Traywick's Blog
Practical legal insights, answers to common questions, and guidance from Traywick Law Offices.
Vague Rules, Uneven Enforcement: How Subjective HOA Standards Invite Selective Enforcement in South Carolina
Your HOA fined you under a rule nobody can define, while your neighbor's identical violation draws no letter at all. That is not bad luck. Subjective standards in covenants and byl…
Trucking Companies: When a Factoring Company Files a UCC Lien You Never Signed For
Your new factor found a UCC lien from a company you never signed with — and now your freight money is frozen. Here is how the trap works, the names that keep showing up in carrier …
Bad Faith HOA Boards: What Counts Under South Carolina Law
When South Carolina homeowners say their HOA board is acting in bad faith, most of the time they mean the board made a decision they hate. Courts mean something narrower — and more…
The Business Judgment Rule and Your HOA: When Boards Are Protected — and When They're Not
The business judgment rule is the shield every HOA board hides behind — and the SC Supreme Court's decision in Fisher v. Shipyard Village (2016) defines exactly where that shield e…
Electing Your First HOA Board After Developer Turnover in South Carolina
When a developer hands an HOA over to the homeowners, the election that follows decides who controls the association's money, its records, and its legal claims against that same de…
How to Get Your Gun Rights Back in South Carolina: Expungement, Pardons, and the New Federal Restoration Program
Losing your gun rights in South Carolina is automatic. Getting them back means clearing two separate legal systems — state and federal — and clearing only one still leaves you expo…
A UCC Filing Names the Wrong Business — Is It Your Problem? Wrong-Name Filings in South Carolina
A lender finds a UCC filing under a name close to yours and treats it as your debt. Or a filing was made under a DBA, an affiliate, or an old name and now no search lines up clean.…
Behind on Credit Card Payments? What to Do When You're Falling Behind in South Carolina
The Federal Reserve's 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances found that nearly 1 in 5 families fell behind on loan payments — the highest share since the aftermath of the Great Recession…
Fiduciary Duty of HOA Board Members in South Carolina, Explained
South Carolina HOA board members owe fiduciary duties under S.C. Code § 33-31-830: good faith, prudent-person care, and the corporation's best interests. This post explains who the…
How Long Does a UCC Lien Last in South Carolina? The 5-Year Rule, Continuations, and Zombie Filings
Five years. That is the short answer — and the reason it misleads so many owners. A financing statement can be continued before it lapses, a paid-off filing can still surface in le…