Freedom of Information Act

The State reports Zillow is suing Richland County

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The State newspaper reported on July 2 that the home-buying site Zillow is suing Richland County. The claim is that the County is violating public records laws by failure to reply to a Freedom of Information (FOIA) request for property tax data.

The article reports that in May, Zillow requested property assessment data from Richland County by submitting multiple FOIA requests. The County first responded that it did not have any records matching the request. Then, the County denied the request because the requested information is available online and argued that state law does not require the County to create new documents to fulfill a FOIA request.

Zillow argued, according to the article, that not all the assessment information for every parcel in the County is available online. Zillow had apparently requested an electronic copy of the assessment files for all the parcels instead of the option to search parcels one by one. The company apparently didn’t want to have to search titles in the manner of South Carolina real estate professionals.

Zillow also argued that it had received the requested information in prior years. Before 2022, the company said it had received the assessment date from the County each year in the format the company requested, which was an electronic file that contained all assessment information. The lawsuit claims the company paid about $8,800 per year for that information.

Zillow is now suing for the requested information and demanded that the County pay Zillow’s legal fees if the lawsuit is successful. We’ll see what happens with this one!

Lexington County’s subdivision suspension stricken…and then reinstated

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This blog discussed on April 22 Lexington County Council’s move to suspend all new subdivision applications for six months. The Council indicated it planned to review its standards during the six-month moratorium. The ordinance applied to applications to develop ten or more lots for new housing, subdivisions with lots of less than half an acre, and developments with some “attached land use activities.”

There has been quite a lot of activity on this topic since the ordinance was initially passed.

In a suit brought by The Building Industry Association of Central South Carolina, Circuit Court Judge Debra McCaslin on May 4 struck down the ordinance, stating the closed-door executive session violated the Freedom of Information Act. The County argued that the ordinance was proper as an emergency measure because of the impact of new subdivisions on schools, roads and county services.

On May 6, the Council reinstated the moratorium but eliminated subdivisions of less than half an acre.

Completed applications will continue to move through the system.

We have seen other counties and municipalities impose similar freezes. Notably York County and Hilton Head Island have taken similar action in the past.

We are in the middle of a “sellers’ market”, with inventory in housing being a major impediment to residential sales. This moratorium is likely to exacerbate that situation in the midlands.