COLUMBIA, S.C.—A bill that seeks to address bad actors in the towing industry and that would affect credit unions as lienholders has been signed into law in South Carolina.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster put his signature on H. 3279, which seeks to address towing companies that do not send proper notice to all interested parties of a vehicle in their possession, running up excessive storage fees.
For credit unions, this bill defines and limits the number of days a storage company may charge before certified notification is sent to the lienholder, according to the Carolinas Credit Union League.
“No matter how much a bill can appear to be just common sense, the S.C. General Assembly never makes things easy,” said CCUL Vice President of Governmental Affairs Billy Boylston. “I’ve seen good bills die and bad bills pass—but they got it right this time. This bill is the culmination of a lot of hard work from credit unions, lawmakers, and the advocacy team here at the League. I am thankful to Governor McMaster for signing the bill, and seeing this become law.”
This issue has impacted federal and state credit unions and the consumers to which these costs are passed, CUNA added.