South Carolina Small Claims Court Default Judgment

You filed your small claims case, paid the $80 fee, served the defendant properly, and waited 30 days. No answer. No phone call. Nothing. That silence does not automatically mean you win. In South Carolina, a default judgment requires the plaintiff to take affirmative steps — the court will not hand you a judgment just because the other side failed to respond.

When Default Applies

Under S.C. Code § 22-3-120 and SCRMC Rule 4, the defendant has 30 calendar days from the date of completed service to file a written answer. If that deadline passes without any response, the defendant is in default. But "in default" is a legal status, not a payout.

Two separate situations lead to default. The more common one is the defendant simply never filing an answer after being served. The second is the defendant failing to appear at a scheduled trial — the magistrate will hold that person in default and conduct an immediate default hearing with only the plaintiff present.

The Three Steps to Get Your Default Judgment

Step 1: Proof of service verification. Before the court will consider your default motion, you need a properly executed affidavit or officer return of service on file with the Civil Magistrate Clerk. If you used the sheriff, the return should already be on record. If you used certified mail, you need to have filed your Affidavit of Service by Certified Mail with the original green return receipt card attached.

Step 2: Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) affidavit. Federal law prohibits default judgments against active-duty military service members without appointing legal counsel. You must submit a sworn affidavit stating whether the defendant is in active military service, verified through the Department of Defense SCRA portal. This step is mandatory regardless of the type of claim.

Step 3: Proof of damages. This is where the process splits depending on your claim type:

• Liquidated damages (a fixed amount based on a written contract, note, or open account): The magistrate may enter default judgment based on the pleadings and your submitted sworn documentation.
• Unliquidated damages (amounts that require valuation, like tort property damage): The court schedules a summary default damages hearing where you appear and present evidence establishing the exact loss.

What Happens at a Default Damages Hearing

If the court schedules a hearing, treat it like a mini-trial. You still need to present your evidence — receipts, contracts, photographs, repair estimates — and testify under oath about the amount you are owed. The magistrate will determine the judgment amount based on what you prove, not what you claimed in the complaint.

Can the Defendant Come Back After a Default?

Yes. Under Rule 12(a) SCRMC, a defendant can petition the magistrate to set aside a default judgment within a reasonable time (not exceeding one year) by showing mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or excusable neglect. Common examples include the defendant claiming they never actually received the papers or were hospitalized during the response window.

This is one reason proper service matters so much. If your proof of service is airtight — a sheriff's return or a signed certified mail receipt — the defendant's argument for setting aside the default becomes much harder to make.

Our South Carolina Small Claims Filing Guide walks through the entire default judgment process with a service-of-process tracker so you have documented proof at every step.

See more South Carolina guides →