COLUMBIA, S.C. – In celebration of the Homeowners Association (HOA) Law’s fifth anniversary, the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs (SCDCA) is releasing a compilation of the HOA complaint data received from June 1, 2018 through December 31, 2022. The HOA Five-Year Complaint Report covers general complaint data and information from the HOA supplemental questionnaire, shows any trends that have developed over the last five years and maps the complaints per county. Some of the highlights include:

• The Department received 1,182 complaints regarding HOAs from June 1, 2018 - December 31, 2022. Complaints received increased year over year.
• Horry County took the top spot for the most complaints filed overall and complaints filed by county per capita.
• The top complaint concern was a failure to adhere to and/or enforce covenants and bylaws (24%); followed by concerns regarding maintenance or repairs (14%) and a failure to notify residents of Board actions (11%).
• State agency oversight was the number one recommendation for enforcing governing documents (28.11%).
• Less than 5% of complaints were closed as "Unsatisfied" due to a business's failure to respond.

SCDCA held a webinar that covered the report. You can watch the replay on our YouTube channel and sort by latest: https://www.youtube.com/@SCDCATV/videos.

Changes to state law in 2018 require SCDCA to collect certain data from complaints involving homeowners’ associations and report it annually. Each report is presented in a categorized, filterable, and searchable format and can be viewed in its entirety by visiting consumer.sc.gov and clicking on News, then Reports.

SCDCA processes and mediates consumer complaints against businesses regulated by DCA, refers complaints that fall within another agency’s jurisdiction and mediates those complaints against businesses that are unregulated. To file a complaint, visit our website and click “How Do I…” then the “File a Complaint?” option.