South Carolina S 780: Consumer Home Loans

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 780 Text of Previous Version (May. 04, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 780

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

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

Indicates Matter Stricken

Indicates New Matter

Committee Report

April 30, 2026

S. 780

Introduced 
by Senator Gambrell 

S. Printed 4/30/26--H. [SEC 
5/4/2026 11:16 AM]

Read the first time February 25, 2026

________

The committee on House Labor, 
Commerce and Industry

To whom was referred a Bill (S. 780) to amend 
the South Carolina Code of Laws by amending Section 37-23-20, relating to 
high-cost and consumer home loans definitions, so as to provide that the 
conventional, etc., respectfully

Report:

That they have duly and carefully considered 
the same, and recommend that the same do pass:

WILLIAM HERBKERSMAN for 
Committee.

_______

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING 
SECTION 37-23-20, RELATING TO HIGH-COST AND CONSUMER HOME LOANS DEFINITIONS, SO 
AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE CONVENTIONAL MORTGAGE RATE MEANS THE AVERAGE PRIME OFFER 
RATE.

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

SECTION 1. Section 37-23-20(6) and (15) of the S.C. Code is 
amended to read:

 (6) "Conventional mortgage rate" means 
the required net yield for a ninety-day standard mandatory 
delivery commitment for a reasonably comparable loan from either the Federal 
National Mortgage Association or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, 
whichever is greater. average prime offer rate as 
defined in 12 C.F.R. 1026.35(a)(2) that applies to a comparable transaction, as 
published by the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as of the 
last date the interest rate for the transaction is set.

 (a) The relevant date to use to 
determine the average prime offer rate for a comparable transaction is the date 
on which the interest rate was set by the lender for the final time before 
final action is taken including, but not limited to, consummation, regardless 
of whether market rates have increased, decreased, or remained the same since 
the final rate was set.

 (b) If the index is not available, the 
administrator may issue an order or interpretation adopting a substitute index.

 (15) 
"Threshold" means either (A) or (B) in a loan transaction, whichever is 
applicable:

 (A) 
without regard to whether the loan transaction is a " residential mortgage 
transaction" as the term " residential mortgage transaction" is defined in 
Section 226.2(a)(24) of Title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as 
amended, the annual percentage rate of the loan at the time the loan is 
consummated is such a rate that the loan is considered to be a "mortgage" 
pursuant to Section 152 of the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994 
(Pub. Law 103-25, [15 U.S.C. Section 1602(aa)]), as amended, and regulations 
adopted pursuant to it by the Federal Reserve Board, including Section 226.32 
of Title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations, as amended, except with regard 
to a mortgage or loan secured by a nonreal estate manufactured housing lien, 
the term "threshold" means the annual percentage rate of the nonreal estate 
secured manufactured housing lien at the time the mortgage or loan is 
consummated exceeds by more than ten percentage points the yield on United 
States Treasury securities having comparable periods of maturity as of the 
fifteenth day of the month immediately preceding the month in which the 
application of the extension of credit is received by the lender;

 (B) 
the total points and fees payable by the borrower at or before the loan closing 
exceed:

 (i) 
five percent of the total loan amount if the total loan amount is twenty 
thousand dollars or more;

 (ii) 
the lesser of eight percent of the total loan amount or one thousand dollars if 
the total loan amount is less than twenty thousand dollars; or

 (iii) 
three percent of the total loan amount for nonreal estate secured manufactured 
housing transactions if the total loan amount in the nonreal estate secured 
housing transaction is twenty thousand dollars or more;

 (C) 
except that the following discount points and prepayment fees and penalties are 
excluded from the calculation of the total points and fees payable by the 
borrower:

 (i) 
up to and including two conventional conforming discount points payable by the 
borrower in connection with the loan transaction, but only if the interest rate 
from which the loan's interest rate is discounted does not exceed the conventional mortgage rate by more than one 
percentage point the required net yield for a ninety-day 
standard mandatory delivery commitment for a reasonably comparable loan from 
either the Federal National Mortgage Association or the Federal Home Loan 
Mortgage Corporation, whichever is greater; or

 (ii) 
up to and including o