2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 31 - Housing and Redevelopment › Chapter 21 - Fair Housing Law › Section 31-21-120. Complaints; process and handling; conciliation; effect of local laws; civil action.

(A) A person who claims to have been injured by a discriminatory housing practice or who believes that he may be injured by a discriminatory housing practice that is about to occur may file a complaint with the commission. Complaints must be in writing and shall contain information and be in a form required by the commission. Upon receipt of a complaint, the commission shall serve notice upon the aggrieved person of the time limits and choices of forums provided under this chapter and shall furnish a copy to the person who allegedly committed the discriminatory housing practice or is about to commit the alleged discriminatory housing practice and advise him of the procedural rights and obligations under the law. Within thirty days after receiving a complaint, or within thirty days after the expiration of any period of reference under subsection (C), the commission shall investigate the complaint and give notice in writing to the person aggrieved whether it intends to resolve it. If the commission decides to resolve the complaint, it shall proceed to try to eliminate or correct the alleged discriminatory housing practice by informal methods of conference, conciliation, and persuasion. If practicable, conciliation meetings must be held in the cities or other localities where the discriminatory housing practices allegedly occurred. Nothing said or done in the course of the informal endeavors may be made public or used as evidence in a subsequent proceeding under this chapter without the written consent of the persons concerned. An employee of the commission who makes public any information in violation of this provision is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars or imprisoned for not more than thirty days.
(B) A complaint under subsection (A) must be filed within one hundred eighty days after the alleged discriminatory housing practice occurred. The complaint must be in writing and shall state the facts upon which the allegations of a discriminatory housing practice are based. A complaint may be reasonably and fairly amended at any time. A respondent may file an answer to the complaint against him, not later than ten days after receipt of notice, and may be amended reasonably and fairly by the respondent at any time. Both complaint and answer must be verified.
(C) Wherever a local fair housing law provides rights and remedies for alleged discriminatory housing practices which substantially are equivalent to the rights and remedies provided in this chapter, the commission shall notify the appropriate local agency of any complaint filed under this chapter which appears to constitute a violation of the local fair housing law, and the commission shall take no further action with respect to the complaint if the local law enforcement official, within thirty days from the date the alleged offense was brought to his attention, has commenced proceedings in the matter. In no event may the commission take further action unless it certifies that in its judgment, under the circumstances of the particular case, the protection of the rights of the parties or the interests of justice require the action.
Complaints referred to the commission by the Department of Housing and Urban Development may not be referred by the commission to a local agency.
(D) Any conciliation agreement arising out of conciliation efforts by the commission must be an agreement between the respondent and the complainant and is subject to the approval of the commission. Each conciliation agreement must be made public unless the complainant and respondent otherwise agree and the commission determines that disclosure is not required to further the purposes of this chapter.
(E) The investigation must be completed in no more than one hundred days after receipt of the complaint. If the commission is unable to complete the investigation within one hundred days, it shall notify the complainant and respondent in writing of the reasons for not doing so.
(F) The commission shall make final administrative disposition of a complaint within one year of the date of receipt of a complaint unless it is impractical to do so. If the commission is unable to do so, it shall notify the complainant and respondent, in writing, of the reasons for not doing so.
(G) In any proceeding brought pursuant to this section, the burden of proof is on the complainant.
(H) Whenever an action filed by an individual in court pursuant to this section or Section 31-21-140 comes to trial, the commission shall terminate all efforts to obtain voluntary compliance.
HISTORY: 1989 Act No. 72, Section 1; 1990 Act No. 445, Section 2.