South Carolina stacks serve, file, and sue on the same last-furnishing clock

In South Carolina, serve the owner and file a sworn statement of account within 90 days after last furnishing. The lawsuit and notice of pendency then have a separate six-month limit from that same last furnishing. Serve and file on day 90 and you leave about three months to sue — not six months from filing.

Indirect suppliers also need the written owner notice required for lien attachment; that notice has no fixed day count, so "we'll send it when the account looks bad" can leave little unpaid on the contract by the time you perfect. The lien is limited by what the owner still owes, and attorney's fees shift to the prevailing party.

Who must be served, and how the 90-day and six-month clocks stack, is in LienDeadline's page on South Carolina mechanics lien deadlines.

From the LienDeadline team. General information, not legal advice; have a qualified reviewer check the facts on any live job.