For purposes of this chapter:
(1) "Accommodations" means any hotel or motel room, condominium or cooperative unit, cabin, lodge, apartment, or other private or commercial structure designed for occupancy by one or more individuals or a recreational vehicle campsite or campground.
(2) "Person" means any individual, corporation, firm, association, joint venture, partnership, trust estate, business trust, syndicate, fiduciary, and any other group or combination.
(3) "Contract" means the agreement between the seller and a purchaser: (a) setting forth the terms and conditions of the purchase and sale of an ownership interest in a vacation time sharing ownership plan, or (b) setting forth the terms and conditions of the purchase and sale of a lease or other right-to-use interest in a vacation time sharing lease plan.
(4) "Commission" means the South Carolina Real Estate Commission.
(5) "Facilities" means a structure, service, or property, whether improved or unimproved, made available to the purchaser for recreational, social, family, or personal use.
(6) "Seller" means a person who creates a vacation time sharing plan or is in the business of selling interests in a vacation timeshare plan, or employs agents to do the same, or a person who succeeds to the interest of a seller by sale, lease, assignment, mortgage, or other transfer; except that, the term includes only a person who offers interests in vacation time sharing plans in the State of South Carolina in the ordinary course of business. The term "seller" does not include the following:
(a) an owner of a time sharing interest who has acquired the time sharing interest for his own use and occupancy and who later offers it for resale on his own behalf or through a real estate broker;
(b) a managing entity or owners' association of a time sharing plan, not otherwise a seller, that offers on the association's behalf time sharing interests in the time sharing plan transferred to the association through foreclosure, deed in lieu of foreclosure, or gratuitous transfer; or
(c) a person who owns or is conveyed, assigned, or transferred time sharing interests, and who subsequently conveys, assigns, or transfers all acquired time sharing interests to a single purchaser in a single transaction, which transaction may occur in stages.
(7) "Vacation time sharing ownership plan" means any arrangement, plan, or similar devise, whether by tenancy in common, sale, term for years, deed, or other means, in which the purchaser receives an ownership interest in real property and the right to use accommodations or facilities, or both, for a period or periods of time during a given year, but not necessarily for consecutive years, which extends for a period of more than one year. A vacation time sharing ownership plan may be created in a condominium established on a term for years or leasehold interest having an original duration of thirty years or longer. An interest in a vacation time sharing ownership plan is recognized as an interest in real property for all purposes pursuant to the laws of this State.
(8) "Vacation time sharing lease plan" means any arrangement, plan, or similar devise, whether by membership agreement, lease, rental agreement, license, use agreement, security, or other means, in which the purchaser receives a right to use accommodations or facilities, or both, but does not receive an ownership interest in real property, for a period or periods of time during a given year, but not necessarily for consecutive years, which extends for a period of more than three years. These lease plans do not include an arrangement or agreement in which a purchaser in exchange for an advance fee and yearly dues is entitled to select from a designated list of facilities located in more than one state, accommodations of companies that operate nationwide in at least nine states in the United States through franchises or ownership, for a specified time period and at reduced rates and under which an interest in real property is not transferred.
(9) "Vacation time sharing plan" means either a vacation time sharing ownership plan or a vacation time sharing lease plan.
(10) "Substantially complete" means all structural components and mechanical systems of all buildings containing or comprising facilities or accommodations are finished in accordance with the plans or specifications of the vacation time sharing plan, as evidenced by a recorded certificate of completion executed by an independent registered surveyor, architect, or engineer.
(11) "Unit week" means a number of consecutive days, normally seven consecutive days in duration, which may reasonably be assigned to purchasers of vacation time sharing plans by the seller.
(12) "Escrow agent" means a bank or trust company doing business in this State or a bonded trust agent bonded in at least the amount of the trust; except, that nothing contained in this chapter prevents investment of funds escrowed pursuant to this chapter by the bank, trust company, or bonded agent, with payment of all interest and dividends to the seller of vacation time sharing plans. For purposes of Section 27-32-55, escrow agent also means a licensed South Carolina attorney in good standing, a licensed South Carolina real estate broker in good standing, or a licensed South Carolina title insurance agent in good standing.
(13) "Escrow account" means funds held or maintained by an escrow agent.
(14) "Fund" and "recovery fund" means the South Carolina Vacation Time Sharing Recovery Fund.
(15) "Claim" means a monetary loss sustained or allegedly sustained by a person due to the wrongdoing of a registrant or licensee.
(16) "Real estate broker's trust account" means a demand account in a bank or savings institution in this State held by a duly licensed South Carolina real estate broker.
(17) "Resale vacation time sharing interest" means a vacation time sharing interest, including all or substantially all ownership, rights, or interests associated with the vacation time sharing interest that has been previously acquired by an owner for his own use and occupancy and is later offered or advertised for sale or rent, or legal ownership is transferred by or with the assistance of a resale service provider.
(18) "Resale service provider" means any person or entity, including any agent or employee of such person or entity, who, directly or indirectly, offers or uses telemarketing, direct mail, email, or any other forms of communication in connection with offering of vacation time sharing resale services. This term does not include the following:
(a) a newspaper, periodical, or publisher, unless the newspaper, periodical, or publisher derives more than ten percent of its gross revenue from vacation time sharing resale services. For purposes of this chapter, the calculation of gross revenue derived from providing vacation time sharing resale services includes revenue of any affiliate, parent, agent, and subsidiary of the newspaper, periodical, or publisher, so long as the resulting percentage of gross revenue is not decreased by the inclusion of such affiliate, parent, subsidiary, or agent in the calculation;
(b) a seller, vacation time sharing association, managing entity, or other person responsible for managing or operating the vacation time sharing plan to the extent they offer vacation time sharing resale services to owners of vacation time sharing interests in such a vacation time sharing plan;
(c) a consumer vacation time sharing reseller who, in a given calendar year, sells seven or fewer resale vacation time sharing interests;
(d) a licensed South Carolina attorney in good standing providing only those services provided under Section 27-32-410; or
(e) a licensed South Carolina real estate broker in good standing operating within the scope of activities specified in Chapter 57, with respect to the sale of a resale vacation time sharing interest, as long as the real estate broker does not collect a fee in advance. To the extent a real estate broker is engaged in activities outside the scope of activities specified in Chapter 57, collects an advance fee, or is an agent, employee of, or has an affiliated business arrangement with a party to the sale of a resale vacation time sharing interest, this exemption does not apply.
(19) "Vacation time sharing resale service" means:
(a) the advertising of, or an offer to advertise, any resale vacation time sharing interest for resale or rent; or
(b) the transfer or offer to assist in the transfer of legal ownership of any resale vacation time sharing interest.
(20) "Vacation time sharing association" means an association made up of all owners of vacation time sharing interests in a vacation time sharing plan, including sellers and owners of such vacation time sharing plan.
(21) "Consumer vacation time sharing reseller" means an owner of a resale vacation time sharing interest.
(22) "Timeshare declaration" means the document or documents which provide the legal framework for the establishment of the method of interval ownership and which is or are recorded at the office of the Clerk of Court, Register of Mesne Conveyance, or the Register of Deeds as may be determined by the county in which the vacation time sharing property is located.
HISTORY: 1978 Act No. 640 Section 1; 1979 Act No. 179 Section 1; 1981 Act No. 106, Section 1; 1982 Act No. 416, Sections 1, 2; 1994 Act No. 385, Section 41; 1995 Act No. 44, Section 1; 2003 Act No. 84, Section 1; 2006 Act No. 310, Section 2, eff June 1, 2006; 2017 Act No. 90 (H.3647), Section 1, eff May 19, 2017; 2019 Act No. 66 (H.3754), Section 1, eff May 16, 2019.
Effect of Amendment
The 2006 amendment rewrote item (3) defining "Contract".
2017 Act No. 90, Section 1, amended (12), relating to the definition of escrow agent; added (17) to (21), relating to the definitions of resale vacation time sharing interest, resale service provider, vacation time sharing resale service, vacation time sharing association, and consumer vacation time sharing reseller; and made a nonsubstantive change.
2019 Act No. 66, Section 1, added (22), relating to the definition of "Timeshare declaration".