South Carolina based.

Long story short, a pipe burst and ruined our ceiling in the master bedroom causing it to partially collapse. The collapse is a 5 foot by 5 foot square exposing the entire attic and roof. We had previously reported water damage but nothing was done (with pictures).

Once part of the ceiling collapsed, they refused to let us out of our lease even though our bedroom and master bath were unusable.

Per SC code, 27-40-610, we issued a formal notice via email and snail mail that if the ceiling wasn’t fixed within 14 days, we were terminating our lease. We outlined the extent of the water damage throughout the ceiling, mold issues, and loss of heat throughout the house.

My question is, part of the code outlines that either the problem is remedied within 14 days OR “if such remedy for a breach not affecting health and safety cannot be remedied within fourteen days, but is commenced within the fourteen-day period and is pursued in good faith to completion within a reasonable time”.

Since issuing the 14-day notice, we have had one contractor come inspect the problem and one plumber come turn the water off. We have since moved our stuff out of the house while the water is off.

How do we interpret the pursued in good faith to completion clause? If there is some work that commences, are we SOL until it’s fixed? Or at 14 days, if the ceiling has not been repaired, do we send another notice that we will not be paying anything further?

The property company quit replying when we issued the notice yesterday. They did put a lockbox on the door today.