MEETING RULES: SOUTH CAROLINA
South Carolina meeting rules,
between elections.
South Carolina’s Homeowners Association Act is short and leaves the meeting itself to the Nonprofit Corporation Act, whose safe harbor is notice no fewer than 10 and no more than 60 days before any members meeting.
The homeowners act adds three things of its own: 48 hours of notice before a meeting that raises the annual budget in an unincorporated association, rules recorded with the county by January 10, and inspection rights that reach the budget and the membership list in every association.
Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice.
Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Reviewed on Oct 12, 2026
NOTICE
Notice for the annual meeting in South Carolina
Days below are counted back from the meeting date. Where the statute sets a ceiling as well as a floor, the notice has to land inside the window, not simply before it.
Incorporated association
South Carolina Nonprofit Corporation Act
| Notice | The rule | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Annual, regular or special meeting | 10 to 60 days beforeA corporation gives notice of members meetings in a fair and reasonable manner consistent with its bylaws. The act’s safe harbor is notice of the place, date and time no fewer than 10 and no more than 60 days before the meeting. A special meeting notice describes the matter the meeting is called for, and an annual meeting notice describes any matter the act requires the members to approve.How it travels: Any fair and reasonable manner consistent with the bylaws. Where the notice is mailed by anything other than first class or registered mail, the floor becomes 30 days. | S.C. Code §33-31-705(a), (c) |
Unincorporated homeowners association
South Carolina Homeowners Association Act
| Notice | The rule | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting that raises the annual budget | No day count in the statuteThis one is counted in hours. Before an association that is not incorporated under the Nonprofit Corporation Act increases its annual budget in any single year, it gives homeowners notice at least 48 hours ahead of the meeting where that decision is made.How it travels: Posted in a conspicuous place in a common area or on the association’s website, sent by email, or given by a bylaw method that ensures actual notice. | S.C. Code §27-30-140 |
Worked example: a meeting on Dec 1, 2026
- Incorporated association, annual, regular or special meeting: for a meeting on Dec 1, 2026, notice goes out between Oct 2 and Nov 21, 2026.
That is arithmetic on the day counts above, nothing more. Your bylaws may ask for longer, weekends and holidays are not adjusted for, and a date is not a ruling on your meeting.
BOARD MEETINGS
Board meetings in South Carolina
Open to homeowners: your documents
The nonprofit act’s sections on directors’ meetings cover where the board meets, how it is noticed and how a director joins remotely. They say nothing about homeowners attending, and neither does the Homeowners Association Act, so the question is one for your governing documents.
Regular or special
A directors’ meeting is a regular meeting when its date, time and place are fixed by the bylaws or by the board. Every other meeting of the board is a special meeting, and that label is what decides whether the two-day notice applies.
Incorporated association
South Carolina Nonprofit Corporation Act
| Notice | The rule | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Special board meeting | At least 2 days beforeUnless the articles or bylaws provide otherwise, a regular board meeting, one whose date, time and place the bylaws or the board fixed, may be held without notice. A special meeting takes at least two days of notice to each director of the date, time and place, and the notice does not have to state the purpose. The presiding officer, the president or at least twenty percent of the directors in office may call one. | S.C. Code §33-31-822(a), (b), (d) |
MINUTES AND RECORDS
Minutes and records in South Carolina
Five business days
A member may inspect and copy the core records kept at the principal office on written notice given at least five business days before the date the member wants to do it, at a reasonable time and place the corporation names. The same five business days apply to accounting records, the membership list and excerpts of the minutes, and for those the demand also has to be in good faith, for a proper purpose, and describe the purpose and the records with reasonable particularity.
Minutes are permanent
Minutes of every meeting of the members and of the board, and a record of every action taken without a meeting, are kept as permanent records. A copy of the members meeting minutes and of every written communication to the members generally for the past three years stays at the principal office, with the articles, the bylaws and the current list of directors and officers.
What a copy costs
The corporation may make a reasonable charge covering labor and material for copies, and the charge may not exceed the estimated cost of producing them. A member’s agent or attorney has the same inspection and copying rights as the member.
Unincorporated associations too
An association that is not subject to the Nonprofit Corporation Act still owes its homeowners the same inspection and copying rights for two documents: the annual budget and the membership list.
Rules, posted and recorded
Rules and regulations take effect when they are adopted. They have to be made accessible to a member who asks, unless they are posted in a conspicuous place in a common area or can be downloaded from the association’s website. To remain enforceable they are recorded with the county by January 10 of the year after they are adopted or amended.
PROXIES AND QUORUM
Proxies and quorum in South Carolina
Ten percent represented
Unless the act, the articles or the bylaws set a higher or lower figure, ten percent of the votes entitled to be cast on a matter have to be represented at a members meeting to make a quorum on that matter. A member may be represented by a proxy unless the articles or bylaws prohibit or limit proxy voting.
A proxy lasts eleven months
A member appoints a proxy by signing an appointment form. It takes effect when the secretary or whoever tabulates the votes receives it, lasts eleven months unless the form expressly sets a different period, and is never valid past three years from the day it was signed. The member may revoke it.
Adjourned meetings
Unless the bylaws require otherwise, when a members meeting is adjourned to a different date, time or place, no new notice is needed if the new date, time or place is announced at the meeting before it adjourns.
REMOTE MEETINGS
Meeting by phone or screen in South Carolina
Directors by phone or screen
Unless the articles or bylaws provide otherwise, the board may let any or all directors take part in a regular or special meeting, or hold the whole meeting, by any means of communication that lets all the participating directors hear each other at the same time. A director who takes part that way is deemed present in person.
NEXT
What to do with this.
This page adds what the election page does not: The 10 to 60 day safe harbor, the two-day notice for a special board meeting, the five business day inspection notice, permanent minutes and the January 10 recording deadline for rules. The ballot rules for South Carolina stay where they already are, on vote.direct, and that page is linked below.
Reading a statute is not the same as running a meeting. Send us your roster and we set your community up on the phone, in one sitting. Call or text (512) 222-8191.
THE OTHER STATES
Meeting rules we have read elsewhere.
Same treatment on each: a primary source per fact, a link per citation, and the date the reading happened.
Arizona
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 50 days
California
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 90 days
Colorado
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 50 days
Florida
Annual meeting notice: At least 14 days
Nevada
Annual meeting notice: 15 to 60 days
Texas
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
Maryland
Annual meeting notice: No day count in the statute
Washington
Annual meeting notice: 14 to 50 days
Virginia
Annual meeting notice: At least 14 days
New York
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 50 days
North Carolina
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
Pennsylvania
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
Michigan
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
Connecticut
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
Idaho
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 60 days
Wisconsin
Annual meeting notice: At least 10 days
Illinois
Annual meeting notice: 10 to 30 days
QUESTIONS
South Carolina board questions, answered
How much notice does a South Carolina association have to give for the annual meeting?
A corporation gives notice of members meetings in a fair and reasonable manner consistent with its bylaws. The act’s safe harbor is notice of the place, date and time no fewer than 10 and no more than 60 days before the meeting. A special meeting notice describes the matter the meeting is called for, and an annual meeting notice describes any matter the act requires the members to approve. For a meeting on Dec 1, 2026, that puts the notice between oct 2 and nov 21, 2026. That is arithmetic on the statute, not a ruling on your meeting. S.C. Code §33-31-705(a), (c). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Are South Carolina HOA board meetings open to homeowners?
The nonprofit act’s sections on directors’ meetings cover where the board meets, how it is noticed and how a director joins remotely. They say nothing about homeowners attending, and neither does the Homeowners Association Act, so the question is one for your governing documents. S.C. Code §33-31-820; §33-31-822. Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
How much notice does a South Carolina board meeting need?
Unless the articles or bylaws provide otherwise, a regular board meeting, one whose date, time and place the bylaws or the board fixed, may be held without notice. A special meeting takes at least two days of notice to each director of the date, time and place, and the notice does not have to state the purpose. The presiding officer, the president or at least twenty percent of the directors in office may call one. S.C. Code §33-31-822(a), (b), (d). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
How fast does a South Carolina association have to answer a records request?
A member may inspect and copy the core records kept at the principal office on written notice given at least five business days before the date the member wants to do it, at a reasonable time and place the corporation names. The same five business days apply to accounting records, the membership list and excerpts of the minutes, and for those the demand also has to be in good faith, for a proper purpose, and describe the purpose and the records with reasonable particularity. S.C. Code §33-31-1602(a), (b), (c). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
How long does a South Carolina association have to keep its records?
Minutes of every meeting of the members and of the board, and a record of every action taken without a meeting, are kept as permanent records. A copy of the members meeting minutes and of every written communication to the members generally for the past three years stays at the principal office, with the articles, the bylaws and the current list of directors and officers. S.C. Code §33-31-1601(a), (e). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Can a South Carolina association hold its meeting online?
Unless the articles or bylaws provide otherwise, the board may let any or all directors take part in a regular or special meeting, or hold the whole meeting, by any means of communication that lets all the participating directors hear each other at the same time. A director who takes part that way is deemed present in person. S.C. Code §33-31-820(c). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Do proxies count toward a quorum in South Carolina?
Unless the act, the articles or the bylaws set a higher or lower figure, ten percent of the votes entitled to be cast on a matter have to be represented at a members meeting to make a quorum on that matter. A member may be represented by a proxy unless the articles or bylaws prohibit or limit proxy voting. S.C. Code §33-31-722(a); §33-31-724(a). Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice. Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Does governance.center tell us our South Carolina meeting was properly noticed?
No, and it never will. We show you the statute, the date the arithmetic produces and the section it came from, so your board and your attorney can check our work. Your bylaws may set a longer period than the state does, and where they do, the bylaws govern. We never tell a board that it is compliant.
Our reading, to support your review, not legal advice.
Confirm with your attorney before the board acts.
Your bylaws may ask for a longer period than the state does, and where they do, the bylaws govern. We never tell a board that it is compliant. If something here does not match what your attorney reads, call (512) 222-8191 and tell us. We will correct it.