E. Tenant's Obligations

• Library: Practical Guide to Commercial Real Estate in South Carolina (SCBar) (2012 Ed.)

E. Tenant's Obligations

1. Care and Use of the Property

South Carolina statutes institute a penalty if a tenant abandons a building and leaves it open and thus exposed to vandalism.⁷⁹ It is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a one hundred dollar fine or imprisonment for no more than thirty days if a tenant abandons a building and leaves it open and exposed to vandalism if such a tenant gives no prior notice to the landlord.⁸⁰ Case law holds that tenants in control and possession of the leased premise will be held liable for all injury to the property by persons lawfully on the premises as a result of the tenant's negligent use or maintenance of the property.⁸¹

However, case law has also held that in absence of a contract, a tenant has no obligations to make improvements to or repair the premises. Nevertheless, a tenant is not allowed to quietly standby and knowingly permit the property to be damaged if a landlord breaks his contracted provision to make repairs. Instead, the tenant must make the necessary repairs and subsequently charge the landlord the cost of the repairs unless the landlord has previously prohibited this cause of action.⁸²

All commercial lessees must: (1) comply with all obligations imposed upon lessees by applicable housing and building code provisions that materially affect health and safety; (2) not deliberately or negligently destroy, deface, damage, impair, abuse, or remove any part of the premises or knowingly permit any person to do so who is on the premises with the lessee's permission or who is allowed to access the premises by the lessee; (3) conduct himself and require other persons on the property with the lessee's permission or who are allowed access to the premises by the lessee to conduct themselves in a manner that will not disturb others lessees' peaceful enjoyment of the premises; and (4) comply with the commercial lease agreement.⁸³

2. Good Faith

South Carolina courts have had little opportunity to address the issue of an implied good faith obligation in commercial leases. Traditionally, South Carolina courts have declined to find an implied good faith obligation in commercial contracts and have instead chosen to uphold the express terms of the commercial lease agreement with solely the exception of Commercial Credit Corp. v. Nelson Motors, Inc.⁸⁴ In Commercial Credit Corp., the court found that an implied covenant of good faith exists in every contract. Regardless, the courts in Rock Hill National Bank v. Honeycutt,⁸...