What does South Carolina HOA law require of volunteer boards, and what has changed since 2018?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised October 27, 2026

South Carolina HOA law for boards: recording rules by January 10, budget meeting notice, remote member voting, records requests, and the 2026 bills not yet law.

Part of the HOA board handbook: new state laws for boards.

The short answer

South Carolina regulates homeowners associations lightly. The Homeowners Association Act, which starts at S.C. Code section 27-30-110, took effect May 17, 2018 and has had only one wording change since, in 2019. Condominiums also fall under the Horizontal Property Act in chapter 31 of Title 27. An association incorporated as a nonprofit also answers to the South Carolina Nonprofit Corporation Act in chapter 31 of Title 33, which sets the meeting, voting and records rules. For a volunteer board, the statutes add up to a short list of jobs: record every rule by January 10 of the next year, give notice before raising the budget, decide whether owners may vote remotely at member meetings, answer records requests on time, and respond when the Department of Consumer Affairs forwards a complaint. Several 2025-2026 bills would change these rules, and none had become law at this update. Your declaration and bylaws matter as much as the statutes, and this guide is general education, not legal advice.

Recording rules every January

Under section 27-30-130, a governing document has to be recorded with the clerk of court, Register of Mesne Conveyance or register of deeds in the county where the property sits, or the association cannot enforce it. Rules and regulations take effect when the board adopts them. To stay enforceable, though, each new rule or amendment must be recorded by January 10 of the year after adoption. A parking rule adopted in March 2026 must be on record by January 10, 2027. Miss that date and the statute says the rule is no longer enforceable, which an owner fighting a fine will point out. Section 27-30-130(D) says rules, regulations, bylaws and their amendments do not need the witnesses and acknowledgment that section 30-5-30 requires for other recorded documents. Ask the county office about its cover sheet and fee before you send anything. Rules must also be available to any member who asks. Posting them on the association website or in a common area satisfies that. Keep a rules log with each rule, its adoption date and its recording book and page, and record the year's rules in one December filing. Our guide on fixing an error in recorded HOA documents covers what to do when a filing goes wrong.

Notice before raising the budget

An association that is not incorporated under the Nonprofit Corporation Act must give owners at least 48 hours' notice of a meeting where the board will decide to raise the annual budget (section 27-30-140). Posting in a common area or on the association website, email, or a bylaws method that ensures actual notice all count. Section 27-30-140(2) exempts associations incorporated under the Nonprofit Corporation Act. For those, the bylaws control how much notice a board meeting needs. Any budget vote that goes to the members falls under section 33-31-705, which treats notice as fair and reasonable when it goes out no fewer than 10 and no more than 60 days before the meeting. The minimum rises to 30 days when notice goes by a class of mail other than first class or registered. Whatever the structure, post and email notice of the budget meeting at least seven days ahead, with the proposed budget attached. That clears the 48-hour floor and gives owners time to read the numbers. Sample notice: "The board of directors will meet on Tuesday, November 17, at 7:00 p.m. in the clubhouse to adopt the 2027 budget. The proposed budget raises annual assessments from $480 to $516 per lot. A copy is attached and posted on the community website. Owners may comment before the vote."

Remote attendance and voting at member meetings

Act 68 of 2023 (H. 4049), effective May 19, 2023, added section 33-31-701(g) and section 33-31-702(f). They cover annual, regular and special member meetings of nonprofit corporations, including incorporated HOAs. If the board authorizes it, members who are not physically present may take part in a member meeting by remote communication and are deemed present and voting in person. The meeting can be in a room with a video option or entirely online, under procedures the board adopts. One condition is firm: the association must use reasonable measures to verify that each person voting remotely is a member or a proxy holder. The power is optional. If you use it, adopt a short resolution before the meeting: "Resolved, that under S.C. Code sections 33-31-701(g) and 33-31-702(f), members and proxy holders may attend and vote at the 2027 annual meeting by video conference. Each remote participant must log in through a link sent to the email address on file for that lot. The secretary will check logins against the membership list. Votes cast remotely will be recorded by roll call and kept with the minutes." Our guide on holding an HOA annual meeting online or hybrid covers the mechanics of the meeting itself.

Records requests and the five-day clock

Owners in an incorporated association get records rights under sections 33-31-1601 through 33-31-1605. Section 27-30-150 extends the same inspection rules to unincorporated associations for the annual budget and the membership list. The working rules: - A member who wants records must give written notice at least five business days before the date they want to inspect and copy. - Open on request: the articles, bylaws, board resolutions on member rights, three years of member meeting minutes, and three years of written communications to members, including financial statements. - Accounting records and the membership list are open only for a good-faith request with a proper purpose that describes the purpose and the records with reasonable particularity. - The association may charge a reasonable fee for copies, capped at the cost of labor and materials. - If the association refuses, a member can ask the circuit court to order inspection, at the association's expense for open-on-request records. Log every request with the date received, and offer a date and place within the five business days. Our guide on how a board should respond to a records request has a sample reply.

Collections, liens and the magistrates court

On collections, section 27-30-160 gives magistrates concurrent jurisdiction over monetary disputes under the act, and section 22-3-10 caps magistrates court cases at $7,500. A board chasing a $2,400 balance can file there instead of in circuit court. For condominiums under the Horizontal Property Act, section 27-31-210 makes unpaid common expenses a lien on the unit. That lien ranks behind tax liens and recorded mortgages, and the association forecloses it like a mortgage. The association may instead sue for a money judgment without foreclosing. Lien and foreclosure rights for a single-family subdivision come from the declaration, so read it before any letter threatens either one.

Complaints to the Department of Consumer Affairs

The state has no HOA regulator, but owners can file complaints with the Department of Consumer Affairs under section 27-30-340. The department forwards each complaint to the association with proof of receipt so the board can respond, but it cannot arbitrate or write HOA rules. Complaints feed a public report due each January 31 that names associations and management companies. For calendar year 2025, the department received 586 HOA complaints and included 452 of them, filed against 339 associations and management companies. Horry County produced 31 percent. The top concerns were failure to follow or enforce covenants and bylaws (16.8 percent), maintenance and repairs (11.7 percent), and ignored requests for documents (9.5 percent). When a complaint arrives, answer it in a page, quoting the governing-document section the board relied on and attaching that page, as the 2026 report recommends. A missing response ends up in a report sent to the Governor and the General Assembly.

Bills that are not law yet

Owners may ask about these 2025-2026 bills (last action shown at this update). - S. 903 would make rules and regulations part of the defined governing documents and, from January 1, 2027, require the witnesses and acknowledgment of section 30-5-30 when recording them. It passed the Senate on April 28, 2026 and was referred to the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee on April 29, 2026. If it passes, the January filing gets stricter, though rules could be recorded as exhibits to one witnessed instrument. - H. 3447 would require an association to apply for a rule to show cause before noticing a foreclosure sale. It passed the House 110-2 in February 2025 and was referred to Senate Judiciary on March 4, 2025. - H. 3350 would require an internal dispute resolution process and widen magistrates court jurisdiction to all homeowner-association matters. It was referred to House Labor, Commerce and Industry in January 2025. None has passed both chambers, so none binds the board today.

The board's checklist

Bring this to the next meeting. 1. Pull the rules log and confirm every rule adopted in 2026 will be recorded by January 10, 2027. 2. Confirm whether the association is incorporated under the Nonprofit Corporation Act, and write the budget-meeting notice rule that applies into the annual calendar. 3. Adopt a remote-participation resolution with a verification method before the next annual meeting. 4. Set up a records request log and a standard reply that meets the five-business-day framework. 5. Adopt a written collection policy, and check the declaration for lien and foreclosure rights before using them. Which rules reach your community depends on whether it is a horizontal property regime or an incorporated or unincorporated planned community. Ask a South Carolina attorney to review the documents before acting on a specific dispute.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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