South Carolina S 442: Short Term Rentals

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 442 Text of Previous Version (Mar. 19, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 442

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 
6-1-195 SO AS TO PERMIT A GOVERNING BODY OF A MUNICIPALITY, COUNTY, OR OTHER 
POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THE STATE TO ENACT OR ENFORCE AN ORDINANCE, RESOLUTION, 
OR REGULATION THAT PROHIBITS THE RENTAL OF A RESIDENTIAL DWELLING TO A 
SHORT-TERM GUEST AND TO DEFINE TERMS RELATED TO SHORT-TERM RENTALS; BY AMENDING 
SECTION 12-36-70, RELATING TO THE DEFINITIONS OF A RETAILER AND A SELLER, SO AS 
TO AMEND THESE DEFINITIONS; BY ADDING SECTION 12-36-15 SO AS TO DEFINE AN 
ACCOMMODATIONS INTERMEDIARY; BY AMENDING SECTION 12-36-920, RELATING TO TAX ON 
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR TRANSIENTS, SO AS TO REMOVE THE PROVISION THAT THIS TAX DOES 
NOT APPLY TO FACILITIES CONSISTING OF LESS THAN SIX SLEEPING ROOMS; AND BY 
AMENDING SECTION 27-50-250, RELATING TO THE TRANSFER OF A RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY 
TITLE, SO AS TO CHANGE THE TIME REFERENCED FROM NINETY DAYS TO ONE-HUNDRED 
EIGHTY DAYS.

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

SECTION 1. Article 1, Chapter 1, Title 6 of the S.C. Code is 
amended by adding:

 Section 
6-1-195. (A) As used in this section:

 (1) 
"Property owner" means the owner of a residential dwelling to be used as a 
short-term rental.

 (2) 
"Residential dwelling" means any building, structure, or part of a building or 
structure that is used or intended to be used as a home, residence, or sleeping 
place by one or more persons to the exclusion of all others.

 (3) 
"Responsible local representative" means an individual having his place of 
residence or business office within a certain distance of the short-term rental 
as defined by each local government and having been designated by the property 
owner to serve as the agent responsible for operating such property in 
compliance with all applicable laws and regulations and authorized by 
appointment to accept service of process on behalf of the owner for all 
proceedings and notices.

 (4) 
"Short-term rental" means a residential dwelling that is offered for rent for a 
fee and for fewer than twenty-nine consecutive days.

 (5) 
"Short-term guest" means a person who occupies a short-term rental.

 (B) The 
governing body of a municipality or county in this State may enact and enforce 
an ordinance regulating short-term rentals. The ordinance regulating short-term 
rentals may:

 (1) require 
registration or permitting short-term rentals;

 (2) require 
the appointment and continual engagement without interruption of a responsible 
local representative, require that the responsible local representative provide 
all current contact information determined to be necessary or useful by the 
governing body for enforcement of its ordinance, and require that the 
responsible local representative provide written evidence that he has been duly 
appointed to accept service of process on behalf of the owner for all 
proceedings and notices;

 (3) limit 
the number of properties that may be used for short-term rentals within the 
jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, by aggregate caps, density 
limitations, separation requirements, and specific limitations within or 
exclusion from particular zoning districts, overlay zones, or other land used 
categories;

 (4) prohibit 
the rental of residential dwellings to short-term guests within the 
jurisdiction;

 (5) 
impose inspection, maintenance, and conduct regulations on short-term rentals;

 (6) provide 
a mechanism by which short-term rental permits or the right to offer short-term 
rentals may be denied, suspended, or revoked for noncompliance with federal, 
state, or local ordinances;

 (7) 
establish service or user fees pursuant to Section 6-1-330 for the privilege of 
offering short-term rentals, which service or user fees shall be valid under 
state law to the extent that the entire revenues thereof are used to pay costs 
of additional burdens imposed on a county or municipality by short-term 
rentals; and

 (8) 
permit a property owner to identify a beneficiary who shall have the 
opportunity to maintain a residential dwelling as a short-term rental upon the 
death of the property owner without reapplication subject to the compliance of 
the beneficiary with all applicable requirements established by the local 
governing body and this section.

 (C) The 
local government may establish a process by which a person developing or 
acquiring property intended to be used as a short-term rental may apply for a 
short-term rental permit before developing or acquiring the property. If such a 
short-term rental permit is approved, then the person developing or acquiring 
the property shall have a vested right in th