South Carolina HOA Fines: Declaration-Based; Magistrate-Court Jurisdiction (S.C. Code § 27-30-160)

The South Carolina Homeowners Association Act does not authorize, cap, or set procedures for fines; an association's penalty power exists only if its recorded declaration grants it. Section 27-30-160 provides that "the magistrates court shall have concurrent jurisdiction to adjudicate monetary disputes arising under this article," provided the dispute meets the jurisdictional requirements of § 22-3-10 — a $7,500 ceiling. This gives homeowners and associations a lower-cost forum for fine and assessment disputes than circuit court. Because fines are governed by the declaration, the notice an owner receives depends on the recorded documents and the nonprofit-governance rules, not a fixed statutory notice-and-hearing scheme. To be enforceable at all, the declaration imposing any penalty must be recorded (§ 27-30-130).

No specific statutory penalty cap. Fine amounts and any notice or hearing rights derive from the recorded declaration and bylaws. Disputes over money owed may be heard in magistrates court under § 27-30-160 up to the $7,500 jurisdictional limit, or in circuit court above it.