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South Carolina · S.C. Code §27-1-70South Carolina transfer fee covenants: unenforceable since 2012, and older ones only with a recorded notice

South Carolina treats a transfer fee covenant – a provision, recorded or not, that runs with the land and requires a buyer or seller to pay a fee to a third person on a transfer – as an unreasonable restraint on alienation that impairs marketable title (S.C. Code §27-1-70(A)(4), (B)). A transfer fee covenant recorded after the section took effect on February 1, 2012, and any lien securing a transfer fee, is not binding on or enforceable against the property or any later owner, purchaser or mortgagee (§27-1-70(C)). A covenant recorded earlier is valid only if a separate Notice of Transfer Fee Covenant was filed in each county within 180 days, in at least 14-point bold, stating the amount or basis of the fee, dollar examples for homes priced at $250,000, $500,000 and $750,000, when it expires and how to pay (§27-1-70(D)). Excluded are one-time payments under a purchase contract, option, mortgage or listing that do not bind later owners, lender assumption fees, broker commissions, the actual cost of copying association documents, association fees used only for authorized purposes, fees to certain charitable community organizations, and conservation easement payments; government charges are not transfer fees (§27-1-70(A)(3)-(4)).

What the statute sets

  1. After Feb. 1, 2012 (§27-1-70(C))

    Covenant and any lien for the fee bind no later owner, buyer or mortgagee.

  2. Older covenants (§27-1-70(D))

    Valid only with a Notice of Transfer Fee Covenant filed in each county within 180 days.

  3. Notice contents (§27-1-70(D))

    Amount, $250k/$500k/$750k examples, expiration, payment instructions.

  4. Excluded (§27-1-70(A)(4))

    One-time contract payments, lender and broker fees, association and charitable community fees.

What the TC does when a South Carolina title search shows a transfer fee

  • Check whether the covenant was recorded after February 1, 2012 – then it binds no one.
  • For an older covenant, look for a Notice of Transfer Fee Covenant filed in the county within the 180 days.
  • Separate permitted association fees and document copy costs from a third-party transfer fee.

Questions about South Carolina transfer fee covenants

Are private transfer fees enforceable in South Carolina?

Not under a covenant recorded after February 1, 2012; it and any lien securing the fee bind no later owner, purchaser or mortgagee (S.C. Code §27-1-70(C)).

Can a South Carolina HOA still charge a fee at resale?

A fee payable to an association and used only for purposes authorized in its documents, with nothing passed through to a third party, is not a transfer fee covenant, nor is the actual cost of copying governing documents for closing (S.C. Code §27-1-70(A)(4)).

Related guides

Track title objections such as transfer fee covenants as tasks on the deal in ClosingCode.

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Source: S.C. Code §27-1-70 (scstatehouse.gov), read October 31, 2026.

General information, not legal advice. ClosingCode is software; it is not a law firm or brokerage. This guide is not a substitute for the advice or services of an attorney.