2.4 Fair Housing in South Carolina
Key Takeaways
- The federal Fair Housing Act protects seven classes: race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability
- South Carolina enacted its own Fair Housing Law in 1989 (Act No. 72; S.C. Code Title 31, Chapter 21); its protected classes mirror the federal seven
- The South Carolina Human Affairs Commission (SCHAC), not SCREC, administers and enforces state fair-housing complaints under Section 31-21-120
- Prohibited practices include steering, blockbusting, refusing to rent or sell, and discriminatory advertising
- An administrative complaint must be filed with HUD or SCHAC within 180 days (about six months) of the discriminatory act; a private federal lawsuit runs two years
Two Layers of Fair Housing Law
Fair housing in South Carolina is governed by two parallel laws that a salesperson must obey at the same time.
- The federal Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended by the 1988 Fair Housing Amendments Act) applies nationwide.
- The South Carolina Fair Housing Law, enacted in 1989 (Act No. 72) and codified at S.C. Code Title 31, Chapter 21, largely mirrors the federal statute and gives the state its own administering agency. Its short title appears at Section 31-21-10, and key definitions (including the meaning of "Commission" and "handicap") sit at Section 31-21-30.
Because the state law tracks the federal one, the protected classes are the same seven under both. The exam tests them as a fixed list — memorize it cold.
| # | Protected class | Examples of prohibited conduct |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Race | Refusing to show homes in certain neighborhoods to a buyer of a given race |
| 2 | Color | Treating applicants differently based on skin tone |
| 3 | Religion | Declining a rental because of the applicant's faith |
| 4 | National origin | Imposing extra requirements on immigrants |
| 5 | Sex | Including gender, and per HUD guidance, sexual orientation and gender identity |
| 6 | Familial status | Refusing to rent to families with children under 18, or pregnant persons |
| 7 | Disability (handicap) | Refusing reasonable accommodations or modifications |
Trap: South Carolina's state list does not add classes beyond the federal seven (Section 31-21-30 uses the older term handicap for disability). Distractor answers that throw in "age," "marital status," or "source of income" as statewide protected classes are wrong for the SC exam, even though some local ordinances may add them.
Familial Status: The Details the Exam Probes
Familial status protects households with one or more children under age 18 living with a parent or legal custodian, anyone securing custody of such a child, and pregnant persons. It is what makes "adults only" or "no children" rental policies illegal in ordinary housing. The narrow exception is housing for older persons under the federal Housing for Older Persons Act (HOPA): a community may lawfully exclude children only if it qualifies as 62-or-older (all residents) or 55-or-older (at least 80% of units occupied by someone 55+, with policies demonstrating intent to serve older residents).
That age limit is an exception to familial-status protection, not a separate protected class.
Disability: Reasonable Accommodations vs. Modifications
The disability provisions are tested heavily because two similar-sounding duties have opposite cost rules:
| Duty | Meaning | Who pays in private housing |
|---|---|---|
| Reasonable accommodation | A change to rules, policies, or services (e.g., waiving a no-pets rule for a service/assistance animal, or a reserved parking space) | The housing provider absorbs it |
| Reasonable modification | A physical change to the unit or common area (e.g., a wheelchair ramp, grab bars, lowered counters) | The tenant pays, and may have to restore the interior on move-out |
New multifamily buildings of four or more units built for first occupancy after March 1991 must also meet federal design-and-construction accessibility standards. A service or assistance animal is not a "pet," so pet deposits and no-pet rules cannot be applied to it.
Who Enforces What
This is the single most common South Carolina-specific fair-housing point: SCREC does not handle fair-housing complaints. They go to the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission (SCHAC), the state agency that administers both the Human Affairs Law and the Fair Housing Law. SCHAC investigates, attempts conciliation, and can pursue enforcement; because it is a HUD-substantially-equivalent agency, HUD often refers South Carolina complaints to it.
| Forum | What it handles | Deadline to file |
|---|---|---|
| SCHAC (state) | South Carolina Fair Housing Law complaints (Section 31-21-120) | Within 180 days (about 6 months) of the act |
| HUD (federal) | Federal Fair Housing Act complaints | Within 1 year of the act |
| SCREC | License-law discipline of the agent (separate track) | Per license-law procedure |
| Federal court | Private civil lawsuit | Within 2 years of the act |
Trap: The SC state administrative window under Section 31-21-120 is 180 days, shorter than the federal HUD one-year window. A choice that says "file with SCHAC within one year" is the federal HUD figure, not the South Carolina statutory one.
A single discriminatory act can trigger more than one track at once: SCHAC or HUD can pursue the housing-discrimination claim while SCREC separately disciplines the licensee's license. The exam likes to make you separate the housing remedy (SCHAC/HUD/court) from the license remedy (SCREC).
Prohibited Practices Licensees Must Know
| Practice | Definition |
|---|---|
| Steering | Directing buyers toward or away from neighborhoods based on a protected class |
| Blockbusting | Inducing owners to sell by suggesting a protected class is moving into the area (also called panic selling) |
| Redlining | A lender refusing to lend, or insurer to insure, in certain areas based on protected-class composition |
| Discriminatory advertising | Stating a preference, limitation, or discrimination based on a protected class |
| Refusal to deal | Refusing to sell, rent, or negotiate because of a protected class |
| Different terms | Offering different prices, terms, services, or facilities based on a protected class |
Advertising Rules
Fair-housing advertising rules reach the words and images a licensee uses. Phrases such as "perfect for a young Christian couple," "adult community," "no kids," or "ideal for a mature single" signal a protected-class preference and are violations even without intent to harm. Listings should describe the property, not the buyer ("two bedrooms, fenced yard"), and many firms add the Equal Housing Opportunity logo/slogan to advertising. Imagery that shows only one demographic of residents can itself imply a preference.
Worked scenario: A buyer who uses a wheelchair asks to install a ramp at a rented unit. Under the disability provisions the landlord must permit the reasonable modification at the tenant's expense (and may require restoration of the interior, not the exterior, on move-out) and grant reasonable accommodations to rules and services. Flatly refusing either is a violation the tenant can take to SCHAC or HUD within 180 days.
Exemptions and the Agent's Limits
The federal Act exempts some owner-occupied buildings of four or fewer units (the "Mrs. Murphy" exemption) and certain single-family sales by an owner who owns three or fewer homes and uses no broker — but every exemption evaporates the moment a real estate licensee is involved or discriminatory advertising is used.
So for a salesperson, the practical rule is blunt: there is no fair-housing exemption when you are acting as the agent. Even if a seller or landlord instructs you to discriminate ("don't show it to families with kids"), you must refuse; following an unlawful instruction makes the licensee personally liable and is independent grounds for SCREC discipline.
Exam tip: Housing-for-older-persons (55+ or 62+) communities are the one place an age-based limit on children is permitted, and it is an exception to familial-status protection, not a new protected class. Steering, blockbusting, and discriminatory ads are never exempt for a licensee.
Which state agency investigates fair-housing discrimination complaints in South Carolina?
A licensee tells a buyer, 'You wouldn't be comfortable in that neighborhood — let me show you homes where people like you live.' What prohibited practice is this?
How many protected classes does the South Carolina Fair Housing Law recognize, and how do they compare to federal law?
Within what time must a discrimination complaint be filed with the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission under Section 31-21-120?
A tenant who uses a wheelchair asks the landlord of a private rental for permission to install grab bars and a ramp. How does fair-housing law treat this request?