Code 27-50-30 names 15 types of transfers that don't require the state form. Among them are:

• sales ordered by a court and foreclosure sales
• sales by an estate's executor or administrator
• the first sale of a never-occupied home
• public auctions
• sales where buyer and seller both sign an agreement to waive the statement

Even without the state form, a pre-1978 home can still fall under the federal rule.

If an owner knowingly gives false, incomplete, or misleading answers on the disclosure statement, S.C. Code 27-50-65 makes that owner answerable to you. Liability covers your actual damages, meaning the money you truly lost because of the false answer, along with court costs. The court can also make the owner pay your attorney fees.

When a lead hazard shows up where a child under 6 lives, South Carolina's Department of Public Health steps in. S.C. Code 44-53-1430 says the department posts a notice at the home and gives the residents written notice. It also directs the property owner to correct the hazard within a reasonable time.

Once a lead poisoning case comes to the state's attention, every other child under 6 in that home, building, or child care setting must be tested or referred for testing. That window is 30 days.

According to the Department of Public Health, a public health nurse works with families whose children under 6 qualify for the department's referral program. A department-certified risk assessor may also assess the home.

Under S.C. Code 44-53-1440, a landlord may not rent a posted unit to a family that includes children until the lead hazards are corrected. And if a family with children is already living there, the discovery of the hazard cannot be used to evict them.

Knowingly violating this law or disregarding a department order is a misdemeanor, with each day treated as its own offense. A civil fine of up to $1,000 per day can also apply.

Under the state's 2026 List of Reportable Conditions, the Department of Public Health must hear about every blood lead result within a month of the test. If a child's reading comes in at 3.5 micrograms per deciliter or above, the report is due even sooner, just one week.

The federal rule covers homes built before 1978. US Census figures use 1980 as the cutoff, so they give a rough sense of how many South Carolina homes are old enough to matter: about a third.