HOA complaints grow. Why SC homeowners might struggle to fight back.

Barry Walker loves his community. His neighbors are kind. His fence matches the one next door and the neighborhood trails are perfect for morning walks. As a retiree and former mayor of Irmo, he hoped to play a larger role in the community by running for a position on the HOA board of directors.

But when he placed a campaign sign in his yard, his homeowners association fined him. The HOA’s covenants, or governing documents, never mentioned campaign signs, Walker said.

Just as counties and cities have ordinances that regulate appearances, HOAs create stricter, binding rules to protect property values. Homeowners agree to those rules when they purchase property, granting the association enforcement power. HOA boards are made up of elected homeowners. The State reached out to Walker’s HOA but did not receive a response.

It wasn’t the first time Walker felt dismissed by the association. He also cited irregular voting rules, private meetings and a possible misuse of funds. Other residents have been struggling with transparency and representation issues in the community for years, Walker said. His neighbors just don’t know what to do to fix it.

‘Ignorance or malice?’

In Walker’s situation, some residents might turn to a legal team.

But filing a lawsuit against an HOA can bring more problems than it’s often worth, attorney Tom Winslow told the Sun News.

Litigation can take years. Attorney fees can place financial burdens on homeowners and most of the time residents won’t get the money back, even if they win, because South Carolina law often doesn’t allow them to recover those costs.

“When you’re suing an HOA as a homeowner, you’re kind of suing yourself,” Winslow told the Sun News in 2025. If the homeowner wins over their HOA, any sum of money awarded would come out of the budget that the homeowner pays assessments to.

In most instances, it is cheaper to leave the community.

Another resident in Walker’s community, Cole Barefoot, said he has been facing the same issues. But taking action against the association can be confusing, he said.

“It’s hard to tell if it’s ignorance or malice at this point.”

HOA complaints rise yearly

Walker and Barefoot’s Harbison HOA reflects a broader trend of rising complaints against homeowners associations across the state.

Complaints from homeowners have jumped more than 135% over the past five years, with Horry County recording the most filings in 2025, according to the S.C. Department of Consumer Affairs. Richland County — where Walker and Barefoot live — had the second most complaints for S.C. counties.

Each year the Department receives more HOA complaints than the previous year, possibly due to population increases.

What are homeowners complaining about?

Walker wanted representation. Barefoot, whose concerns center on a lack of transparency, said he has never seen a board member’s face.

“I’ve never seen their back,” Barefoot said. “They could walk in right now. No idea. They could be sitting right behind us.”

The top three types of issues raised to the S.C. Department of Consumer Affairs include a failure to adhere to or enforce covenants, concerns regarding maintenance and repairs, and ignored requests to access information.

“I think the biggest thing from me going around and talking to people in that community is most of the people that I speak to, they’re upset,” Barefoot said. “But they don’t know how to do anything.”