Do you lose out when your vacation rental is sold? Here is what SC law says about it
You have been planning your vacation for months, maybe even a year, securing the perfect Airbnb way ahead of your trip to the Myrtle Beach area.
But unknown to you, the renter, the property has been sold and a new owner will take over before your scheduled vacation. What now?
Because of Horry County’s growing population and booming housing, it’s not unusual that beach rentals are bought and sold, especially if the property is in a desirable location like near the ocean or waterway.
However, because of similar incidents in which vacationing families traveled to visit the state only to find their rental had been sold and they no longer had a vacation place to stay, lawmakers passed the SC Vacation Rental Act in 2002 that was designed to protect the tourism industry’s reputation, according to the South Carolina Realtors.
A vacation rental refers to a rental period of less than 90 days. Vacation rentals are most commonly weekly rentals of a resort, condominium or Airbnb.
Lodging provided by hotels, motels, tourist camps, campgrounds or condominiums with multiple owners owning and managing individual units or groups that provide a front desk or office for customer service, a centralized phone system or housekeeping services do not fall under the rental act. That also includes timeshares or rental of residential property on a weekly or monthly basis.
The act requires the purchaser of properties that fall under the act to honor reservations beginning within 90 days after the deed of the sale is recorded.
However, if the reservation is more than 90 days after the recording of the purchase, then neither the seller or buyer have to enforce the terms of the vacation rental agreement, according to the law. But the tenant is due a refund of any payments toward the agreement within 45 days of the recording of the agreement.
And while you may be safe for your reservation during the purchase, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will get to keep the unit you picked out. If a purchaser wants to avoid such rentals, the seller could ask the management company to move such reservations to other available units. And while the management company is not required to do this, many will or will at least make the effort, according to the South Carolina Realtors.
The law also doesn’t guarantee that the renter will be notified that the vacation rental has been sold. The law does say that the seller has to disclose in writing to the rental management company the purchaser’s name and address no later than 14 days after entering into a contract. The law doesn’t specify that the management company must then notify those who secured a vacation rental.
There are no strict penalties under the act for those who don’t abide by it. A rental property and its owner could face disciplinary action by the South Carolina Real Estate Commission. And, of course, there could be possible lawsuits.
Complaints about rental properties can be filed with the South Carolina Real Estate Commission by using a form online.
