Convicted Arsonist under house arrest to be occupant

[Rudey Botham]

I am a landlord and unfortunately, we are in a situation for our property in South Carolina whereby a tenant (a lady) has an occupant (an adult son) who was not a signee on the lease but listed as an occupant. This particular occupant is still in jail and my belief is that the legal tenant (the lady) only rented the place so as to find the occupant a place to live for the house arrest.

The “to be occupant” is convicted of arson and set over 20 units on fire and is currently serving term. His defense had claimed that he is mentally ill and have set a bond and house arrest for him but I’m currently unaware of his mental situation and whether he will burn down my single family home and the neighbour houses and surrounding areas. He will be on gps monitoring but I’m still extremely, extremely worried and concerned since gps monitoring will become a more “reactive” than proactive approach.

Since he didn’t sign the lease and hasn’t moved in yet, am I able to remove his name as an occupant legally? Also, does he have rights in the premises if he hasnt started living or moved there yet? Here’s what it says on the lease (names replaced):

“OCCUPANTS: Only persons designated in the rental agreement or as further modified or agreed to in writing by the landlord shall reside in the rented premises. For purposes of this rental agreement the designated occupants are: the tenant (the lady), occupant (her son), her husband.”


(please note the only person who signed the agreement and listed as tenant is the lady).

This is causing a lot of emotional stress and I’m unable to focus or think about anything else. (This post was written at 3am)