South Carolina Reg 105-5: What Every Brokerage's Written Office Policy Must Include (2026)
South Carolina's LLR/Real Estate Commission requires every brokerage to maintain a current written office policy under Reg 105-5. Most out-of-state operators don't have one — and BIC audits are catching them. Here's the full topic checklist.
Quick Answer: What Does SC Reg 105-5 Require?
South Carolina Regulation 105-5 (promulgated by the SC Real Estate Commission under the LLR) requires every licensed brokerage in South Carolina to adopt, maintain, and follow a written office policy that documents how the Broker-in-Charge (BIC) supervises licensees and how the firm complies with SC license law. The policy must address — at minimum — six required topic areas, be available to every affiliated licensee, and be produced on demand during an LLR audit.
If your firm operates in SC under a Broker-in-Charge — or uses a professional BIC service to enter the market — the written office policy is not optional. It is the document the Commission asks for first when a complaint is filed or a routine audit is opened.
Why Reg 105-5 Matters for Out-of-State Operators
Most multi-state SFR investors, PropTech platforms, and property management firms entering South Carolina underestimate Reg 105-5. They appoint a BIC, get the firm license issued by the Commission, and assume compliance is done. It isn't. The BIC's signature on the firm application is a promise that a written office policy exists and is being followed. If the Commission requests it and the firm cannot produce a current, signed, jurisdiction-specific policy, the BIC faces personal disciplinary exposure and the firm's license is at risk.
This is also one of the cleanest differentiators between a true Broker-in-Charge service and a "name-on-the-license" arrangement. A real BIC delivers the policy, the attestation log, and the supervision file. A nominee broker does not.
The Six Required Topics Under Reg 105-5
SC Reg 105-5 requires the written office policy to address each of the following at a minimum. We use these as the H2 outline of every SC office policy manual we deliver.
1. Agency Relationships and Disclosure
The policy must describe how the firm handles agency relationships under SC license law (Title 40, Chapter 57) — single agency, dual agency, designated agency, and transaction brokerage where applicable. It must document when and how the SC Agency Disclosure Brochure is delivered, who signs it, and how the executed disclosure is retained in the transaction file. Dual agency consent procedures and designated agency assignments inside the firm must be spelled out.
2. Trust Account Management and Earnest Money Handling
The policy must identify every trust/escrow account the firm maintains, the SC-domiciled depository institution, the authorized signers, and the BIC's reconciliation procedure. It must describe how earnest money is deposited (timing, deposit slips, receipts), how disputed funds are handled, and how monthly three-way reconciliations are performed and retained. SC Reg 105-13 and related rules drive the substantive escrow requirements; Reg 105-5 requires those rules to be written into the office policy.
3. Advertising and Marketing Compliance
The policy must document the firm's standards for advertising under SC license law — including firm-name disclosure on all advertising (print, digital, social, signage), required disclosure language for team names and DBAs, BIC pre-approval of advertising content, fair housing compliance, and rules for online listings and syndication. PropTech platforms and large SFR operators with centralized marketing teams need this section to reconcile national templates with SC's specific firm-name and license-disclosure rules.
4. Recordkeeping and Transaction File Retention
The policy must describe what documents are retained for each transaction (listing agreements, buyer agency agreements, agency disclosures, contracts, addenda, closing statements, trust account records, advertising samples), where the records are stored (physical SC office, secure cloud, or both), retention periods consistent with SC requirements, and how the BIC reviews files. The audit-ready expectation is that any transaction file can be produced within a reasonable period upon Commission request.
5. Supervision of Affiliated Licensees
This is the heart of Reg 105-5 — and the section the Commission scrutinizes most. The policy must describe how the BIC supervises every affiliated salesperson and broker associate, including how contracts and addenda are reviewed, how complaints are escalated, how the BIC monitors transactions remotely if licensees work outside the main office, how off-site or virtual licensees are supervised, and how the BIC documents that supervision is actually occurring (review logs, transaction sign-offs, periodic meetings). Reg 105-1 sets the substantive "adequate supervision" standard; Reg 105-5 requires the firm to commit it to writing.
6. Continuing Education, License Renewal, and Office Procedures
The policy must address how the firm tracks affiliated licensees' CE compliance and active license status, the BIC's own CE and BIC-elective requirements, on-boarding and termination procedures for licensees (including release/transfer paperwork filed with the Commission), and general office procedures — including fair housing, anti-discrimination, and ADA compliance commitments.
What Most BIC Audits Catch
- No policy at all. The most common finding. The firm exists, has a BIC, and has never written the document.
- A generic national policy. A template downloaded from a national franchise that doesn't reference SC license law, SC agency disclosure, or SC trust account rules.
- No attestation log. Affiliated licensees have never signed acknowledging receipt and review.
- Stale supervision section. Policy was written when the firm had two licensees in one office; firm now has fifteen remote licensees and the policy hasn't been updated.
- Missing trust account reconciliation procedure. Policy lists the escrow account but doesn't document how the BIC actually reconciles it monthly.
Reg 105-5 in the Broader SC Compliance Stack
The written office policy doesn't stand alone. It works alongside:
- Reg 105-1 — the adequate supervision standard the policy operationalizes
- Reg 105-13 (and related) — trust account requirements the policy must implement
- SC Code Title 40, Chapter 57 — the underlying license law (agency, advertising, licensee duties)
- The BIC's annual BIC-elective CE — required to maintain BIC status under SC rules
A firm that nails Reg 105-5 is, by extension, materially de-risked across all four.
How 50 State Brokerage Handles Reg 105-5
When 50 State Brokerage serves as Broker-in-Charge for SC operations — for SFR investors, PropTech platforms, vacation rental managers, BTR developers, and out-of-state commercial brokers — we deliver the full Reg 105-5 package, not just a name on the firm license:
- A current, SC-specific written office policy covering all six required topic areas
- A signed attestation log for every affiliated licensee
- Documented supervision procedures sized to your remote/in-office mix
- Trust account structure with monthly three-way reconciliations on file
- An audit-ready transaction file system
- BIC CE and BIC-elective course compliance
If LLR opens an audit, we produce the policy, the attestation log, the supervision file, and the reconciliations on demand — the way a real BIC service is supposed to.
Next Steps
If you're operating in South Carolina without a current written office policy — or with a generic template that doesn't reference SC law — that's an active liability, not a paperwork gap. Book a call to review your SC compliance stack, or read our South Carolina broker-in-charge overview for how the BIC role works alongside the written office policy under Reg 105-5.