South Carolina H 5204: Homeowners Associations

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5204 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 18, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5204

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 AMENDING SECTION 27-30-120, RELATING TO HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION DEFINITIONS, 
SO AS TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS; AND BY ADDING ARTICLE 5 TO CHAPTER 27, 
TITLE 30 SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR ADDITIONAL REGULATIONS AND OVERSIGHT OF 
HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS TO PROTECT AND BENEFIT HOMEOWNERS.

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

SECTION 1. Article 5, Chapter 30, Title 27 supersedes where these 
laws conflict with the general nonprofit laws South Carolina Nonprofit 
Corporation Act (S.C. Code Ann. Section 33-31-101, et seq.) as well as the 
South Carolina Horizontal Property Act (S.C. Code Ann. Section 27-31-10, et 
seq.)

SECTION 2. Section 27-30-120 of the S.C. 
Code is amended to read:

 Section 27-30-120. As 
used in this article chapter:

 (1) "Board" means the representative 
body, regardless of name, designated in the governing documents to act on 
behalf of a homeowners association and govern the association.

 (2) "Capital upgrade" means the 
optional addition of a permanent structural change or the improvement of some 
aspect of a property that will either enhance the property's overall value, 
prolong its useful life, or adapt it to new uses. Capital upgrades include 
optional projects such as remodeling a lobby, adding a tennis court, or 
expanding a clubhouse. Capital upgrades do not include repairs such as 
replacing roofs or repaving streets or parking lots.

 (3) "Covenants" or "CC&Rs" means a 
set of restrictions, legally binding written agreements, and fines which govern 
the privately owned properties in an HOA and are attached to the deed, so that 
when the property is sold, all subsequent owners are required to abide by the 
covenants.

 (2)(4)(a) 
"Declarant" means a person or group of persons acting in concert who:

 (a) 
as part of a common promotional plan, subdivide 
and offer to dispose of an interest the person or group has in a unit in real 
property; or.

 (b) reserve or 
succeed to a special declarant right, which means a right created under the 
declaration or bylaws for the person or group to retain or exercise authority 
in addition to regular declarant rights in a unit of real propertyFines for the covenants must be written in the covenants.

 (3)(5) "Declaration" means the recorded 
instruments, however denominated, that create a homeowners association, 
including amendments to those instruments. instrument 
that creates a common interest community, including any amendments to the instrument. 
A declaration must be registered with the county. It is to define the land 
included in the HOA including, but not limited to, plat maps defining the 
private and common interest parcels and allocated interests, the master deed, 
amenities, organizational documents, governing documents, the covenants, conditions, 
restrictions, and the rules and fines. The declaration stands as a contract 
between the HOA members and the declarant, and both are required to follow the 
terms of the contract. The declaration or any part of the declaration cannot be 
changed without a vote of the members. Nothing in the declaration shall impose 
on or supersede the member's right to free speech, other constitutional rights, 
or rights granted in city or county ordinances, state or federal law.

 (4)(6) "Governing documents" means 
declaration, master deeds, or bylaws, or any amendments to the declaration, 
master deeds, or bylaws. the organizational 
documents, bylaws, covenants, and rules by which the association exercises its 
powers and manages its property.

 (5)(7) "Homeowner" means a declarant or other person who owns 
a unit in a homeowners association, but does not include a person having an 
interest in such a unit solely as security for an obligation.

 (6)(8) "Homeowners association," "HOA," or "association" means an entity developed to 
manage and maintain a planned community or horizontal property regime for which 
there is a declaration requiring a person, by virtue of his ownership of a 
separate property within the planned community or horizontal property regime, 
to pay assessments for a share of real estate taxes, insurance premiums, 
maintenance, or improvement of, or services or other expenses related to, 
common elements and other real estate described in that declaration. A 
"homeowners association" or "association" does not include a vacation time 
sharing plan organized and subject to the provisions of Chapter 32.

 (7)(9) "Homeowners association management company" means a 
corporation, limited liability company, partnership, trust, association, sole 
proprietorship, or other similar orga