South Carolina HOA Assessments, Liens & Foreclosure (Declaration-Based; S.C. Code § 27-30-130)

Unlike many states, South Carolina's Homeowners Association Act (S.C. Code §§ 27-30-110 to 27-30-170, enacted 2018) does not create a statutory assessment lien or set foreclosure procedures. An association's power to levy assessments, record a lien, and foreclose flows from its recorded declaration and the South Carolina Nonprofit Corporation Act. Section 27-30-130 makes recording the threshold for enforceability: "in order to be enforceable, a homeowners association's governing documents must be recorded" in the clerk of court's, Register of Mesne Conveyance (RMC), or register of deeds office. An unrecorded declaration cannot be enforced, so an HOA cannot lien or foreclose for assessments without a properly recorded instrument. Foreclosure itself proceeds judicially under general South Carolina mortgage-foreclosure law.

No specific statutory penalty. The owner owes unpaid assessments plus whatever interest, late fees, and attorney's fees the recorded declaration authorizes. If the declaration grants a lien, the HOA may pursue judicial foreclosure under general state law, risking loss of the home.