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
