S.C. Code Ann. § 56-5-5660 – Application for and issuance of disposal authority certificates

(A) Any person or unit of government upon whose property or in whose possession is found an abandoned vehicle, or any person who is the owner of a vehicle whose title certificate is faulty, lost, or destroyed, may apply to the sheriff or chief of police of the jurisdiction in which the vehicle is located for authority to sell or give the vehicle to a demolisher.
(B) The application must give the name and address of the applicant, the year, make, model, and identification number of the vehicle, if ascertainable, along with any other identifying features, and must contain a concise statement of the facts surrounding the abandonment, or that the title of the vehicle is lost or destroyed, or the reasons for the defect of title in the owner. The applicant must execute an affidavit stating that the facts alleged are true and that no material fact has been withheld.
(C) If the sheriff or chief of police determines that the application is executed in proper form, and demonstrates that the vehicle has been abandoned upon the property of the applicant, the notification procedures set forth in Section 56-5-5630 must be followed. If the vehicle is not reclaimed in accordance with Section 56-5-5630, the sheriff or chief of police must follow the procedure set forth in Section 56-5-5660(D) for issuance of disposal authority certificates.
(D) If the application demonstrates that the vehicle is not abandoned but that the applicant appears to be the rightful owner, the sheriff or chief of police must give the applicant a certificate of authority to sell or give the vehicle to any demolisher for demolition, wrecking, or dismantling. A disposal authority certificate may contain multiple listings. The demolisher must accept such certificate in lieu of the certificate of title to the vehicle.
(E) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, any person or unit of government upon whose property or in whose possession is found an abandoned vehicle, or any person who is the owner of a vehicle whose title certificate is faulty, lost, or destroyed, may dispose of such vehicle to a demolisher without the title and without the notification procedures of Section 56-5-5630 if:
1. (1) the vehicle is over eight years old,
2. (2) the vehicle does not have a valid registration plate affixed to it, and
3. (3) the vehicle has no engine or is otherwise totally inoperable.