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Current Status Bill Number:View additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.4876 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:20000405 Primary Sponsor:Huggins All Sponsors:Huggins and Bailey Drafted Document Number:l:\council\bills\gjk\21204sd00.doc Residing Body:House Current Committee:Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee 26 HLCI Subject:Property condition disclosure statements, real estate, residential; Property History Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved ______ ________ ______________________________________ _______ ____________ House 20000405 Introduced, read first time, 26 HLCI referred to Committee Versions of This Bill
TO AMEND TITLE 27, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PROPERTY AND CONVEYANCES, BY ADDING CHAPTER 50 SO AS TO REQUIRE A WRITTEN PROPERTY CONDITION DISCLOSURE STATEMENT UPON THE SALE OF CERTAIN RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY, TO PROVIDE EXEMPTIONS FROM THIS REQUIREMENT, TO IMPOSE DUTIES ON OWNERS AND BROKERS IN REGARD TO THESE REQUIREMENTS, TO AUTHORIZE THE REAL ESTATE COMMISSION TO PERFORM SPECIFIC DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS IN REGARD TO THESE DISCLOSURE STATEMENTS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR CIVIL PENALTIES AND OTHER REMEDIES UPON VIOLATION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Title 27 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 27-50-10. This chapter applies to the following transfers of all residential real property consisting of at least one but not more than four dwelling units:
(1) sale or exchange;
(2) installment land sales contract;
(3) lease with an option to purchase contract with a lease term of thirty-six months or more including renewal options.
Section 27-50-20. The following transfers are exempt from the provisions of this chapter:
(1) transfers pursuant to court order, including transfers ordered by a court in administration of an estate, transfers pursuant to a writ of execution, transfers by foreclosure sale, transfers by a trustee in bankruptcy, transfers by a receiver, transfers by eminent domain, and transfers resulting from a decree for specific performance;
(2) transfers to a mortgagee from the mortgagor or his successor in interest in a mortgage, if the indebtedness is in default; transfers by a trustee under a deed of trust or a mortgagee under a mortgage, if the indebtedness is in default; transfers by a trustee under a mortgagee under a mortgage pursuant to a foreclosure sale, or transfers by a mortgagee who has acquired the real property at a sale conducted pursuant to a judgment and order foreclosure;
(3) transfers by a fiduciary in the course of the administration of a decedent's estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust;
(4) transfers from one or more co-owners solely to one or more other co-owners;
(5) transfers made solely to a spouse or a person or persons in the lineal line of consanguinity of one or more transferors;
(6) transfers between spouses resulting from a divorce decree or support order or marital property distribution order;
(7) transfers made by virtue of the record owner's failure to pay any federal, state, or local taxes;
(8) transfers to or from the federal government;
(9) transfers to the State, its agencies, and departments, and its political subdivisions, including school districts;
(10) transfers involving the first sale of a dwelling never inhabited;
(11) transfers involving a lease with an option to purchase contract with a lease term of less than thirty-six months, including renewal options;
(12) real property sold at public auction;
(13) transfers to a residential trust;
(14) transfers between parties when both parties agree in writing not to complete a residential property disclosure statement.
Section 27-50-30. As used in this chapter:
(1) 'Listing agent' means a real estate licensee who represents an owner of real property in the sale, lease, or other transfer of the subject real property through the use of a written listing agreement as required by law.
(2) 'Owner' means each person having recorded present or future interest in real estate who is identified in a real estate contract subject to this chapter, but shall not mean or include the owner or holder of a mortgage, deed of trust, mechanic's or materialman's lien, or other lien or security interest in the real property. This disclosure is limited to the actual residential dwelling and does not address common elements or areas for which the owner has no direct and primary responsibility.
(3) 'Purchaser' means each person or entity named as purchasers, buyers, or tenants in a real estate contract subject to this chapter.
(4) 'Real estate contract' means a contract for the transfers of ownership of real property.
(5) 'Real property' means the lot or parcel, and the dwelling unit described in a real estate contract subject to this chapter.
(6) 'Residential property condition disclosure form' means the written disclosure form that is required by this chapter, the form and contents of which shall be promulgated by regulations of the South Carolina Real Estate Commission.
(7) 'Selling agent' means a real estate licensee who represents a purchaser of real property through the use of a written agency agreement as required by law, a real estate licensee who is a subagent as defined by law who represents the owner, or a dual agent as defined by law who represents both the purchaser and owner.
Section 27-50-40. The owner of the real property shall furnish to a purchaser a written residential property condition disclosure form. The disclosure form shall contain the language and be in the form promulgated by the Real Estate Commission. The Real Estate Commission may charge a reasonable fee for the form. The form shall disclose those items that are required to be disclosed relative to the condition of the property and of which the owner has actual knowledge, except as otherwise agreed in the real estate contract. The owner shall disclose, in addition to the other prescribed items, on the prescribed form as required by this chapter the existence of a rental, rental management, or other lease contract in place on the property at the time of closing.
Section 27-50-50. (A) The owner of real property subject to this chapter shall deliver to the purchaser the disclosure form required by this chapter before a written offer is ratified by the purchaser and owner.
(B) Failure to provide the disclosure form required by this chapter to the purchaser shall not void the agreement nor create any defect in title. Failure to provide the disclosure form required by this chapter to the purchaser as required in this chapter constitutes a violation of the owner, which subjects the owner to a civil penalty of one hundred dollars to be imposed by a court of competent jurisdiction. Real estate brokers and licensees are subject to the regulations governing their licenses and performance of their responsibilities as licensees, as set forth by the Real Estate Commission. Nothing in this chapter shall limit any other remedy available to the buyer under law.
Section 27-50-60. If, subsequent to the owner's delivery of a residential property condition disclosure statement to a purchaser, the owner discovers a material inaccuracy in the disclosure statement, or the disclosure is rendered inaccurate in a material way by the occurrence of some event or circumstance, the owner shall promptly correct the inaccuracy by delivering a corrected disclosure statement to the purchaser. Failure to deliver the corrected disclosure statement or to make such reasonable repairs as made necessary by the event or circumstance shall result in such remedies for the purchaser as are provided by law in the event the real estate contract requires the property to be in substantially the same condition at closing as on the date of the offer to purchase, reasonable wear and tear excepted.
Section 27-50-70. A real estate licensee acting as a listing agent in a residential real estate transaction has a duty to inform each owner-client of the listing agent of the owner-client's obligations under this chapter. If the listing agent has performed this duty, the listing agent shall not be responsible for the owner's refusal or failure to provide a prospective purchaser with a residential property disclosure statement. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to conflict with or alter the real estate broker's or salesman's duties under the regulations of the Real Estate Commission. The real estate licensee, whether acting as listing agent or selling agent shall not be liable to a purchaser if:
(1) the owner provides the purchaser with a disclosure form required by this chapter that contains false, incomplete, or misleading information; and
(2) the real estate licensee did not have actual knowledge that the information was false, incomplete, or misleading.
Section 27-50-80. Nothing in this chapter limits the obligation of the purchaser to inspect the physical condition of the property and any improvements that the purchaser may purchase. The real estate licensee, whether acting as listing agent or selling agent, shall have no duty to inspect the onsite or offsite conditions of the property and any improvements.
Section 27-50-90. This chapter shall not affect the landlord-tenant relationship between the parties to a lease with an option-to-purchase contract during the term of the lease, and the rights of the landlords and tenants under the South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act shall remain in effect until transfer of ownership of the property to the purchaser.
Section 27-50-100. No action may be brought under this chapter later than one year from the recording of the deed or the date of occupancy by the purchaser whichever is later."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect January 1, 2001, and applies to the applicable residential transactions entered into on or after that date.
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