Home Repair Consumer Protection Act

2025-2026 Bill 5056: Home Repair Consumer Protection Act - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 5056
STATUS INFORMATION
General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Jones, Rivers, Dillard, Burns, Wickensimer, D. Mitchell, Scott, Weeks and Willis
Document Path: LC-0341HDB26.docx
Introduced in the House on January 29, 2026
Currently residing in the House Committee on
Judiciary
Summary: Home Repair Consumer Protection Act
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

1/29/2026

House

Introduced and read first time (
House Journal-page 12
)

1/29/2026

House

Referred to Committee on
Judiciary
(
House Journal-page 12
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
01/29/2026

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS
BY ENACTING THE "HOME REPAIR CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT" BY ADDING CHAPTER 31 TO
TITLE 37 SO AS TO REQUIRE WRITTEN AND SIGNED CONTRACTS FOR CERTAIN HOME REPAIR
SERVICES, TO PROVIDE CERTAIN RIGHTS AND PROTECTIONS OF HOMEOWNERS WHO ENTER
INTO HOME REPAIR AGREEMENTS WITH HEIGHTENED PROTECTIONS FOR ELDERLY HOMEOWNERS,
TO CREATE THE OFFENSE OF HOME REPAIR FRAUD AND TO ESTABLISH PENALTIES, AND TO
ESTABLISH CERTAIN PROHIBITED ACTS OF CONTRACTORS OR THEIR AGENTS WHICH CONSTITUTE
AN UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICE.

B
e it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

S
ECTION 1.
T
itle 37 of the S.C. Code is
amended by adding:

C
HAPTER 31

H
ome Repair
Consumer Protection Act

S
ection
37-31-10
.
F
or purposes of this chapter:

(
1) "Contractor" means a general or
mechanical contractor licensed under Chapter 11, Title 40, or a residential
specialty contractor licensed under Article 1, Chapter 59, Title 40, who owns
and operates a home improvement business or who undertakes, offers to
undertake, or agrees to perform any home repair or improvement.

(
2) "Defect" means a deficiency in or a
deficiency arising out of the design, specifications, surveying, planning,
supervision, or observation of home repair work that results from any of the
following:

(
a) use of defective or substandard
materials, products, or components;

(
b) violation of the applicable
building codes in effect at the time of the home repair work;

(
c) failure to conduct home repair work
in accordance with accepted trade standards for good and workmanlike
construction at the time of construction;

(
d) material deviations from the terms
of the contract; or

(
e) creation of unsafe or uninhabitable
conditions.

(
3) "Home repair" means the fixing,
replacing, altering, converting, modernizing, improving of, or making of an
addition to any real property primarily designed or used as a residence, in
which the total price for all work agreed upon between the contractor and owner
is more than five hundred dollars.

(
a) "Home repair" includes the
construction, installation, replacement, or improvement of driveways, swimming
pools, porches, kitchens, chimneys, chimney liners, garages, fences, fallout
shelters, central air conditioning, central heating, boilers, furnaces, hot
water heaters, electrical wiring, sewers, plumbing fixtures, storm doors, storm
windows, awnings, and other improvements to structures within the residence or
upon the land adjacent to the residence.

(
b) "Home repair" does not include:

(
i) the sale, installation, cleaning,
or repair of carpets;

(
ii) the repair, installation,
replacement, or connection of any home appliance including, but not limited to,
disposals, refrigerators, ranges, garage door openers, televisions or
television antennas, washing machines, telephones, hot water heaters, satellite
dishes, or other appliances when the persons replacing, installing, repairing,
or connecting the home appliance are employees or agents of the merchant that
sold the home appliance or sold new products of the same type;

(
iii) landscaping; or

(
iv) the construction of a new home.

(
4) "Owner" means:

(
a) the owner of a private residence,
including any person authorized by an owner to act on the owner's behalf to
order, contract for, or purchase home repair work; or

(
b) a person entitled to the
performance of the work of a contactor pursuant to a home repair contract.

(
5) "Substantial completion" has the
meaning provided in Section
15-3-630
.

S
ection
37-31-20
.
(
A) Any contract or
agreement for home repair services described in this chapter in the amount of
one thousand dollars or more shall be in writing and signed by both parties.
The contract shall include:

(
1) the name, address, and phone number
of the contractor;

(
2) a description of the work to be
performed, the materials to be used, and a set of specifications that cannot be
changed without a written change order signed by the owner and the contractor;

(
3) the date of the transaction;

(
4) the total cost, including parts and
materials listed with reasonable particularity and any charge for an estimate;

(
5) the approximate start date and
completion date;

(
6) notice informing the owner of the
right to cancel the contract within three business days after the date the
contract was signed or, if the owner is sixty-two years of age or older, within
five business days; and

(
7) inform the owner that notice of
cancellation may be mailed or delivered to the contractor's address stated in
the contract, or by any alternative method agreed upon by the parties.

(
B) Failure by a contractor, their
agent, or another person subject to licensure under Chapters 11 or 59, Title 40
to provide the specified information, notices, and disclosures in the contract
is cause for discipline under Chapters 11 or 59, Title 40, as appropriate.

S
ection
37-31-30
. An owner who signs a home repair contract may cancel the contract
within three business days following the date on which the contract was signed
or, if the owner is sixty-two years of age or older, within five business days.
Notice of cancellation may be mailed or delivered to the contractor's address
stated in the contract, or by any other method agreed upon by the parties.

S
ection
37-31-40
.
(
A) A person commits the
offense of home repair fraud if he knowingly:

(
1) misrepresents a material fact
relating to the terms of the home repair contract or agreement or the
preexisting or existing condition of any portion of the property involved, or
creates or confirms another's impression which is false and which he does not
believe to be true, or promises performance which he does not intend to perform
or knows will not be performed;

(
2) uses or employs any deception,
false pretense, or false promises in order to induce, encourage, or solicit
each person to enter into any home repair contract or agreement;

(
3) enters into an unconscionable
agreement or contract requiring payment to the contractor of at least four
thousand dollars. A contract is unconscionable within the meaning of this
section when an unreasonable difference exists between the value of the
services, materials, and work to be performed and the amount charged for those
services, materials, and work. For purposes of this section, prima facie
evidence shall exist that the contract or agreement is unconscionable if the
total payment called for by the contract or agreement is in excess of four
times the fair market value for those services, materials, and work; or

(
4) damages the property of a person
with the intent to enter into an agreement or contract for home repair;

(
5) misrepresents himself or another to
be an employee or agent of any unit of the federal, state, or municipal
government or any other governmental unit, or an employee or agent of any
public utility, with the intent to cause a person to enter into, with himself
or another, any contract or agreement for home repair services;

(
6) damages a person's property with
the intent to induce, encourage, or solicit that person to enter into a written
or oral agreement for performing home repair services;

(
7) misrepresents an item as a special-order
material or misrepresents the cost of the special-order material;

(
8) alters a home repair contract,
agreement, or other document incident to performing or selling a home repair
service without the consent of the consumer; or

(
9) receives any advance payment for
performing home improvement services or providing home improvement materials
and fails to perform or provide such services or materials when specified in
the contract, taking into account any force majeure or unforeseen labor strike
that would extend the time frame, or unless extended by agreement with the
owner, and fails to return the payment received for such services or materials
which were not provided by that date.

(
B) A person who violates the
provisions of subsection (A) of this section is guilty:

(
1) of a misdemeanor if the amount
involved is two thousand dollars or less or if the amount involved cannot be
satisfactorily ascertained and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than
ten thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; or

(
2) of a felony if the amount involved
exceeds two thousand dollars and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than
fifty thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

S
ection
37-31-50
.
(
A) A person commits the
offense of aggravated home repair fraud when he commits home repair fraud
pursuant to Section
37-31-150
:

(
1) against an elderly person who is
sixty-two years of age or older or against a person with a disability; or

(
2) in connection with a home repair
project intended to benefit a person with a disability.

(
B) A person who violates the
provisions of subsection (A) is guilty of a felony and:

(
1) if the amount involved is two
thousand dollars or less, must be fined not more than twenty thousand dollars
or imprisoned not more than five years, or both; or

(
2) if the amount involved exceeds two
thousand dollars, must be fined not more than fifty thousand dollars or
imprisoned not more than fifteen years, or both.

S
ection
37-31-60
.
(
A) No person shall:

(
1) fail to refund the amount paid for
home repair services within ten business days of receipt of a written request
for a refund if no substantial portion of the contracted work has been
performed at the time of the request and more than forty-five days have elapsed
since the starting date specified in the home repair contract;

(
2) abandon or fail to perform, without
justification, any home repair contract or project undertaken by a contractor;

(
3) deviate from or disregard plans or
specifications, in any material respect, without a written change order dated
and signed by both the contractor and the owner, which contains accompanying
price changes for each deviation;

(
4) advertise or offer, by any means,
to perform home repair services if the person does not intend to:

(
a) accept a home repair contract;

(
b) perform the home repair services;
or

(
c) charge for the home repair services
at the price advertised or offered;

(
5) demand or receive any payment for
home repair services before the home repair contract is signed; or

(
6) subsequent to entering into a
contract for home repair services or materials, change the name or contractor's
business, liability insurance information, the contractor's business address,
or any other identifying information in a fraudulent or deceptive manner likely
to cause confusion or misunderstanding without advising the owner in writing
within ten days following any such change.

(
B) A violation of any provision of
this section is an unfair trade practice under the South Carolina Consumer
Protection Code in Chapter 6 of this title.

S
ECTION
2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

----XX----

This web page was last updated on January 29, 2026 at 10:44 AM