Legislative Pulse - June 2014

Update from the South Carolina Apartment Association

End of Session Report

The regular session of the South Carolina General Assembly has come to a close. 2014 has been the second year of a two year session, meaning any bills that did not pass are dead and must be re-introduced as new legislation for the next session. This year, over 1600 bills were introduced, but only about 150 substantive statewide bills passed and became law.

The major bills for the South Carolina Apartment Association this session are below. If you have any questions about these bills or anything that happened in the General Assembly, please contact your Lobby Team.

Right to Display Flags

S. 198

Senator Danny Verdin's (R- Laurens) bill, S. 198, would have allowed a homeowner or tenant to display one portable, removable flag, that is significant in the history of the United States, a state, or a state's political subdivisions, regardless of any restrictive covenant, declaration, rule, contractual provision, or other provision found in a deed, contract, lease, rental agreement, or homeowners' association document concerning the display of flags or decorations on real property. Current law allows the display of a United States flag. Sen. Verdin's bill would encompass the Gadsden Flag, often used as a symbol of the Tea Party, and various Confederate flags. The SCAA expressed some concern regarding the tenant relation issues that could ensue if a controversial yet historical flag were displayed. We were able to raise questions at the appropriate time and suggest possible amendments, but ultimately, the bill did not gain traction.

Business Representation in Magistrates' Court

S. 971

Although we initially had this legislation introduced by Sen. Paul Campbell (R-Berkeley), the SCAA became opposed to S. 971 as a result of the amendment added in the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee. As soon as our position changed, we alerted Senator Paul Campbell, our friend and bill sponsor, and he agreed to put an objection on the bill on the Senate floor. This objection kept the bill from passing full Senate. A lawsuit on this issue is currently pending in the South Carolina Supreme Court.

Realtor Background Check

S. 75

A bill by Senator Ronnie Cromer's (R-Newberry) passed late this session that puts into law several current practices of the Real Estate Commission at the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation which governs licensed property managers. The bill requires investigations be performed by investigators who have completed 120 hours of commission-approved training and requires investigations to be concluded within 150 days of the receipt of a complaint or seek a waiver. The commission must also annually post a report that provides the data for the number of complaints received, the number of investigations initiated, the average length of investigations, and the number of investigations that exceeded 150 days. Governor Haley has signed this measure into law.

Expedited Ejectment

H. 3145

As many of you will recall, our expedited eviction legislation introduced by Representative Chip Huggins' (R- Lexington) bill passed the House in 2013 and was then referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill was assigned to a subcommittee led by Sen. Gerald Malloy (D-Darlington) who has long opposed our language on this issue. The bill did not progress from that point.

Update on the WRRDA from the Honorable Mark Sanford

Important to Charleston and Harbor deepening, the President just signed the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA), which funds water infrastructure spending. I think the bill's approach was important in the way they did it, as it was built on reestablishing the balance of power between the executive branch and Congress. http://ow.ly/ymagY