“Can’t we sign electronically?” is a question I am asked often when it comes to the execution of legal documents, especially since the COVID-19 outbreak and related recommendations to basically avoid as much human contact as possible. The short answer is: it depends on the document. While many electronically signed documents may be valid and enforceable between the parties, there are certain transactions that require compliance with additional, specific formalities (for example, witness and notary signature requirements). The issue comes up most often in the context of real estate transactions. South Carolina is a race-notice state (which is a topic for another day), hence the need to record documents like deeds and mortgages. South Carolina law requires recordable instruments to be executed…
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Effective January 1, 2020, sellers must disclose actual knowledge or notice of any flood claims filed on the property. South Carolina law requires sellers of residential real property to provide buyers with a completed “Residential Property Disclosure Statement” prior to forming (ratifying) a contract to purchase/sell the property. (See footnote). The South Carolina Real Estate Commission recently amended this form, effective January 1, 2020, to require this disclosure regarding flood claims. The form requires sellers to disclose actual knowledge of defects, malfunctions, etc. concerning a number of aspects of the property they are trying to sell including but not limited to: water supply, roof, foundation, plumbing, electrical, tenants/leases, homeowner’s associations, building codes, and pest infestations. While the previous version of this form required…
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A recent South Carolina Supreme Court opinion has sparked an important conversation about whether landlords have a duty to protect tenants from third party criminal acts. In Wright v. PRG Real Estate Management, et. al., the tenant (Wright) was robbed and kidnapped at gunpoint by two men hiding behind overgrown shrubbery in an unlit common area of the complex. She sued the apartment complex owners, property management company, and the property manager, individually, for negligence, Wright claimed, in part, that the apartment complex voluntarily undertook a duty to provide security to residents and breached this duty. In South Carolina, landlords are generally under no duty to provide security to protect tenants from criminal acts of third parties. However, a landlord…
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