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| (11) pays a commission or compensation to an unlicensed individual for conducting activities requiring a license as defined in this chapter;
(12) violates any provision of law relating to a buyer's freedom of choice in choosing an attorney, insurance agent, title insurance agent, or any other service provider to facilitate the buyer's real estate transaction;
(13) fails to disclose in accordance with Section 40-57-139 the party or parties for whom the licensee will be acting as an agent in a real estate transaction;
(14) receives compensation from more than one party except with the full knowledge and written consent of all parties;
(15) represents more than one party in a real estate transaction without the full written knowledge and consent of all parties the licensee represents as provided in Section 40-57-138(M);
(16) acts in the dual capacity of agent and undisclosed principal in a real estate transaction;
(17) accepts deposit money which is to be delivered to the licensee's principal in a real estate transaction without informing the payor and having the payor acknowledge in writing who will hold the money received by the licensee;
(18) issues a check in connection with his real estate business which is returned for insufficient funds or closed account;
(19) fails to disclose in accordance with Section 40-57-138 any material facts concerning a real estate transaction;
(20) violates any provision of this chapter or a regulation promulgated by this chapter;
(21) violates a lawful rule or order of the commission.
(B) If after an investigation, charges of a license law violation are brought against a licensee, the broker-in-charge or property manager-in-charge must be notified also of the charges.
Section 40-57-150. (A) Investigations must be conducted in accordance with Section 40-1-80.
(B) Restraining orders must be filed in accordance with Section 40-1-100.
(C) (1) Whenever the department has reason to believe that a violation of this chapter has occurred, an investigation must be initiated within thirty days.
(2) A hearing on the charges must be at the time and place designated by the commission and must be conducted in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act.
(4) The department shall maintain a public docket or other permanent record, in which must be recorded all orders, consent orders, or stipulated settlements.
(D) A licensee may voluntarily surrender his license in accordance with Section 40-1-150.
(E) (1) The commission may impose disciplinary action in accordance with Section 40-1-120.
(2) Upon determination by the commission that one or more of the grounds for discipline exists, as provided for in Section 40-1-110 or Section 40-57-140, the commission may impose a fine of not less than one hundred or more than one thousand dollars for each violation.
(3) Nothing in this section prevents a licensee from voluntarily entering into a consent order with the commission wherein violations are not contested and sanctions are accepted.
Section 40-57-170. (A) Service of a notice provided for by law upon a nonresident licensed under this chapter or upon a resident who, having been licensed, subsequently becomes a nonresident or after due diligence cannot be found at his usual abode or place of business in this State, may be made by leaving with the Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation a copy of the notice, and accompanying documents. A copy of the notice, any accompanying documents, and a certified copy of the service on the director must be mailed to the licensee at his last known address, return receipt requested. The director shall keep a record of the day of the service of the notice and the return receipt must be attached to and made part of the return of service of the notice by the commission.
(B) A continuance may be given in a hearing under this chapter for which notice is given pursuant to this section so as to afford the licensee a reasonable opportunity to appear and be heard.
Section 40-57-180. (A) The department may not be involved in the resolution of disputes between licensees over the payment or division of commission.
(B) A resident licensee may pay a part of his commission on a cooperative basis to a licensee of another state or jurisdiction if that licensee does not conduct in this State any of the negotiations for which a fee, compensation, or commission is paid.
(D) It is the responsibility of a licensee to keep on file with the department a current mailing address.
(E) No cause of action may arise against an owner of real estate or agent of any party to a transaction for failure to disclose in a transaction the fact that:
(1) the subject real estate is or was occupied by an individual who was infected with a virus or any other disease which has been determined by medical evidence as being highly unlikely to be transmitted through occupancy of a dwelling place either presently or previously occupied by the infected individual; or
(2) the death of an occupant of a property has occurred or the manner of the death.
(F) Nothing in subsection (E) precludes an action against an owner of real estate or agent of such owner who makes intentional misrepresentations in response to direct inquiry from a buyer or prospective buyer with regard to psychological impacts or stigmas associated with the real estate.
(G) The commission shall establish and publish standards relative to the approval and conduct of all education required by this chapter.
(1) The department shall review, approve, and regulate education courses required by this chapter as well as providers and instructors including, but not limited to, accredited colleges, universities, private business entities, organizations, schools, associations, and institutions.
(2) The department may deny, reprimand, fine, suspend, or revoke the approval of an education provider or instructor if the department finds that the education provider or instructor has violated or failed to satisfy the provisions of this chapter or the regulations and standards promulgated pursuant to this chapter.
(3) Application by providers seeking approval to offer and conduct educational instruction or application by instructors must be made on a form prescribed by the department and accompanied by applicable fees not less than sixty days prior to a course offering and must be approved by the department prior to the commencement of any instruction.
(4) If an application for provider, instructor, or course is not approved, the reason must be detailed and the applicant must be given thirty days to respond.
(5) Upon approval, certificates must be issued to providers, courses, and instructors, to be renewed biennially.
(7) Approved instructors shall attend annual instructor development workshops sponsored by the department whenever possible or provide evidence of equivalent hours of continuing education which increase their knowledge of either the subject content in their area of expertise or their teaching techniques.
Section 40-57-190. Payment and collection of costs associated with investigations and prosecution of violations must comply with Section 40-1-170.
Section 40-57-200. Imposition and collection of all costs and fines must comply with Section 40-1-180.
Section 40-57-210. The provisions of Section 40-1-190 pertaining to privileged communications, whether written or oral, made by or on behalf of a person apply.
Section 40-57-220. (A) An individual who acts as a real estate broker, real estate salesman, or real estate property manager, or who advertises or assumes to act as such without a license issued by the department may be charged in accordance with Section 40-1-200.
(B) A licensee who fails to renew his license or who places his license on inactive status and continues to engage in real estate activities requiring a license is guilty of a misdemeanor and must be punished as provided for in subsection (A) above.
Section 40-57-230. Civil actions may be brought in accordance with Section 40-1-210.
Section 40-57- 240. The provisions of this chapter do not apply to:
(A) an unlicensed owner of real estate who owns any interest in the real estate; however, the unlicensed owner may not be exempt if the type, frequency, and degree of real estate activity being conducted is determined by the department to be such that would lead the public to believe that the unlicensed owner is acting within the scope of or is holding himself out as a real estate licensee;
(B) an attorney at law acting within the scope of his duties involved in the legal representation of his client/owner;
(C) agencies and instrumentalities of the state or federal government and their employees acting within the scope of their official duties;
(D) foresters registered under the provisions of Chapter 27 of Title 48, so long as the sale of any land is merely incidental to the sale of timber on the land;
Section 40-57-250. Real Estate Commission Regulations 105-1 through 105-34, 105-40, and 105-55 through 105-210 are hereby repealed.
Section 40-57-260. If a provision of this chapter or the application of a provision of this chapter to a person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of this chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this chapter are severable."/
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend title to conform.
Rep. YOUNG-BRICKELL explained the amendment.
Rep. SCOTT made the Point of Order that the Bill was improperly before the House for consideration since printed copies of the Bill have not been upon the desks of the members for one day.
The SPEAKER sustained the Point of Order.
The following Bill was taken up.
H. 4686 -- Rep. Hodges: A BILL TO AMEND TITLE 34, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO BANKING AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS BY ADDING CHAPTER 26 SO AS TO ENACT THE "SOUTH CAROLINA CREDIT UNION ACT OF 1996", WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE ORGANIZATION, OPERATION, AND SUPERVISION OF COOPERATIVE NONPROFIT THRIFT AND CREDIT ASSOCIATIONS KNOWN AS CREDIT UNIONS, AND TO PROVIDE FOR THEIR DUTIES, POWERS, AND FUNCTIONS; AND TO REPEAL CHAPTER 27 OF TITLE 34 RELATING TO COOPERATIVE CREDIT UNIONS.
Rep. ANDERSON made the Point of Order that the Bill was improperly before the House for consideration since printed copies of the Bill have not been upon the desks of the members for one day.
The SPEAKER sustained the Point of Order.
The following Bill was taken up.
H. 4795 -- Rep. Gamble: A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 37-10-102, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO ATTORNEY'S FEES AND OTHER CHARGES ON MORTGAGE LOANS FOR PERSONAL, FAMILY, OR HOUSEHOLD PURPOSES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE ATTORNEY'S PREFERENCE AND THE INSURANCE AGENT'S PREFERENCE OF THE BORROWER REQUIRED TO BE ASCERTAINED BY THE CREDITOR IN CONNECTION WITH THESE LOANS ARE INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER AND TO FURTHER PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER IN WHICH THE CREDITOR SHALL COMPLY WITH THIS REQUIREMENT; TO AMEND SECTION 37-10-105, RELATING TO PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN VIOLATIONS OF THE CONSUMER PROTECTION CODE, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT VIOLATIONS OF SECTION 37-10-102 ABOVE RELATING TO THE ASCERTAINING OF THE ATTORNEY'S PREFERENCE AND THE INSURANCE AGENT'S PREFERENCE OF A BORROWER SHALL BE PUNISHED AS PROVIDED IN SECTION 37-5-202 BELOW; AND TO AMEND SECTION 37-5-202, RELATING TO VIOLATIONS OF THE CONSUMER PROTECTION CODE AND THE RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES IN REGARD THERETO INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO RECOVER DAMAGES, SO AS TO INCLUDE THEREIN VIOLATIONS OF SECTION 37-10-102 IN REGARD TO ATTORNEY AND INSURANCE AGENT PREFERENCES.
Rep. BAXLEY made the Point of Order that the Bill was improperly before the House for consideration since printed copies of the Bill have not been upon the desks of the members for one day.
The SPEAKER sustained the Point of Order.
The following Bill was taken up.
H. 4782 -- Rep. Easterday: A BILL TO AMEND SECTION 37-5-203, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE CONSUMER PROTECTION CODE, DEBTORS' REMEDIES, AND CIVIL LIABILITY FOR VIOLATION OF DISCLOSURE PROVISIONS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF THIS
The Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee proposed the following Amendment No. 1 (Doc Name P:\amend\BBM\10788JM.96).
Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking all after the enacting words and inserting:
/SECTION 1. Section 37-5-203(6) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(6) In this section, creditor includes a person who in the ordinary course of business regularly extends or arranges for the extension of credit, or offers to arrange for the extension of credit. Nothing in this subsection, however, shall be construed to impose civil liability or penalties on an arranger of credit when disclosure constituting a violation of the Federal Truth in Lending Act is actually committed by another person and the arranger of credit has no knowledge of the violation when it occurred. The creditor shall provide a copy of the final closing documents to the arranger of credit."
SECTION 2. Section 40-58-20 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 172 of 1993, is further amended by adding:
"(12) `Regular business hours' means open for business not less than thirty hours a week, Monday through Friday.
(13) `Satellite office' means a location at which a mortgage broker may conduct mortgage loan broker business other than at a location that is open for regular business hours and is not required to be staffed full-time by
SECTION 3. Section 40-58-20(5)(a) of the 1976 Code, as amended by Act 172 of 1993, is further amended to read:
"(a) a bank, bank holding company, credit union, savings and loan association, savings and loan association holding company, their affiliates and subsidiaries, a supervised licensed lender under Title 37 and a restricted lender under Title 34 and their affiliates and subsidiaries, a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or Federal Housing Administration approved mortgagee, that is solely brokering HUD-approved or Veterans Administration (VA) loans, authorized, chartered, licensed, or approved under the laws of this State or of the United States or an instrumentality of them;"
SECTION 4. Section 40-58-65 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 172 of 1993, is amended to read:
"Section 40-58-65. (A) A person registered pursuant to this chapter must maintain at his usual place of business books, records, and documents pertaining to the business conducted, to enable the department to determine compliance with this chapter. A registrant with two or more registered offices may consolidate the records at any one of the registered offices. The records must be available for examination to the administrator or his designee upon request. Books and records must be maintained for at least three years.
(B) A mortgage broker doing business in this State shall maintain a sufficient physical presence in this State and his records must be maintained at the registered location in this State. At a minimum, the broker shall maintain an official place of business open during regular business hours, staffed by one or more employees who have the authority to contract on behalf of the broker and to accept service on behalf of the broker. If the official place of business is not open for business within the hours of 8:30 A.M. until 5:00 P.M., Monday through Friday, the broker shall notify the department in writing of the business hours maintained by the broker's official place of business.
(C) A registered mortgage loan broker with an official place of business within South Carolina also may maintain one or more satellite offices, provided that the:
(1) mortgage loan broker notifies the department in writing ten days before the opening of a satellite office of the location of the satellite office and notifies the department that all records from the satellite office are stored in a main or branch location in this State which is staffed by one or more employees during regular business hours;
(3) broker notifies the department in writing within two business days of closing a satellite office.
(B)(D) The department, at its discretion, may examine the books and records of a registrant and other specified documents to determine whether there has been substantial compliance with this chapter. Unless there is reason to believe a violation of this chapter has occurred, examinations must be limited to one each year. Records and information obtained by the department during an examination are confidential and the department must certify that it is in compliance with the Right to Financial Privacy Act (RFPA).
(E) If the mortgage loan broker fails to notify the department of the existence or closing of a satellite office, the actual operating hours of the main or branch offices where records are kept, or the whereabouts of its records, the broker is subject to a penalty of not less than fifty dollars and not more than two hundred fifty dollars. If after the assessment of such a fine within a one-year period, the administrator finds that additional violations of this section are both intentional and repeated, the mortgage loan broker is subject to all of the remedies for violations of this chapter set forth in Section 40-58-80."
SECTION 5. Section 40-58-110(A) of the 1976 Code, as amended by Act 172 of 1993, is further amended to read:
"(A) In addition to the initial application for registration fee of five hundred dollars required by Section 40-58-50, first time registrants also shall pay a one-time, nonrefundable processing fee of two hundred dollars. Thereafter, a registrant shall pay an annual renewal fee of five hundred dollars. A registrant shall pay an initial fee of one hundred fifty dollars and, thereafter, a renewal fee of one hundred fifty dollars for each satellite location. The broker shall notify the department in writing ten days before opening a new, official branch or satellite location. No initial fee is required when the registrant notifies the department of a change in address for an official branch or satellite location."
SECTION 6. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor./
Amend title to conform.
Rep. GAMBLE explained the amendment.
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