South Carolina § 34-39-180 - Restrictions and requirements for deferred presentment or deposit of check.

§ 34-39-180. Restrictions and requirements for deferred presentment or deposit of check.

(A) A licensee may defer the presentment or deposit of a check for up to thirty-one days pursuant to the provisions of this section.

(B) The total amount advanced by a licensee to any customer at one time for deferred presentment or deposit may not exceed five hundred fifty dollars, exclusive of the fees allowed in Section 34-39-180(E). A licensee may not advance to a customer an amount for deferred presentment or deposit which causes this limit to be exceeded by the customer.

(C) Each check must be documented by a written agreement signed by both the customer and the licensee. The written agreement must contain the name or trade name of the licensee, the transaction date, the amount of the check, and a statement of the total amount of fees charged, expressed both as a dollar amount and as an effective annual percentage rate (APR). The written agreement must authorize expressly the licensee to defer presentment or deposit of the check until a specific date, not later than thirty-one days from the date the check is accepted by the licensee.

(D) The board shall require each licensee to issue a standardized consumer notification and disclosure form in compliance with state and federal truth-in-lending laws before entering into a deferred presentment agreement.

(E) A licensee shall not charge, directly or indirectly, a fee or other consideration in excess of fifteen percent of the principal amount of the transaction for accepting a check for deferred presentment or deposit. The fee or other consideration authorized by this subsection may be imposed only once for each written agreement. Records must be kept by each licensee with sufficient detail to ensure that the fee or other consideration authorized by this subsection may be imposed only once for each written agreement.

(F) A check accepted for deferred presentment or deposit pursuant to this chapter may not be repaid from the proceeds of another check accepted for deferred presentment or deposit by the same licensee or an affiliate of the licensee. A licensee shall not renew or otherwise extend presentment of a check or withhold the check from deposit, for old or new consideration, for a period beyond the time set forth in the written agreement with the customer.

(G) If a check is returned to the licensee from a payor financial institution due to insufficient funds, closed account, or stop payment order, the licensee may pursue all legally available civil means to collect the check except for the imposition of a returned check charge. An individual who issues a personal check to a licensee under a deferred presentment agreement is not subject to criminal liability.

HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 433, SECTION 1, eff upon approval (became law without the Governor's signature on June 11, 1998); 2009 Act No. 78, SECTION 4, [see Editor's Note]; 2009 Act No. 78, SECTIONS 8, 9, eff June 16, 2009.

Editor's Note

2009 Act No.78, SECTION 11 provides as follows:

"SECTIONS 2, 3, and 4 [amending subsection (B) above] of this act take effect upon implementation of the common database as required in SECTION 1 [SECTION 34-39-175]. The remaining SECTIONS of this act take effect upon approval by the Governor.

Effect of Amendment

The 2009 amendment, in subsection (B), in the first sentence substituted "total amount advanced by a licensee to any customer at one time" for "face amount of a check taken" and "five hundred fifty dollars" for "three hundred dollars", and added the second sentence prohibiting advances causing the customer to exceed the limit; in subsection (E), in the first sentence substituted "principal amount of the transaction" for "face amount of the check"; and, in subsection (G), in the first sentence substituted "except for" for "including, but not limited to," and deleted at the end "as provided in Section 34-11-70(a), except that the service charge imposed by the licensee shall not exceed the lesser of ten dollars of the fee imposed by the financial institution on the licensee for the returned check".