South Carolina DCA: HOA complaints rose to 617 in 2024; 7‑year report shows enforcement, maintenance and records as top issues

Carrie Groovy Lybarger, administrator and consumer advocate for the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs, presented the agency’s 2024 homeowner association complaint summary and a seven‑year compilation during a Wednesday webinar, outlining complaint counts, top issues and common closing dispositions.

The report shows the agency received 617 complaints against homeowners associations in 2024. Since the Department began collecting HOA complaints in June 2018, it recorded more than 2,300 complaints; 1,811 were included in the formal seven‑year compilation after excluding duplicates, referrals and submissions that did not include the required supplemental questionnaire.

Lybarger emphasized the Department’s role as a complaint intake and education agency. “We do not administer the act, and we do not enforce the homeowners association act,” she said. The Department collects data required by law, attempts voluntary mediation when appropriate, and forwards trends to the governor and the General Assembly in an annual report.

Key 2024 and seven‑year findings presented by the agency:

- Complaint counts: 617 in 2024; annual counts rose from 92 (half year in 2018) to 617 in 2024. The seven‑year total reported in the compilation was more than 2,300 complaints received and 1,811 complaints included in the report after exclusions.

- Top issue categories (2024 highlights and seven‑year composite): failure to adhere to or selectively enforce covenants and bylaws (roughly 17.3% in 2024; 18.4% in the seven‑year set), maintenance and repair concerns (about 15.1% in 2024; 12.3% over seven years), and disputes over HOA fees or special assessments (one of the top categories; 7.2% over the seven years).

- Complaint outcomes in 2024: of those that qualified for the report, 67% were closed with a satisfactory business response; 9.7% were closed unsatisfied (largely due to nonresponse by at least one association); 15% were closed undetermined; and 17% were closed abandoned in 2024 (the latter largely tied to failure to complete the supplemental questionnaire).

The agency also summarized responses to statutory supplemental questions required with HOA complaints. Most filers reported they had been informed that membership was a condition of homeownership (86%) and that they had received governing documents (84%). About 80% said they understood their rights; roughly 96% said they had contacted the HOA before filing the DCA complaint.

Complaint filers also offered recommendations the Department recorded: 28% recommended more state agency oversight; 24% recommended mandatory internal dispute‑resolution procedures within associations; 18% suggested an ombudsman role; and 16% recommended stronger magistrate court authority to hear HOA disputes. Lybarger noted legislation introduced in the South Carolina House, identified in the webinar as House Bill 3350, contains provisions that echo some of those recommendations, including expanded dispute resolution, additional documentation requirements for HOA responses to DCA complaints, and clarifying magistrate court authority.

Lybarger cautioned that determining whether an HOA can take specific actions usually requires examination of multiple sources: the South Carolina Homeowners Association Act (2018), the South Carolina Nonprofit Corporation Act, the South Carolina Horizontal Property Regime Act (for condominiums), and an association’s governing documents (declaration, bylaws, covenants, conditions and restrictions). She repeated that the Department cannot compel HOAs to respond or require particular outcomes and that it cannot arbitrate disputes under statute.

The Department directs residents to its website (consumer.sc.gov) for complaint forms, the required supplemental HOA questionnaire, the downloadable Excel complaint dataset and the full PDF reports. Lybarger also noted the Department’s consumer education work, upcoming webinars (including a March session specifically on HOA law) and statewide shred‑day events listed on the agency calendar.

The presentation included county‑level complaint counts and per‑1,000‑resident rates; counties cited with higher complaint counts in the compilation included Horry, Richland, Charleston, Beaufort and Greenville, with higher per‑capita rates noted in counties such as Horry and Jasper. The Department said staff will continue refining categories in the supplemental questionnaire to better capture emerging complaint types.

The webinar was informational; no policy actions or formal votes were taken during the session.