South Carolina S 488: Unfair Trade Lending Practices

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 488 Text of Previous Version (Mar. 25, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 488

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 
39-5-30 SO AS TO MAKE IT UNLAWFUL FOR ANY PERSON PROVIDING A CONSUMER 
INSTALLMENT LOAN OR DEFERRED PRESENTMENT LOAN TO ENGAGE IN PREDATORY CONSUMER 
LOAN PRACTICES; AND BY ADDING SECTION 37-3-516 SO AS TO CREATE A DATABASE 
THROUGH THE CONSUMER FINANCE DIVISION OF THE BOARD OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO 
COLLECT DATA AND TO PREVENT A PERSON FROM HAVING A SUPERVISED OR RESTRICTED 
LOAN TRANSACTION THAT EXCEEDS THE LIMITS FOR REFINANCING LOANS.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Chapter 5, Title 39 of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

 Section 
39-5-30. (A) It shall be an unlawful 
trade practice for any person providing a consumer installment loan or a 
deferred presentment loan pursuant to Title 37 or Title 34 of the South 
Carolina Code of Laws to engage in predatory consumer loan practices, 
including, but not limited to:

 (1)(a) failing to conduct an analysis of a 
borrower's ability to fully repay a loan. This analysis must:

 (i) 
be included in and documented with the borrower's loan application;

 (ii) 
consider the borrowers, and any coborrower's, employment, monthly income, and 
monthly expenses, including, but not limited to, other consumer installment, 
revolving credit, or deferred presentment loans, compared to the loan's 
repayment obligation for the original term and permitted renewals; and

 (iii) 
include a signed statement that the information the borrower has provided 
regarding employment, income, and expenses is documented, true, and correct, 
and that, given the information, the borrower has the ability to repay the 
loan.

 (b) 
If the consumer instalment loan is renewed at any time or a deferred 
presentment or paycheck advance loan is made within thirty days of the original 
loan, then an analysis of the borrower's ability to fully repay the loan must 
be conducted and documented assessing the borrower's and any coborrower's 
updated employment, monthly income, and other monthly expenses compared to the 
loan's repayment obligation for the original term and permitted renewals;

 (2) 
making a loan to a consumer who does not have the ability to repay after 
conducting the analysis required in subitem (1);

 (3) 
mailing an unsolicited check or a debit or credit card that prompts the 
recipient to borrow money or prompts a person to enter into an installment or 
deferred presentment loan in any way;

 (4) 
renewing an installment for a third time, or more, within one hundred and 
eighty days of the previous loan renewal from the same lender;

 (5) 
making a deferred presentment loan or a paycheck advance loan within one 
hundred and eighty days of the previous loan renewal from the same lender;

 (6) 
renewing or making a deferred presentment or paycheck advance loan within 
thirty days of the original loan;

 (7) 
making an installment or payday loan without proper licensing by the State or 
local governing body; and

 (8) 
adding an additional set of fees to each loan.

 (B) 
Nothing in this section shall apply to any actions or transactions of a state 
or federally chartered depository institution insured by the Federal Deposit 
Insurance Corporation and doing business in this State or to any actions or 
transactions of a state or federally chartered credit union insured by the 
National Credit Union Administration doing business in this State.

 (C) 
Violations of this section shall be enforced by the Attorney General. 
Individuals who were subjected to these prohibited practices may pursue all 
remedies provided by law, including, but not limited to, remedies provided for 
in this chapter.

SECTION 2. Chapter 3, Title 37 of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

 Section 
37-3-516. (A) In order to prevent a 
person from having a supervised or restricted loan transaction that exceeds the 
limits for refinancing loans in Section 39-5-30, and to allow for the 
collection of data that is required by Sections 37-3-506 and 34-29-100, the 
Consumer Finance Division of the Board of Financial Institutions shall enter 
into a contract with a single source private vendor to develop and operate a 
common database with real-time access through an internet connection for supervised 
and restricted lenders, as provided in this subsection.

 (1) 
The database must be accessible to the board and the supervised lenders to meet 
the requirements of this chapter and verify whether a transaction has been 
refinanced more than three times for a particular person in violation of this 
section.

 (2) 
Before entering into a loan transaction, supervised lenders shall submit the