The Short-Term Loan
S.C. Code 34-39-180 — up to five hundred fifty dollars, held up to thirty-one days, and a fee of no more than fifteen percent
$550 at a time. A licensed lender may hold a customer's check for deferred presentment or deposit for up to thirty-one days, and the total advanced to a customer at one time may not exceed $550, not counting the fee.
Fifteen percent. The fee may not exceed fifteen percent of the principal, charged only once for each written agreement. The agreement, signed by both, states the fee as a dollar amount and as an annual percentage rate.
One loan may not be repaid with the proceeds of another from the same lender or an affiliate, and the lender may not renew or extend a check past the date in the agreement.
If the check bounces, the lender may use civil means to collect it but may not add a returned check charge. Further limits, including a statewide database of open loans, are in the chapter. A particular loan is a question for the State Board of Financial Institutions.
Sources for this section (1)
- S.C. Code 34-39-180 — Restrictions and requirements for deferred presentment or deposit of check
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed South Carolina attorney.