Be honest about the size of this right before you rely on it: South Carolina does not give HOA members a broad statutory right to inspect every board file the way some states do. What it gives is narrower but real. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-30-150 pulls in the access-to-documents provisions of §§ 33-31-1602 through 33-31-1605 of the Nonprofit Corporation Act, and applies them to homeowners associations not otherwise subject to that Act, specifically for the purpose of letting homeowners inspect and copy the association's annual budget and its membership list. Separately, § 27-30-130(B) requires that any rule, regulation, or amendment be made accessible to a member who asks, by email or a bylaws-specified method that ensures actual notice, unless the association already keeps it posted in a common area or downloadable from a website.
Put those together and your floor as an HOA member is: the annual budget, the membership list, and current rules, on request. It does not, on its own text, guarantee access to board minutes, contracts, or a full financial ledger the way a broader records statute would. If your declaration or bylaws promise more, that promise is enforceable on its own terms; just don't assume state law hands you a general inspection right beyond this floor.
Condo owners get a real inspection right for the money
The Horizontal Property Act is more generous here. S.C. Code Ann. § 27-31-180 requires the administrator or board to keep a book, in chronological order, with a detailed account of the receipts and expenditures affecting the property, specifying maintenance and repair costs and any other expenses incurred. Critically, the statute doesn't stop at requiring the book to exist: both the book and the vouchers backing up every entry in it must be available for examination by all co-owners, at convenient hours on working days that are set and announced for general knowledge. That's a standing inspection right built into the statute, not just a recordkeeping duty. What the Act doesn't give you is an equivalent right to inspect meeting minutes; the bylaws only have to designate who keeps the minutes book, under § 27-31-160, without a parallel statutory right for owners to view it, so your declaration and bylaws are where that access, if it exists, actually comes from.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
S.C. Code Ann. § 27-30-150
Applies the Nonprofit Corporation Act's access-to-documents provisions to HOAs not otherwise subject to it, letting homeowners inspect and copy the annual budget and membership list.
S.C. Code Ann. § 27-30-130
Requires HOA rules, regulations, and amendments to be made accessible to members on request, by email, a bylaws method, posting, or a website.
S.C. Code Ann. § 27-31-180
Requires the condo administrator or board to keep a detailed, chronological receipts-and-expenditures book, with both the book and its supporting vouchers open for co-owner examination.
Step by step
How to request HOA or condo records in South Carolina
A practical path to get real documents out of a South Carolina association, using the specific rights the statute actually grants.
- 01
Confirm which act covers you
HOA and condo records rights differ sharply here. Identify whether you're under the Homeowners Association Act or the Horizontal Property Act before drafting your request.
- 02
HOA members: request the annual budget and membership list
Put it in writing, dated, and cite § 27-30-150. That section exists specifically to let you inspect and copy those two documents.
- 03
HOA members: separately request current rules and regulations
Ask for a copy of every rule the association claims is in effect, citing § 27-30-130's accessibility requirement. If a rule can't be produced, its enforceability is in question.
- 04
Condo owners: ask for the set examination hours
Request, in writing, the convenient hours the board has set and announced for examining the receipts-and-expenditures book and its vouchers under § 27-31-180, then show up and review them or request copies.
- 05
Document any denial or delay
If the association won't produce what these sections require, keep the dated written record. It supports a complaint to the SC Department of Consumer Affairs or, for a monetary dispute, a magistrate-court filing.
Straight answers
Common questions
What HOA records can I actually see in South Carolina?
Narrower than in many states. Section 27-30-150 guarantees the annual budget and the membership list, and § 27-30-130 guarantees current rules on request. It doesn't independently guarantee minutes, contracts, or a full ledger; check your declaration and bylaws for anything beyond that.
Can I inspect my condo association's financial records?
Yes. Section 27-31-180 requires the board to keep a detailed, chronological receipts-and-expenditures book and to make both the book and its supporting vouchers available for examination by all co-owners at set, announced hours.
Can the association refuse to show me a rule I supposedly broke?
Not and keep enforcing it. Section 27-30-130(B) requires rules and amendments to be made accessible to a member on request, or already posted or available online. A rule you can't get a copy of is on shaky ground as a basis for enforcement.
What if my association won't produce records the statute requires?
Document the written request and the refusal, then consider a complaint to the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs, which will log it and forward it to the association for a response, or raise it in magistrate court if it's tied to a monetary dispute.