Two laws govern fair housing in South Carolina, and they overlap almost completely. The federal Fair Housing Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq., applies to nearly every residential landlord in the country. The South Carolina Fair Housing Law, at S.C. Code Ann. Title 31, Chapter 21, mirrors the federal statute and is enforced in-state by the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission. A landlord who follows the federal rules is generally following the state rules too, but the state law changes where a tenant complains and who investigates.
The seven federal protected classes
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, financing, and advertising of housing based on seven protected characteristics. It is unlawful to refuse to rent, set different terms, or otherwise make a dwelling unavailable because of any of them.
Sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The statute names "sex." HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity has interpreted that term to include sexual orientation and gender identity, following the U.S. Supreme Court's reasoning in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) that discrimination because a person is gay or transgender is a form of sex discrimination. This is an enforcement interpretation of "sex," not separate statutory language, and its scope has been the subject of ongoing federal policy change. A South Carolina landlord should treat sexual-orientation and gender-identity discrimination as covered and confirm current enforcement posture with counsel or the agency before relying on any narrower reading.
What South Carolina adds
South Carolina adopted its own Fair Housing Law in 1989. The statute begins by naming itself and then tracks the federal protected classes closely.
Section 31-21-40 makes it unlawful to refuse to sell or rent, or to otherwise make a dwelling unavailable, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin, with parallel provisions covering handicap. The practical effect for a Midlands operator is not a longer list of protected classes. It is a second enforcement channel: a tenant can file with a state agency rather than only with HUD or in federal court.
How enforcement works in South Carolina
The South Carolina Human Affairs Commission is the state agency that investigates fair-housing complaints under Title 31, Chapter 21. When a tenant or applicant files a complaint, the Commission investigates and may attempt to resolve the matter through informal conference, conciliation, and persuasion before pursuing formal proceedings. The statute directs the Commission to act within defined timeframes and gives it authority to seek injunctive relief in court while a complaint is pending.
Because the state law parallels the federal Act, HUD and the Human Affairs Commission often work the same categories of complaint. A tenant may file with either. For a landlord, the point is that a fair-housing dispute in South Carolina does not require a federal lawsuit to begin. An administrative complaint to a state commission can trigger an investigation, a demand for records, and conciliation pressure well before any court is involved.
Disability: accommodation and modification
Disability is the protected class that most often trips up well-meaning landlords, because it imposes affirmative duties rather than only a duty not to discriminate. Federal law requires landlords to grant two distinct kinds of requests.
Reasonable accommodation
A reasonable accommodation is a change to a rule, policy, practice, or service that a person with a disability needs to use and enjoy the dwelling. The classic example is an exception to a no-pets policy for an assistance animal. Federal law requires the landlord to make such accommodations when they are reasonable and necessary. The cost of the accommodation itself is generally borne by the housing provider.
Reasonable modification
A reasonable modification is a physical change to the unit or common areas, such as a grab bar, a ramp, or a lowered threshold. The tenant with a disability has the right to make such modifications at the tenant's own expense, and the landlord may not refuse to permit them when they are necessary. For a rental, the landlord may, where reasonable, condition permission on the tenant agreeing to restore the interior to its prior condition at move-out.
Where landlords create liability. The two most common disability mistakes are charging a pet fee or deposit for an assistance animal (an assistance animal is not a pet, and fair-housing law treats it as an accommodation, not a pet under the pet policy) and demanding medical records or a diagnosis to verify a disability that is not obvious. A landlord may ask for reliable documentation that the disability-related need for the accommodation exists, but broad demands for medical history are themselves a fair-housing risk.
Advertising that creates liability
The Fair Housing Act reaches advertising directly. It is unlawful to make, print, or publish any statement or advertisement for a dwelling that indicates a preference, limitation, or discrimination based on a protected class. This applies to listing copy, signage, and the way an available unit is described to callers, and it captures phrasing that is not intended to exclude anyone.
| Phrase in a listing | Why it is a problem |
|---|---|
| "Perfect for a single professional" or "no children" | Indicates a preference against familial status. |
| "Christian community" or "near churches" as a selling point to a type of tenant | Can indicate a religious preference. |
| "Able-bodied" or "must be able to climb stairs" | Indicates a limitation based on disability. |
| "English-speaking only" or references to a preferred nationality | Indicates a national-origin preference. |
| "Ideal for a mature couple" | Reads as steering away from families with children. |
The safe practice is to describe the property and its features, never the ideal occupant. "Two-bedroom unit, second floor, no elevator" states a fact a disabled applicant can act on; "not suitable for someone with mobility issues" states a limitation and creates liability.
Tenant screening that creates liability
Screening is lawful and expected. What fair-housing law prohibits is screening that treats protected classes differently, or that uses a neutral rule to produce a discriminatory result without a legitimate business justification. The risk is rarely an openly discriminatory policy. It is inconsistency and disparate impact.
- Apply the same criteria to everyone. Income multiples, credit thresholds, and rental-history rules must be written down and applied identically to every applicant. Waiving the income rule for one applicant and enforcing it against another in a protected class is the textbook disparate-treatment claim.
- Blanket criminal-record bans carry disparate-impact risk. A flat "no one with any criminal record" policy has been challenged as producing a discriminatory effect. HUD guidance directs housing providers toward individualized assessment (nature and recency of the offense) rather than automatic exclusion.
- Occupancy standards must be reasonable and neutral. Overly strict occupancy limits can operate as familial-status discrimination against families with children. A common benchmark is roughly two persons per bedroom, but rigid application without regard to unit size and configuration invites a claim.
- Source-of-income questions. Handle inquiries about housing vouchers and assistance carefully; how an applicant's income is treated can intersect with protected-class claims even where source of income is not itself a class.
- Do not treat an assistance-animal request as a screening failure. An accommodation request is not grounds for denial, and denying tenancy because an applicant asked for one is retaliation.
What this means for landlords and tenants
For landlords
Write your screening criteria down before you advertise, apply them to every applicant identically, and keep records of each decision. Describe the property, never the ideal tenant. Treat assistance-animal and modification requests as accommodations to be evaluated, not policy violations. A single inconsistent decision, documented in your own emails, is often the whole case.
For tenants
If you believe a rental was denied, priced, or advertised in a way that turned on a protected class, you can file a complaint with the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission or with HUD, generally within one year of the incident. Keep the listing, the application, and any messages. The agency investigates at no cost to you and may pursue conciliation before any court is involved.
The law at a glance
| Item | Detail | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Federal statute | Fair Housing Act; protected classes race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, disability | 42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq. |
| State statute | South Carolina Fair Housing Law; mirrors the federal protected classes | S.C. Code Ann. Title 31, Chapter 21 |
| State enforcement agency | South Carolina Human Affairs Commission administers and investigates | Sections 31-21-30, 31-21-90 |
| Reasonable accommodation | Exception to a rule or policy needed for equal use of the dwelling | 42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)(B) |
| Reasonable modification | Physical change to the unit, at the tenant's expense | 42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)(A) |
| Discriminatory advertising | No statement indicating a protected-class preference or limitation | 42 U.S.C. 3604(c) |
Fair housing rules run alongside the state's landlord-tenant procedures. For related South Carolina rental requirements, see our guide on move-out inspections and security deposits.
Sources
Published September 2026. This guide summarizes the federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) and the South Carolina Fair Housing Law (S.C. Code Ann. Title 31, Chapter 21) and is not legal advice. Fair-housing enforcement interpretations change; confirm current requirements with an attorney, HUD, or the South Carolina Human Affairs Commission.