Hard Money Lenders South Carolina: 981 Loans, Kiavi 42.7%, Law (2025)

What the 2025 federal record shows for South Carolina investors

Most South Carolina hard money pages list lenders that advertise. The federal Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) file lists loans that were made, with the note rate. We used the FFIEC and CFPB loan-level file for 2025, South Carolina rows, conventional originations only: 97,819 loans, of which 9,658 were on investment property and 6,632 of those were marked as made for a business or commercial purpose.

HMDA has no “hard money” field. We use the proxy of our other state pages (Illinois, Michigan, Virginia and Ohio use it too): first lien, 1-4 units, closed-end, investment property, business purpose, no debt-to-income ratio, which leaves 6,121 loans in the base group. Of those, 2,563 had a term of 360 months or more (rental and DSCR loans) and 1,020 a term of 36 months or less. We set aside 39 short-term entries with a term coded as 30 months, 38 of them from one lender (Emporium TPO) whose note rates run from 6.375% to 7.3% and look like 30-year loans keyed in the wrong unit, which leaves 981. We checked the count a second way, with a separate program and an earlier download of the same file, and got the same 6,121, 1,020, 2,563, 981 and 10.49%.

South Carolina business-purpose investor loans, 2025 (HMDA, our filter)

Almost all are one-house purchases. By purpose, 737 of the 981 were purchases (75.1%), 107 rate-and-term refinances, 74 home improvement loans, 30 cash-out refinances and 33 “other”; 935 were on one-unit properties and 46 on two to four units (median loan $325,000, median note rate 10%). The median loan-to-value on the 918 loans that report it was 70%. The 12-month term is the market: 720 loans (73.4%), with 59 shorter, 202 longer and 72 of 24 to 36 months, the longer group at a 9.5% median. Of the 981, 814 were submitted directly to the lender and 167 came through a broker or correspondent. Loan size moves the price little: 418 loans of $100,000 to $199,999 had a 10.45% median, 356 of $200,000 to $399,999 10.55% and 156 of $400,000 or more 10.25%; the 51 loans under $100,000 were at 10.75%. Points, fees and prepayment terms for business-purpose loans are not in HMDA, so use our hard money loan calculator to turn a quote into a total cost. The public file rounds each loan amount to the midpoint of a $10,000 band. For scale, a year of interest on the median $205,000 at the 10.49% median is $21,504.50 before points and fees (our arithmetic).

The top of the range is thin: 907 of the 975 loans with a rate (93.0%) are above 8%, 875 above 8.75%, 611 above 10%, 97 above 12% and 7 above 15%. Of the 97 above 12%, 40 came from ABL RPC Residential Credit Acquisition LLC, 34 from Kiavi, 8 from American Heritage Lending and 6 from CV3 Financial Services, and 94.8% were on one-unit properties. A quote above 12% was in the top tenth of South Carolina note rates in 2025, though HMDA does not show points. Our national rate page shows the national comparison.

One lender, 419 of 981 loans

South Carolina is a Kiavi market in the federal record. Kiavi Funding, Inc. made 419 of the 981 short-term loans (42.7%; 46.6% of the 899 that name a county), every one to an entity, 409 on one-unit properties, 381 of them on a 12-month term (90.9%). Its median note rate was 10.49% on a $205,000 median loan, middle half 9.7% to 11.24%. The other lenders together made 562 loans at a 10.45% median and $215,000. On price, then, Kiavi is the market, not a discount to it; the 34 Kiavi loans above 12% (8.1% of its SC loans) show the range runs both ways.

Kiavi's footprint follows the metros. It made 75 of the 139 Richland County loans (54.0%), 70.8% of Lexington's and Dorchester's, 64.1% of Spartanburg's and 55.1% of York's, against 23.9% of Anderson County's and 26.1% of Beaufort's. In the counties outside the eight largest it made 36.6%. Kiavi pays us a referral fee when a loan closes through its button below. It belongs in a South Carolina box because the 2025 federal file shows it as the state's largest short-term investor lender by a wide margin, ahead of Lima One Capital (93) and RCN Capital (58). Lima One Capital and Visio Lending pay us nothing. Compare Kiavi with Lima One before you choose.

Columbia, Greenville and Charleston: the county table

HMDA reports a county, not a city, so Columbia is Richland and Lexington counties, Greenville is Greenville County, and Charleston is the three-county tri-county area. The public file leaves the county blank on 82 loans (RCN Capital 58, Center Street Lending VIII SPE 14), so every county figure below is a floor.

South Carolina short-term investor loans by county, 2025 (HMDA, our arithmetic)

Rate hardly moves by metro, but loan size does. The Charleston tri-county area (Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester) had 129 loans at a $285,000 median, the Upstate trio (Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson) 239 at $215,000, the Columbia pair 187 at $185,000 and Horry County, the Myrtle Beach market, 44 at $240,000; Beaufort County had 23 loans with a median of $885,000. The one county where price stands out is Anderson, at a 11.562% median on 46 loans, where Kiavi made only 11. The market is concentrated: the three largest counties made 34.1% of the loans and the eight largest 63.2%. Banks and credit unions by our name rule made 12.2% of the loans outside the eight largest counties, against 7.3% statewide, so the local-bank option exists in the smaller counties but is thin. Property tax is the other cost to run before the loan: see our property tax by state page.

Who else lends

Largest lenders of South Carolina short-term investor loans, 2025 (HMDA, names from the FFIEC 2025 filer list)

Fifty-two lenders reported at least one loan. The table is the reported record, not a recommendation: ABL RPC's median of 12.375% is the highest in the group and LendingOne's 9.74% the lowest, on small counts. Banks and credit unions by our name rule made 72 loans (7.3%) at a 7.495% median, against 10.5% for everyone else, which is the largest gap in the data and the reason to ask a local bank before a national lender, on a project the bank will finance. The lender-by-lender evidence is in our reviews of Kiavi, Lima One Capital, Loan Funder, RCN Capital, Dominion Financial Services, LendingOne, CV3 Financial Services, Temple View Capital and Easy Street Capital, and the national hard money lender comparison ranks the whole market. Lenders under HMDA's reporting thresholds do not appear, so every count is a floor.

DSCR-type loans in South Carolina: the exit

Searches for hard money and DSCR loans are two steps of one plan: the short-term loan to buy and renovate, then a 30-year rental loan to refinance it (see the BRRRR method). The same filters with a term of 360 months or more give 2,563 loans, 41.9% of the 6,121 base loans, against 16.7% for short-term loans. The market is wider: 117 lenders, the top lender 7.7%, the top five 29.1% and the top ten 47.7%.

Largest lenders of South Carolina DSCR-type loans, 2025 (HMDA, our filters)

Kiavi is a bridge lender here more than a rental lender: 116 DSCR-type loans (4.5%) against 419 short-term ones, so a Kiavi flip borrower will often refinance elsewhere. Banks and credit unions made 80 of the 2,563 loans (3.1%), against 7.3% of the short-term loans. By purpose, 1,228 were purchases, 850 cash-out refinances and 356 rate-and-term refinances; 230 were on two to four unit properties. The spread between the two products is 3.115 points (10.49% against 7.375%), or $6,385.75 a year of interest on $205,000 (our arithmetic). See the DSCR lender ranking and DSCR requirements.

South Carolina interest law: where 8.75% and 6% come from

Two numbers get repeated about South Carolina interest. The first is 8.75%. Section 34-31-20(A) says that where money is due and “shall draw interest according to law,” the legal interest “shall be at the rate of eight and three-fourths percent per annum.” That is a default for sums that bear interest without a stated rate, not a ceiling on a loan. Section 37-10-106(2) says that the words “legal rate of interest” in a contract mean that rate unless the document says otherwise. The second number is 6%, and it is the one that matters for contracts: Section 37-10-106(1) says no greater interest than 6% may be charged on a contract for lending money, “except upon written contracts wherein, by express agreement, any rate of interest may be charged, except as otherwise provided in this title or by law.” Read together, a written promissory note can carry any rate unless another provision of Title 37 or other law sets one. We did not resolve how a court would reconcile the 6% and 8.75% wording where a contract says nothing, and our reading is not a legal opinion.

South Carolina provisions that bear on a hard money loan (statute text read October 26, 2026)

Of the 975 short-term loans with a rate, 875 are above 8.75% and 97 above 12%, and 91.3% went to entities. We do not claim any loan is unlawful: HMDA does not show the borrower's legal form for the purpose of the statute, whether a signer was an individual who would live in the property, or the lien position beyond the first lien we filter for. What the text shows is that South Carolina does not cap the price of a written loan to an organization or of a business-purpose first-lien loan, and that the live question for a borrower is whether the loan is consumer in character.

Consumer rules that stop at the investor's door

Title 37 draws the line with the borrower's purpose. Chapter 10 applies to loans that are not consumer loans, and some of its provisions are limited to a “personal, family or household purpose”: the borrower's choice of closing attorney and insurance agent (37-10-102), and a right to prepay “in full at any time without penalty” a loan secured by real estate when the sums advanced will not exceed $150,000 (37-10-103). A violation of Chapter 10 carries a penalty of “not less than one thousand five hundred dollars and not more than seven thousand five hundred dollars” plus fees (37-10-105(A) and (D)). On the text, a flip loan to an entity falls outside those two provisions; a loan to a person who will live in the house does not.

The newest rule is a 2026 one. Section 37-3-110, added by Act No. 172 (S.787) and effective May 18, 2026, defines a “bridge loan” as “a consumer loan with a maturity of less than twelve months to facilitate the acquisition or construction of residential real property intended to be occupied by the borrower.” Such loans must be prepayable “at any time, without penalty,” and the balloon payment may be extended once, at the borrower's request, for three months. This is a rule for an owner who is buying the next home before selling the old one. A 12-month note to an LLC that will rent or sell the house is not a bridge loan on this text, and we found no investor-loan counterpart in the chapters we read. Note that 73.4% of the short-term loans in the data have a 12-month term, which is a product term, not a statutory one.

Licensing follows the same consumer definition. The mortgage licensing chapter defines a “mortgage loan” as “a loan made to a natural person primarily for personal, family, or household use” secured by residential real property (37-22-110(31)), defines residential real property as units “to be occupied as the owner's dwelling” (37-22-110(37)), and makes it unlawful for a person other than an exempt person to “act as a mortgage lender” without a license (37-22-120(A)). The high-cost home loan chapter uses a similar test: a natural-person borrower, a personal purpose, and a mortgage on a one-to-four family structure that “is or is to be occupied by the borrower as the borrower's principal dwelling” (37-23-20(4) and (9)). On the text, a loan to buy and renovate a house for sale or rent is outside these definitions, and ask the lender about its license status anyway. We did not read Chapter 58 of Title 40, which the finance-charge definition cites for registered mortgage loan brokers, or the regulations; those points are not verified.

Foreclosure: the master-in-equity, 30 days and no redemption found

South Carolina forecloses through the court. A sale under a mortgage is valid only if the debt is first established by judgment or by the debtor's written consent after maturity (29-3-630), and the court may render judgment on the debt and order the sale at the same time (29-3-650). In a county with a master-in-equity, the master makes the sale (15-39-630); elsewhere the sheriff or a referee does (15-39-640 and 15-39-635). The land is advertised “three weeks immediately previous to the sale day” (15-39-650), and the regular day of judicial sales is the first Monday of each month (15-39-680).

What stands out is what follows the sale. The bidding does not close on the day of sale: it “shall remain open until the thirtieth day after such sale,” and any person other than the highest bidder may enter a higher bid, with a deposit of up to 5% (15-39-720 and 15-39-740). The mortgagee gets one bid, at the sale, and may not bid again. The 30 days do not apply if the complaint states that no deficiency judgment is demanded and waives it (15-39-760). A mortgagee that buys at its own sale does not extinguish a deficiency (29-3-670), and a defendant facing a personal judgment may petition for an appraisal within 30 days after the sale (29-3-680(A)); in a business loan the right can be waived by a signed statement with the statutory warning, but not in a foreclosure of “a dwelling place” or of a consumer credit transaction (29-3-680(B)). We searched Chapter 39 of Title 15, Chapter 3 of Title 29 and Chapter 11 of Title 14 for “redeem” and “redemption” and found the word only in 29-3-20, a provision for second mortgagees. We therefore do not describe a statutory redemption period after the sale; a borrower's ability to pay before the sale and to bid in the 30 days is on the text, and anything beyond that, including Supreme Court procedures for owner-occupied loans, is not verified.

Example foreclosure timeline on a $205,000 loan at the 10.49% median (our arithmetic, hypothetical dates)

The point for a borrower is not to plan for a default: a sale that stays open for a month, plus the court time before it, is what a lender prices when it quotes above 10%. A flip in progress has one protection in the expedited track: an unoccupied building “undergoing construction, renovation, or rehabilitation that is proceeding diligently to completion” is not “abandoned” for the abandoned-property procedure, which needs “clear and convincing evidence” (29-3-625). We have no source for how many South Carolina foreclosures involved investor loans in 2025 or how long they took, so we give none.

What it costs to sell: the deed recording fee

South Carolina charges a deed recording fee of $1.85 for each $500 of value or fraction, made up of a state fee of $1.30 and a county fee of $0.55 (12-24-10 and 12-24-90). It is the liability of the grantor, with the grantee secondarily liable, except on a master-in-equity deed, where the grantee owes it (12-24-20). On a $150,000 sale it is $555, on $200,000 $740 and on $250,000 $925 (our arithmetic); a lien that stays on the property after the transfer is deducted from the value (12-24-30(B)), which does not apply to a flip that sells clear. We did not read the property tax assessment chapters and give no rate.

How to use this

1. Price the quote against the table. The median short-term note rate was 10.49%; a quote above 12% was in the top tenth of 2025 loans. Add points, extension fees and default interest, which HMDA does not show: see our extension and default interest page.
2. Ask a bank first, in the smaller counties. Bank-like lenders made 72 loans at a 7.495% median; outside the eight largest counties they were 12.2% of the market.
3. Read the prepayment and extension clause as a borrower's, not a consumer's. The statutory protections for prepayment and bridge loans are written for personal-purpose and owner-occupied loans; an LLC flip loan depends on the note.
4. Know the foreclosure clock. Advertising for three weeks, a sale on the first Monday, and 30 days of open bidding: ask your lender whether it will waive a deficiency.
5. Plan the refinance. If a DSCR loan replaces the flip loan, the market median was 7.375%. Run the rest in our fix and flip calculator.

FAQ

Loan data: FFIEC/CFPB HMDA 2025 loan-level national file, South Carolina rows (script hmda_sc.py), conventional originations only, and the FFIEC 2025 filer list; county names from the Census Bureau county FIPS codes. Statutes: South Carolina Code of Laws 34-31-20, 37-3-104, 37-3-105, 37-3-110, 37-3-201, 37-3-605, 37-10-102 to 37-10-106, 37-22-110, 37-22-120, 37-23-20, 29-3-625 to 29-3-680, 15-39-630 to 15-39-760 and 12-24-10 to 12-24-90, read directly from scstatehouse.gov on October 26, 2026. All counts, shares, medians and interest figures are our arithmetic. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal, tax or lending advice, and not a loan offer.