H 4585 General Bill, By M. McLeod and G. Brown
 A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 27-37-30, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
 1976, RELATING TO RULES TO SHOW CAUSE IN EJECTMENT PROCEEDINGS, SO AS TO
 AUTHORIZE SERVICE OF THE RULE ON AN OCCUPIED PREMISES AS PROVIDED BY LAW FOR
 THE SERVICE OF A SUMMONS IN ACTIONS PENDING IN COMMON PLEAS COURT OR ON AN
 ABANDONED PREMISES BY AFFIXING THE RULE TO THE MOST CONSPICUOUS PART OF THE
 PREMISES.

   02/09/00  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-9
   02/09/00  House  Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-9

TO AMEND SECTION 27-37-30, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO RULES TO SHOW CAUSE IN EJECTMENT PROCEEDINGS, SO AS TO AUTHORIZE SERVICE OF THE RULE ON AN OCCUPIED PREMISES AS PROVIDED BY LAW FOR THE SERVICE OF A SUMMONS IN ACTIONS PENDING IN COMMON PLEAS COURT OR ON AN ABANDONED PREMISES BY AFFIXING THE RULE TO THE MOST CONSPICUOUS PART OF THE PREMISES.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 27-37-30 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 61 of 1999, is further amended to read:

"Section 27-37-30. (A) The copy of the rule provided for in Section 27-37-20 may be served in the same manner as is provided by law for the service of the summons in actions pending in the court of common pleas of this State. The methods of service described in subsections (B) and (C) may be used as the alternatives to the method of service described in this subsection.

(B) When no person can be found in possession of the premises, and the premises have remained abandoned, as defined in Section 27-40-730, for a period of fifteen days or more immediately before the date of service, the copy of the rule may be served by leaving it affixed to the most conspicuous part of the premises.

(C) When service as provided in subsection (A) has been attempted unsuccessfully three times in the manner described in item (1), a copy of the rule may be served by affixing both it and documentation of the three service attempts to the most conspicuous part of the premises and mailing a copy of the rule in the manner described in item (2):

(1) Each of the three attempts to serve the defendant must be separated by a minimum of seventy-two hours and must occur at times of day separated by a minimum of four hours. The person attempting to serve the rule must document the date and time of the attempts by affidavit or by certificate in the case of a law enforcement officer. The documentation of the three attempts to serve the rule must be attached to the copy of the rule when it is affixed to the premises.

(2) For mailing by ordinary mail to be considered to complete service under this item, it must be accomplished by placing a copy of the rule and documentation of the prior attempts at service in an envelope in the presence of the clerk of the magistrate's court. The clerk is responsible for verifying that the envelope is addressed to the defendant at the address shown in the rule as the residence of the defendant, that the envelope contains the necessary documents, and that the clerk has placed the sealed and stamped envelope in the United States mail. The clerk's verification must be made a part of the record in the case, and service by ordinary mail shall not be considered complete without the clerk's verification. A fee as provided for in Section 8-21-1010(14) shall be collected by the magistrate or his clerk for the verification and mailing in this item.

(3) Mailing of the rule shall constitute service when the requirements of items (1) and (2) have been met and ten days have elapsed from the time of mailing. If these requirements have been met, the specified time period for the tenant to show cause why he should not be ejected as provided in Section 27-37-20 shall begin to run on the eleventh day after mailing."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.