Title 37, Consumer Protection Code

A person upon whom the Federal Truth in Lending Act imposes duties or obligations shall make or give to the consumer the disclosures, information and notices required of him by that act and in all respects comply with that act.

(1) The creditor shall deliver or mail to the debtor, without request, a written receipt for each payment by coin or currency on an obligation pursuant to a consumer loan. A periodic statement showing a payment received by mail complies with this subsection. (2) Upon written requ…

(1) A natural person, other than the spouse of the debtor, is not obligated as a cosigner, comaker, guarantor, indorser, surety, or similar party with respect to a consumer loan, unless before or contemporaneously with signing any separate agreement of obligation or any writing s…

(1) A lender may not advertise, print, display, publish, distribute, broadcast, or cause to be advertised, printed, displayed, published, distributed, or broadcast in any manner any statement or representation with regard to the rates, terms, or conditions of credit with respect …

(1) Every creditor (Section 37-1-301(13)), other than an assignee of a credit obligation, making supervised or restricted consumer loans (Section 37-3-104) in this State shall on or before the effective date of this section, and in case of a creditor not making supervised consume…

(1) Every creditor engaged in this State in making consumer loans pursuant to a lender credit card or similar arrangement shall: (a) file on or before January thirty-first of each year with the Department of Consumer Affairs for every lender card plan it offers to South Carolina …

(A) An estimate of the disclosures required by Section 37-3-301 is required in connection with a loan for the purchase, refinance, or consolidation of a loan secured by a borrower-occupied manufactured home not less than two days before the consummation of the transaction as defi…

This part applies to consumer loans.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), if any scheduled payment of a consumer loan is more than twice as large as the average of earlier scheduled payments, the consumer has the right to refinance, without penalty, the amount of that payment at the time it is due. The terms of…

(1) A lender may not take an assignment of earnings of the debtor for payment or as security for payment of a debt arising out of a consumer loan. An assignment of earnings in violation of this section is unenforceable by the assignee of the earnings and revocable by the debtor. …

(1) Except as provided by the provisions on limitations on attorney's fees as to certain supervised loans (Section 37-3-514), with respect to a consumer loan the agreement may provide for the payment by the debtor of reasonable attorney's fees not in excess of fifteen percent of …

Except for reasonable expenses incurred in realizing on a security interest, the agreement with respect to a consumer loan may not provide for charges as a result of default by the debtor other than those authorized by this title. A provision in violation of this section is unenf…

The debtor is authorized to pay the original lender until he receives notification of assignment of rights to payment pursuant to a consumer loan and that payment is to be made to the assignee. A notification which does not reasonably identify the rights assigned is ineffective. …

A debtor may not authorize any person to confess judgment on a claim arising out of a consumer loan. An authorization in violation of this section is void.

(1) Whether or not a change is authorized by prior agreement, a creditor may change the terms of a revolving loan account applying to any balance incurred before or after the effective date of the change. If the change increases the rate of the loan finance charge or of additiona…

A lender may not use multiple agreements with intent to avoid disclosure of an annual percentage rate pursuant to the provisions on disclosure and advertising (Part 3). The excess amount of loan finance charge provided for in agreements in violation of this section is an excess c…

(1) A lender, except the issuer of a lender credit card, who with respect to a particular transaction, makes a consumer loan to enable a debtor to buy or lease from a particular seller or lessor property or services is subject to all claims and defenses of the debtor against the …

(1) This section neither limits the liability of nor imposes liability on a card issuer as a manufacturer, supplier, seller, or lessor of property or services sold or leased pursuant to the credit card. This section may subject a card issuer to claims and defenses of a cardholder…

With respect to a consumer loan which is secured in whole or in part by a lien on real estate under which the aggregate of all sums advanced or contemplated by the parties in good faith to be advanced will not exceed one hundred thousand dollars, the rate of the loan finance char…

(1) A "short-term vehicle secured loan" means a nonpurchase money consumer loan with an original repayment term of less than one hundred and twenty days and secured by a motor vehicle. It does not include a loan made by a supervised financial organization. (2) A short-term vehicl…

Except as provided in Section 37-3-512, this Part shall not apply to restricted loans or restricted lenders.

(1) "Supervised loan" means a consumer loan in which the rate of the loan finance charge exceeds twelve percent per year as determined according to the provisions on the loan finance charge for consumer loans (Section 37-3-201). A supervised loan does not include: (a) a mortgage …

Unless a person is a supervised financial organization or has first obtained a license from the State Board of Financial Institutions authorizing him to make supervised loans, he shall not engage in the business of (1) making supervised loans; or (2) taking assignments of and und…

(1) The State Board of Financial Institutions shall receive and act on all applications for licenses to make supervised loans under this title. Applications shall be filed in the manner prescribed by the Board and shall contain the information the Board requires by rule to make a…

(1) The State Board of Financial Institutions may issue to a person licensed to make supervised loans an order to show cause why his license should not be revoked or suspended for a period not in excess of 6 months. The order shall state the place for a hearing and set a time for…

(1) Every licensee shall maintain records in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles and practices in a manner that will enable the State Board of Financial Institutions to determine whether the licensee is complying with the provisions of this title. The recordk…

(1) The State Board of Financial Institutions shall examine periodically at intervals it deems appropriate the loans, business and records of every licensee. In addition, for the purpose of discovering violations of this title or securing information lawfully required, the Agency…

Except as otherwise provided, the part on Administrative Procedure and Judicial Review [Part 4, Chapter 6] applies to and governs all administrative action taken pursuant to this part.

With respect to a supervised loan, no lender may use multiple agreements with respect to a single consumer loan transaction with intent to obtain a higher rate of loan finance charge than would otherwise be permitted by the provisions on loan finance charges for supervised loans …

(1) With respect to a supervised loan in which the principal is one thousand dollars or less, a lender may not contract for an interest in land as security. A security interest taken in violation of this section is void. (2) An open-end credit agreement under which the credit lim…

Supervised loans, in which the rate of loan finance charge exceeds twelve percent per annum, not made pursuant to a revolving loan account, in which the principal is one thousand dollars or less, shall be scheduled to be payable in substantially equal installments at equal period…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), a restricted lender and a licensee authorized to make supervised loans pursuant to the provisions on authority to make supervised loans (Section 37-3-502) may not engage in the business of selling goods, or permit others to engage in the …

Except as otherwise provided, all provisions of this title applying to consumer loans apply to supervised loans.

With respect to a supervised loan with a loan finance charge in excess of eighteen percent per year and in which the principal is $1,000 or less, the agreement may not provide for the payment by the debtor of attorney's fees. A provision in violation of this section is unenforcea…

A licensed lender may not renew a loan of one thousand dollars or less more than one time during any fifteen-month period where the dollars actually given to the customer is less than ten percent of the net outstanding loan balance at the time of renewal.

The parties to a loan other than a consumer loan may agree in a writing signed by the parties that the loan is subject to the provisions of this title applying to consumer loans. If the parties so agree, the loan is a consumer loan for the purposes of this title.

With respect to a loan other than a consumer loan, the parties may contract for the payment by the debtor of any loan finance charge, except as provided in Chapter 10.

This chapter shall be known and may be cited as South Carolina Consumer Protection Code - Insurance.

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), this chapter applies to insurance provided or to be provided in relation to a consumer credit sale (Section 37-2-104), a consumer lease (Section 37-2-106), or a consumer loan (Section 37-3-104). (2) The provision on cancellation by a cred…

In this title "consumer credit insurance" means insurance, other than insurance on property, by which the satisfaction of debt in whole or in part is a benefit provided, but does not include: (a) insurance provided in relation to a credit transaction in which a payment is schedul…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter and subject to the provisions on additional charges (Section 37-2-202 and Section 37-3-202) and maximum charges (in part 2 of Chapter 2 and parts 2 and 5 of Chapter 3), a creditor may agree to provide insurance, and may contract fo…

(A) If a creditor agrees with a debtor to provide insurance, the insurance shall be evidenced by an individual policy or certificate of insurance delivered to the debtor at the time of the transaction where the debtor is present at the creditor's place of business. If the debtor …

(1) In applying the provisions of this title on unconscionability (Sections 37-5-108 and 37-6-111) to a separate charge for insurance, consideration shall be given, among other factors, to: (a) potential benefits to the debtor including the satisfaction of his obligations; (b) th…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), if a creditor contracts for or receives a separate charge for insurance, the amount charged to the debtor for the insurance may not exceed the premium to be charged by the insurer, as computed at the time the charge to the debtor is deter…

(1) Upon prepayment in full of a consumer credit sale or consumer loan by the proceeds of consumer credit insurance, the debtor or his estate is entitled to a refund of any portion of a separate charge for insurance which by reason of prepayment is retained by the creditor or ret…

If a creditor requires insurance, upon notice to the creditor the debtor shall have the option of providing the required insurance through an existing policy of insurance owned or controlled by the debtor, or through a policy to be obtained and paid for by the debtor, but the cre…