Amend the bill, as and if amended, by deleting all after the enacting words and inserting:
/ SECTION 1. Title 27 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
Section 27-30-110. This article may be cited as the 'South Carolina Homeowners Association Act'.
Section 27-30-120. As
used in this article:
(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) 'Declarant' means a
person or group of persons acting in concert who:
(a)
as part of a common promotional plan, offers to dispose of
the interest of the person or group of persons in a unit not
previously disposed of; or
(b)
reserves or succeeds to a special declarant right, which
means a right, in addition to the regular rights of the
declarant as a unit owner, reserved for the benefit of or
created by the declarant under the declaration or bylaws of the
association.
(3) 'Declaration' means
the recorded instruments, however denominated, that create a
homeowners association, including amendments to those
instruments.
(4) 'Governing
documents' means any documents:
(a)
establishing a homeowners association and governing its
management or operation;
(b)
providing for the duties and obligations of the board, the
association, and the homeowners;
(c)
creating or imposing assessments, fees, or fines by the
board or the association on the homeowners; and
(d)
including, but not limited to, the master deed or master
lease, covenants, conditions, and restrictions, declarations,
bylaws, rules and regulations, and any amendments thereto.
(5) '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) 'Homeowners
association' 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 timesharing plan
organized and subject only to the provisions of Chapter 32.
Section 27-30-130. A
declaration or other governing document of a homeowners
association must be recorded in the clerk of court's or register
of deeds office in the county in which the property is located
in order to be enforceable. Homeowners associations in existence
on the effective date of this section must record all such
documents within six months after this effective date.
Section 27-30-140. A
homeowners' association shall provide notice to homeowners
before it may take action to increase an annual budget at least
forty-eight hours in advance of such meeting. Notice may be
accomplished through posting notice in a conspicuous place in a
common area in the community, on an Internet website maintained
by the homeowners' association, or by electronic mail; however,
a homeowners' association's bylaws may provide for notice
requirements more stringent than those in this section.
Section 27-30-150. The access to documents provisions of Sections 33-31-1602, 33-31-1603, 33-31-1604, and 33-31-1605 apply to all homeowners associations not subject to the South Carolina Nonprofit Corporation Act for the purposes of allowing homeowners access to inspect and copy a homeowner association's annual budget and homeowners membership lists.
Section 27-30-160. Pursuant to Section 22-3-10, the magistrates court shall have concurrent jurisdiction to adjudicate monetary disputes arising under this article, provided the dispute meets the jurisdictional requirements of Section 22-3-10.
Section 27-30-170. No provision of this article may be construed to be in conflict with the provisions of the South Carolina Nonprofit Corporation Act.
Section 27-30-310. This article must be known and may be cited as the 'Homeowners Association Ombudsman Act'.
Section 27-30-320. For
the purposes of this article:
(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) 'Bylaws' means the
document, and amendments to it, that contain the procedures for
conducting the affairs of a homeowners association, regardless
of the form of the association's legal entity or the name by
which the document comprising the bylaws is identified.
(3) 'Declarant' means a
person or group of persons acting in concert who:
(a)
as part of a common promotional plan, offers to dispose of
the interest of the person or group of persons in a unit not
previously disposed of; or
(b)
reserves or succeeds to a special declarant right, which
means a right, in addition to the regular rights of the
declarant as a unit owner, reserved for the benefit of or
created by the declarant under the declaration or bylaws of the
association.
(4) 'Declaration' means
the recorded instruments, however denominated, that create a
homeowners association, including amendments to those
instruments.
(5) 'Department' means
the Department of Consumer Affairs.
(6) 'Director' means
the Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs.
(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.
(8) 'Homeowners
association' 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 timesharing plan
organized and subject only to the provisions of Chapter 32.
(9) 'Office' means the
Office of the Homeowners Association Ombudsman established in
this article.
(10) 'Ombudsman' means
the homeowners association ombudsman established in this
article.
Section 27-30-330. (A)
There is established within the department
the Office of the Homeowners Association Ombudsman.
(B) The director shall
appoint the ombudsman.
(C) The ombudsman is
the head of the office and is charged with managing the office
consistent with the powers and duties vested in the ombudsman by
this article, within the limitations of the funds appropriated
by the General Assembly.
(D) The ombudsman shall
serve at the pleasure of the director.
(E) A vacancy in the
ombudsman position is filled in the same manner as the original
appointment.
(F) Nothing in this
section may be construed to allow the department, director, or
ombudsman to charge a fee on an association, declarant, or
residential builder to fund the Office of the Homeowners
Association Ombudsman.
Section 27-30-340. The
ombudsman:
(1) shall maintain a
publicly available Internet website containing information about
the office, contact information, services available through the
office, information required to be placed on the website by
other provisions of this article, and other information
considered appropriate by the ombudsman;
(2) may organize and
conduct meetings to educate declarants, homeowners associations,
executive boards of homeowners associations, and other
interested parties about their rights and responsibilities and
the processes available to them according to the law,
regulations, and documents governing their respective homeowners
association;
(3) shall prepare,
publish, and make available online educational and reference
materials about homeowners communities, including general
information about the roles, rights, and responsibilities of the
various parties, suggestions for the orderly operation of the
homeowners association, mechanisms for internal dispute
resolution, and other information considered appropriate by the
ombudsman;
(4) may assist with
meetings, mediations, or other forms of alternative dispute
resolution as requested by declarants, homeowners, homeowners
associations, executive boards of homeowners associations, or
other interested parties, if all parties to the dispute consent,
which may be withdrawn at any time;
(5) shall receive
complaints for informational purposes to report as required in
item (6) and, if all parties to the dispute consent, which may
be withdrawn at any time, may arrange for meetings or other
forms of alternative dispute resolution to assist the parties in
the resolution of the complaint;
(6) shall make an
annual report of the office's activities to the Governor and the
General Assembly before December first, provided this report
must include:
(a)
statistics on the number of inquiries and complaints
handled by the office;
(b)
information on education and outreach efforts by the
office;
(c)
concerns expressed to the office by declarants,
homeowners, homeowners associations, executive boards of
homeowners associations, or other interested parties;
(d)
legal developments impacting homeowners communities,
associations, or both;
(e)
recommendations to the General Assembly for changes to
state law to improve the regulation and operation of homeowners
communities; and
(f)
other information considered appropriate by the
ombudsman;
(7) shall direct the
work of the office consistent with the powers and duties
established by this section;
(8) shall employ and
supervise staff necessary to assist in carrying out the powers
and duties established by this section, within the limitations
of funds appropriated by the General Assembly; and
(9) shall perform any
other function necessary to fulfill the powers and duties
outlined in this section."
SECTION 2. Section 27-50-40(A) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 141 of 2010, is further amended to read:
"(A) The owner of
the real property shall furnish to a purchaser a written
disclosure statement. The disclosure statement must contain the
language and be in the form promulgated by the commission and
the form may be delivered electronically through the Internet or
other similar methods. The commission may charge a reasonable
fee for the printed form but shall post the form for free
downloading on its public website. The disclosure statement must
include, but is not limited to, the following characteristics
and conditions of the property:
(1)
the water supply and sanitary sewage disposal system;
(2)
the roof, chimneys, floors, foundation, basement, and
other structural components and modifications of these
structural components;
(3)
the plumbing, electrical, heating, cooling, and other
mechanical systems;
(4)
present infestation of wood-destroying insects or
organisms or past infestation, the damage from which has not
been repaired;
(5)
the zoning laws, restrictive covenants, building codes,
and other land-use restrictions affecting the real property, any
encroachment of the real property from or to adjacent real
property, and notice from a governmental agency affecting this
real property;
(6)
presence of lead-based paint, asbestos, radon gas, methane
gas, underground storage tank, hazardous material or toxic
material, buried or covered, and other environmental
contamination; or
(7)
existence of a rental, rental management, vacation rental,
or other lease contract in place on the property at the time of
closing, and, if known, any outstanding charges owed by the
tenant for gas, electric, water, sewerage, or garbage services
provided to the property the tenant leases;
(8)
existence of a meter conservation charge, as permitted by
Section 58-37-50, that applies to electricity or natural gas
service to the property; or
(9)
whether the property is subject to governance of
a homeowners association, as provided in Chapter 30 of this
title, which carries certain rights and obligations that may
limit the use of his property and involve financial obligations,
and that copies are recorded in the clerk of court's office or
the register of deeds office in the county in which the property
is located."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor. /
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.