South Carolina Property Management Study Aid
Course Glossary
Acronyms and key terms — Sessions 1–3
Acronyms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| ADA | Americans with Disabilities Act. Federal law on disability access in employment and public/commercial accommodations; distinct from the Fair Housing Act’s housing rules. |
| BIC | Broker-in-Charge. The designated supervising broker responsible for a real estate office’s licensed activity. |
| BOMA | Building Owners and Managers Association. Session 1 professional organization for commercial building owners and managers (often listed with IREM and NAA). |
| COALD | Care, Obedience, Accounting, Loyalty, and Disclosure. Session 3 memory aid for the agent’s client-level duties to a principal. |
| CPI | Consumer Price Index. Session 1 index leases often tie rent changes to the CPI or another published economic index. |
| ECOA | Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Federal law barring credit discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or public-assistance income. |
| FCRA | Fair Credit Reporting Act. Federal consumer law regulating credit-report disclosure and requiring identification of the reporting agency used in a denial. |
| FHA | Fair Housing Act. In this course, FHA means Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (residential fair housing). Do not confuse with Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance. |
| FICA | Federal Insurance Contributions Act. Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes; independent-contractor licensees pay their own under Safe Harbor rules. |
| FMV | Fair Market Value. Session 2 uses FMV in SCRLTA contexts such as abandoned personal property thresholds and essential-service remedy measures. |
| FSBO | For Sale By Owner. Limited Fair Housing Act exemption for certain owner sales/rentals without a broker; never allows discriminatory advertising. |
| HUD | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Federal department that enforces the Fair Housing Act through its fair-housing office. |
| HVAC | Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. SCRLTA landlord maintenance duties include keeping supplied HVAC and related systems in reasonably good and safe working order. |
| IREM | Institute of Real Estate Management. Session 1 professional group identified as an affiliate of the National Association of Realtors (NAR). |
| IRS | Internal Revenue Service. Session 3 Safe Harbor rules for independent-contractor licensees (compensation, written agreement, and self-paid taxes). |
| LLR | South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. State department that houses the Real Estate Commission and related professional boards. |
| NAA | National Apartment Association. Session 1 industry association focused on apartment/multifamily housing professionals. |
| NAR | National Association of Realtors. Session 1: IREM is described as an affiliate of NAR; often listed with BOMA, IREM, and NAA. |
| PMIC | Property Manager-in-Charge. The designated property manager responsible for supervised licensees and real estate trust accounts. |
| PTFA | Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act. Session 1 federal law under which many leases survive foreclosure; month-to-month tenants generally get 90 days’ notice. |
| REIT | Real Estate Investment Trust. Session 1 ownership form: corporate owners may hold real estate through REITs or syndicates as investments. |
| RESPA | Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Federal law on residential settlement/closing disclosures and related practices; often appears as an exam distractor beside fair-housing statutes. |
| SCHAC | South Carolina Human Affairs Commission. First state contact for South Carolina housing-discrimination complaints under the state Fair Housing Law. |
| SCREC | South Carolina Real Estate Commission. State commission under LLR that licenses and regulates brokers, salespersons, and property managers. |
| SCRLTA | South Carolina Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. Session 2 state landlord-tenant statute covering duties, access, deposits, remedies, and retaliation. |
Key terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Blockbusting | Inducing owners to sell or rent by suggesting that persons of a particular protected class are entering the neighborhood—illegal under fair housing law. |
| Cash flow | Anticipated revenue minus total adjusted operating expenses and debt service—the formula used to predict property cash flow. |
| Curb appeal | The property’s exterior first impression; a primary driver of a prospect’s initial reaction to a rental. |
| Essential services | Under SCRLTA, utilities and services needed for habitability such as heat, running water, hot water, electricity, and gas when those are required to be supplied. |
| Estate for years | A leasehold for a fixed period. It is not ordinarily terminated by death of either party or by sale of the property. |
| Familial status | Fair Housing protected class covering households with children under 18 and pregnant women (added in 1988). |
| General agent | An agent authorized to perform a broad range of acts for the principal in an ongoing relationship—typical for property managers under a management agreement. |
| Handicap (Fair Housing) | Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having one—includes AIDS/HIV and recovering addicts, not current illegal drug use. |
| Holdover tenant | A tenant who remains after the rental term ends. SCRLTA sets different money remedies for willful versus non-willful holdover. |
| Index lease | A lease where rent moves with a published economic index, most often the Consumer Price Index (CPI). |
| IRS Safe Harbor | Requirements for treating a real estate licensee as an independent contractor (written agreement, substantially commission-based pay, and licensee pays own taxes). |
| Management plan | The manager’s plan to achieve the owner’s objectives; the one-year operating budget is described as the centerpiece of a good plan. |
| Mrs. Murphy exemption | Limited Fair Housing Act exemption for an owner-occupied dwelling with four or fewer units. Never allows discriminatory advertising; race/color still barred by the 1866 Act. |
| Retaliation | Landlord action punishing a tenant for exercising legal rights (complaints, joining a tenant organization, etc.). SCRLTA provides retaliatory-conduct protections. |
| Security deposit | Money held to secure performance of a rental agreement. SCRLTA sets notice, accounting, and remedy rules when deposits are mishandled. |
| Special agent | An agent authorized for a specific act or transaction. Most real estate listing/selling relationships are special agency; property management is often general agency. |
| Steering | Guiding prospects toward or away from neighborhoods or buildings based on a protected class—an illegal fair-housing practice. |
| Subagent | A property manager who works for a BIC/PMIC and, through that firm, represents the owner is a subagent of the owner (the principal). |