Restrictions for Renters and Pets in SC

Art

SC Horizontal Property Act

SECTION 27-31-170. Compliance with bylaws, rules, and regulations; remedy for noncompliance.

Each co-owner shall comply strictly with the bylaws and with the administrative rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, as either of the same may be lawfully amended from time to time, and with the covenants, conditions and restrictions set forth in the master deed or lease or in the deed or lease to his apartment. Failure to comply with any of the same shall be grounds for a civil action to recover sums due for damages or injunctive relief, or both, maintainable by the administrator or the board of administration, or other form of administration specified in the bylaws, on behalf of the council of co-owners, or in a proper case, by an aggrieved co-owner.

A co-owner is the owner of a unit in a building, be it one or more people.

I say the part about pets is enforceable especially if it was there from the get go thus each owner(s) agreed to it when they purchased.

Pet restrictions are quite common. Some associtions do not even allow pets. Others have restriction on size, types, amounts, etc.

The Horizontal Property Act deals with high rise condo buildings only. SC did try and pass regulations about HOA's (Townhouses, stand alone houses, etc.) but thankfully, it never made it out of committee.

A HOA can not interfere with a contract between the owner and their tenant. This pet rule would be overstepping these bounds, A HOA may be able to restrict the owner pet rights but not of their tenants, That isn't to say the HOA has no say. They just have to have that say against the homeowner who is responsible for the tenant adhering to the HOA rules.

Your HOA also needs to have a set fine schedule for violators to enforce the rules. Without a dedicated fining schedule, it could be nearly impossible to enforce anything. The other poster is correct that if one choose to challenge this rule they most likely would win.

In the HOAs we manage all have rules which owners must follow. If they have a lessee residing on the property and that lessee or any other resident of the unit breaks a rule restriction in the CC&Rs or the Rules and Regulations it is the owner who is subject to a fine. It is the owners responsibility to educate the lessee on the restrictions and under their lease agreement they need to have wording which allows them to evict if the lessee fails to comply with the restrictions. For quality of living of onsite owners all HOAs need the right to fine the owner until it is less costly for the lessor to get rid of bad renters.

I see where the PM is coming from. It almost seems that your applying the no pets rule to only renters. It would seem like the renter would be treated the same as an owner here. Most condos have a pet rule that restricts the number and the weight of the animal and most of them now have pet registration in order to monitor this.