A South Carolina residential real estate purchase agreement (“Contract for Sale and Purchase of Real Estate”) is a contract which commits a buyer to an offer to purchase real estate, according to specific terms agreed by the buyer and seller. Negotiated specifics include the purchase price, financing method, closing date, and more.
Do Sellers in South Carolina Have To Disclose Property Defects?
South Carolina does require real estate sellers to disclose any material defects with a property. In most cases, this is through a standardized disclosure form provided by statute under the Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.
The seller always has a duty to disclose all material defects covered by the statutory requirement, even when the buyer agrees to take the property “as-is.”
Exceptions to the Disclosure Rules in South Carolina
Any fact which might materially affect the value of a property potentially counts as a material defect, except for the following:
- Whether an occupant was ever diagnosed with HIV or another disease not related to management of real property
- Whether the property was ever the site of an occupant’s death
- Any information about someone on or near the property which is publicly available in a sex offender registry
South Carolina also exempts the following common transfers, among others, from the standard disclosure form requirement:
- Court-ordered sales and transfers
- Sales by foreclosure or other debt default
- Transfer as part of the execution of a will or estate
- Transfer to a spouse, parent, or child
- Transfers to or from a government entity
Required Seller Disclosures in South Carolina
South Carolina sellers of residential real estate must make the following disclosures, as appropriate, in order for a real estate purchase agreement to be considered legally binding:
- Residential Property Condition Disclosure Statement: Discloses material defects with a property that are known to the seller at the time of sale, and details any potential issues and conditions that may affect the value of the property.
- Lead-Based Paint Disclosure: Any home constructed earlier than 1978 must come with a disclosure upon the transfer of the property which includes any information about the presence of lead on the premises, as well as educational materials that communicate the health risks associated with lead exposure.
- Disclosure of Real Estate Brokerage Relationships: Clarifies relationship of a sales agent or broker to the buyer and seller, and the right to select the most suitable type of agency, as required by the South Carolina Real Estate Commission.
More Resources
- South Carolina Property Condition Disclosure Guide: Written by a local attorney, this guide discusses the requirements and details of the Residential Property Condition Disclosure Statement, on both a practical and technical level.
Sources
- 1 S.C. Code § 27-50-90
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(A) An owner is not required to disclose the fact or suspicion that a property may be or is psychologically affected, as described in subsection (B).
(B) A cause of action may not arise against an owner of real estate in a covered transaction for failure to disclose:
(1) that the subject real estate is or was occupied by an individual who was infected with a virus or other disease which has been determined by medical evidence to be highly unlikely to be transmitted through his occupancy of a dwelling place; or
(2) that the death of an occupant of a property has occurred or the manner of the death; or
(3) public information from the sex offender registry as defined in Article 7, Title 23.
(C) Subsection (B) does not preclude an action against an owner of real estate who makes intentional misrepresentations in response to direct inquiry from a purchaser or prospective purchaser with regard to psychological effects or stigmas associated with the real estate.
Source Link - 2 S.C. Code § 27-50-30
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This article does not apply to transfers:
(1) pursuant to court order including transfers in administration of an estate, pursuant to a writ of execution, by foreclosure sale, by a trustee in bankruptcy, by a receiver, by eminent domain, and resulting from a decree for specific performance;
(2) to a mortgagee from the mortgagor or his successor in interest in a mortgage if the indebtedness is in default, by a trustee pursuant to a deed of trust or to a mortgagee pursuant to a mortgage if the indebtedness is in default, by a trustee under a mortgagee pursuant to a foreclosure sale, or by a mortgagee who has acquired the real property at a sale conducted pursuant to a judgment and order of foreclosure;
(3) by a fiduciary in the course of the administration of a decedent’s estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust;
(4) from one or more co-owners solely to one or more other co-owners;
(5) made solely to a spouse or a person or persons in the lineal line of consanguinity of one or more transferors;
(6) between spouses resulting from a divorce decree or support order or marital property distribution order;
(7) made by virtue of the record owner’s failure to pay federal, state, or local taxes;
(8) to or from the federal government;
(9) to the State, its agencies and departments, and its political subdivisions including school districts;
(10) involving the first sale of a dwelling never inhabited;
(11) real property sold at public auction;
(12) to a residential trust;
(13) between parties when both parties agree in writing not to complete a disclosure statement;
(14) of a vacation time sharing plan as defined in Section 27-32-10(9); and
(15) of a vacation multiple ownership interest as described in Section 27-32-250.
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