South Carolina Agency and Non-agency Relationships
Thirteen of the fifty state items test agency. South Carolina's scheme is statutory and closed: five permissible relationships, written creation only, and a default that surprises most candidates.
The Five Permissible Relationships
Section 40-57-350(A) binds a firm acting under an agency agreement to loyalty, obedience, disclosure, confidentiality, reasonable care, diligence and accounting, and then closes the list of relationships a firm may establish: seller agency, buyer agency, disclosed dual agency, designated agency and transaction brokerage. Nothing else is available, and Section 40-57-350(B) requires the broker-in-charge to adopt a written company policy describing which of them the firm offers, how and when licensees disclose relationships, and how the firm complies with fair housing law.
Disclosed Dual Agency and Designated Agency
Dual agency needs prior informed written consent on the commission's promulgated form, which at the latest must be signed by the buyer before writing an offer and by the seller before signing the sales contract. A dual agent may pass relevant information but not a seller's willingness to take less, a buyer's willingness to pay more, undisclosed negotiating strategy, or either party's motivation. Designated agency is created by the broker-in-charge assigning different supervised licensees through an adopted company policy, with the commission's designated agency agreement signed by the buyer before the offer and the seller before the sales agreement. When that happens, Section 40-57-350(J)(8) makes the broker-in-charge, all remaining affiliated licensees and the firm dual agents — and (J)(5) says no separate dual agency form is needed, because consent sits in the designated agency agreement.
Transaction Brokerage and the Customer Default
A transaction broker owes a customer honesty and fair dealing, accounting for funds, skill, care and diligence, disclosure of material adverse facts not readily ascertainable, prompt presentation of written offers and counteroffers, and limited confidentiality — which Section 40-57-350(L)(2)(f) allows to be waived only in writing by the party. The highest-yield rule in the chapter is Section 40-57-370(C): at first substantive contact the potential buyer or seller is presumed a customer and the firm presumed a transaction broker, until an agency representation agreement is signed.
Creation, Disclosure and Termination
Section 40-57-370(E) is absolute: no agency exists unless the party and the firm agree in writing, and no agency may be assumed or created orally or by implication. Payment of compensation does not decide the question. Section 40-57-370(A) requires a meaningful explanation of the firm's brokerage relationships plus the commission's Disclosure of Brokerage Relationships form at the first practical opportunity on substantive contact, with only two exemptions in subsection (G): rental or lease transactions, and communications that solicit business. When the relationship ends, Section 40-57-380 leaves only two duties standing — timely accounting for money and property received, and confidentiality of information the client asked to be kept confidential.
State-specific details
State exam facts
- State regulator
- South Carolina Real Estate Commission (LLR)
- Exam vendor
- PSI
- Prelicensing education
- 150 hours total (90 associate + 60 broker Unit III A/B)
- Passing score
- 60 of 80 points national; 36 of 50 state
Who regulates real estate brokers in South Carolina?
The South Carolina Real Estate Commission, within the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (LLR), licenses brokers and associates. (2024 Act No. 204 replaced the term "salesperson" with "associate" throughout Title 40, Chapter 57.) The Commission contracts with PSI to deliver the exams.
What experience do I need before the South Carolina broker exam?
Under S.C. Code § 40-57-320(A)(2)(a), a broker applicant takes 60 hours of approved instruction — the 30-hour Unit III A Broker Management and 30-hour Unit III B Brokerage Principles courses — and must have five years of active associate licensure within the past seven years, on top of the 90 associate hours. An applicant holding a juris doctor, a law degree, or a real estate baccalaureate or master's degree qualifies instead under subitem (b) without the experience requirement.
How is the South Carolina broker exam structured?
PSI delivers a 75-item national portion scored to 80 points (120 minutes) and a 50-item South Carolina state portion worth 50 points (80 minutes). Passing is published as points correct, not a percentage: 60 of 80 on the national portion and 36 of 50 on the state portion, and you must pass both.
Sources: https://llr.sc.gov/re/, https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/440, https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t40c057.php
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