Statutes Governing Licensee and Non-Licensee Activity
Sixteen of the fifty state items — the largest single area — sit in Sections 40-57-135, 40-57-136, 40-57-725 and 40-57-820: advertising, supervision, offers, records, trust money, penalties and work product.
Broker-in-Charge Duties, Records and Advertising
Section 40-57-135(A) lists eight duties: supervise, review and approve the firm's forms, keep regular contact with supervised licensees, be available to the public, maintain a written office policy, ensure every supervised licensee holds an active license, control an active trust account when holding others' funds, and notify the commission by mail within ten days of any change of office name, address, email address or telephone number. Subsection (D) requires leases, sales contracts and addenda, listing and buyer agency agreements, transaction broker agreements, options, property management agreements and residential property disclosure forms to be kept for a minimum of five years, electronically if a backup is stored off-site. Since 15 May 2025, Section 40-57-135(E)(2) requires an advertisement to identify the full name of the brokerage firm employing and supervising the licensee; on the internet that may be met by a link to the brokerage's homepage.
Offers, Agreements and Unlicensed Assistants
Offers and counteroffers must be in writing, dated and signed, promptly presented, with changes initialed (Section 40-57-135(I)(4)). If an offer is rejected without counter, the commission's offer rejection form, signed by the licensee affirming presentation, must reach the offeror within forty-eight hours. Section 40-57-135(I)(9) makes a residential service agreement lasting over a year unenforceable and done in bad faith if it runs with the land or binds future owners, allows assignment without the owner's consent, or creates a lien or is recorded — home warranties, options, HOA maintenance agreements and mortgage commitments are carved out by (I)(10). Under (J)(4) a management agreement may carry an automatic renewal clause only if either party may cancel for any cause or no cause on thirty days' notice after the original definite expiration date. Section 40-57-135(K) lists ten things an unlicensed assistant may not do, including hosting an open house, approving applications or lease terms, explaining agreements, and showing property other than vacant units in a multifamily building.
Trust Accounts
Section 40-57-136 requires a demand deposit account titled with "trust" or "escrow" at an insured South Carolina institution, forbids commingling beyond a clearly identified amount for bank charges, and requires funds a licensee receives to reach the broker-in-charge no later than the following business day. Deposit clocks differ: rental and lease checks go in within forty-eight hours after the lease is signed, sales and exchange checks within forty-eight hours after written acceptance of the offer, while cash and certified funds run forty-eight hours from receipt — Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays excluded throughout. Records are kept five years and the system must include a monthly reconciliation with a written worksheet comparing the reconciled bank balance, the journal balance and the ledger total.
Disputes, Wholesaling, Citations and AI
Where entitlement to trust funds is disputed, subsection (E) holds the money until a written agreement signed by all claimants and separate from the contract, an interpleader action, a court order, or voluntary mediation resolves it — the broker never decides. Wholesaling, defined in Section 40-57-30(44) as contracting to buy residential real estate and then marketing that property before taking ownership, is prohibited to a firm and its subagents by Sections 40-57-350(A) and (L)(5); assigning or offering to assign the contractual right to purchase is expressly outside the definition. Section 40-57-725 lets the department cite any individual or entity, including unlicensed persons, for up to $500 on a first violation, $1,000 on a second within five years and $10,000 on a third, appealable to the commission within ten days and payable within thirty. Section 40-57-820 makes a licensee responsible for work product produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence as if the violation were committed directly.
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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