Direct Mail in South Carolina illegal? Non-solicitation state?

Question

I would like to send a direct mail marketing campaign into South Carolina to try to purchase properties.  When I try to download the data I get a notification from RealQuestPro:

"South Carolina law prohibits the use of personal information obtained from government agencies for commercial solicitation. See S.C. Code Ann. § 30-2-50(A):

A person or private entity shall not knowingly obtain or use personal information obtained from a state agency, a local government, or other political subdivision of the State for commercial solicitation directed to any person in this State.  “Personal information” includes, but is not limited to, name, home address, and home telephone number.  By accessing any records, reports, property information, or any other informational products and services from CoreLogic for the state of South Carolina (“South Carolina Information”), you hereby certify to CoreLogic that you do not intend to, and will not, use such South Carolina Information for the purpose of commercial solicitation."

Then when I searched for that legal code I found at https://law.justia.com/codes/s... for South Carolina"

"(A) A person or private entity shall not knowingly obtain or use any personal information obtained from a state agency for commercial solicitation directed to any person in this State.

(B) Each state agency shall provide a notice to all requestors of records pursuant to this chapter and to all persons who obtain records pursuant to this chapter that obtaining or using public records for commercial solicitation directed to any person in this State is prohibited.

(C) All state agencies shall take reasonable measures to ensure that no person or private entity obtains or distributes personal information obtained from a public record for commercial solicitation.

(D) A person knowingly violating the provisions of subsection (A) is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined an amount not to exceed five hundred dollars or imprisoned for a term not to exceed one year, or both.

(E) This chapter does not apply to a local governmental entity of a subdivision of this state or local government."

I'm not a lawyer but I have to think that getting data from RealQuestPro (or any other data aggregator) who almost certainly gets their data from the assessors office, which is a government agency, has to fit that bill.

Bottom line (for me): Unless someone has found a lawyer who has found some precedent of a court case with a real estate investor sending direct mail and that being ok, I see no wiggle room in the SC law. Which is a bummer cause I'd love to mail there haha.

Does anyone know if you can use direct mail marketing in South Carolina to try to acquire properties?  Besides folks who have been doing it without getting caught haha.  Does anyone know if it's allowed?

Ryan Nichols · Answer

@Matthew Bailey

It's not uncommon for terms or phrases used in a statute to be defined in one of the first sections of the Act in which the statute at issue appears. In this case, the subject statute, SC Code Section 30-2-50, is part of the Family Privacy Protection Act.  For purposes of this Act, "'[c]ommerical solicitation'" means contact by telephone, mail, or electronic mail for the purpose of selling or marketing a consumer product or service. ... ." S.C. Code Ann. § 30-2-30(3).

You're not trying to sell or market a consumer product or service, so this law shouldn't apply to a direct mail campaign.

Account Closed · Answer

I think what the message is telling you is; you cannot use information you obtain from government records for business or solicitation purposes. Since REI Pro gets their information from government agencies you are not supposed to use it to send mail.

When the day comes that it is illegal, in any state, to send direct mail that will be the day I decide to move to another country. This country thrived 200 years ago due to the ability to mail Sears catalogs, newspaper advertising, magazines, direct mail, etc. I don't see it every becoming illegal to send a solicitation through the mail.

Andrew R. Lucas · Answer

@Matthew Bailey you read that right. List Source stopped providing lists because they didn't want to be caught in this.

This just started in 2019.  I don't believe anyone has tested it in court.  There will be a first soon enough.

John Underwood · Answer

I know I get get direct mail weekly from wholesalers looking to by some of my rental properties.

I knew list source stopped providing these list is SC, but hadn't seen this law to know why.

Everything comes back to government records so this is tough.

Even if a Realtor runs a report it is getting data from CRS and it pulls from Government records.

Mashika Johnson · Answer

Hey Matthew! How is your success with wholesaling out of state? Can you tell me more about your process and how you go about closing deals with the sellers? Is it all face to face or vitual?

Account Closed · Answer

The first sentence makes it clear that the law you are questioning applies to only obtaining Personal Information from a State Agency. It means you cannot use records you obtain from a state agency for personal or commercial purposes. It does not mean that direct mail is banned when you get your list from somewhere else.

"(A) A person or private entity shall not knowingly obtain or use any personal information obtained from a state agency for commercial solicitation directed to any person in this State.

May Emery · Answer

@John Underwood @Matthew Bailey  @Andrew R. Lucas

You can work with a list broker to get motivated seller lists that DO NOT rely on the public records. There are several homeowner lists from consumer databases that can identify people likely to be ready to sell their homes.

These will only be for owner occupied, as absentee owners rely on the tax bill address which is public data.

Work with a list broker to get reports that could include:

• Homeowners with Low Financial Stability Scores (FSS)
• Seniors with Long-Time Ownership

These lists are also quite effective in crowded markets where the Absentee Owners are already getting too many offers in their mailbox.

FYI - SC isn't unique in the unavailability of Absentee Owner lists. KS has prohibited it for years. In many other states there are pockets of counties that don't report for reasons of their own.

Matthew Bailey · Answer

Thanks for all of the replies!  Sorry I meant to say thanks sooner.  I think @Ryan Nichols nailed it, thanks for clearing that up!  Direct mail campaign in 3..2..1!

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

We had to use the freedom of information act to get access to data in Charleston we got I though

Direct Mail in South Carolina illegal? Non-solicitation state?

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