SC credit counseling bonds.
1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum.
South Carolina will not let a credit counseling organization offer services here until it files a surety bond with the Department of Consumer Affairs under S.C. Code Ann. § 37-7-103. The bond has to equal or exceed the South Carolina client funds sitting in your trust account — and never less than $25,000. The premium is 1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum, the bond issues the moment you pay, and any credit screen is a soft pull only — it never affects your score.
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Three steps. One sitting.
No underwriting queue on the standard credit counseling bond — enter your amount, pay, and file with Consumer Affairs. Here is the whole thing:
Apply online
Your organization details, the bond amount Consumer Affairs approved, an effective date, and a term. That is the entire application — any credit screen is a soft pull that never shows as a hard inquiry.
Pay & e-sign
Your price is 1% of the bond amount with a $100 minimum, shown before you pay — and the bond issues the moment you pay. Your executed bond and power of attorney generate on the spot.
File with Consumer Affairs
Your executed bond arrives by email, ready to file with your credit counseling organization licence application or renewal at 293 Greystone Boulevard in Columbia. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually guarantees
South Carolina licenses credit counseling organizations through the Department of Consumer Affairs under Title 37, Chapter 7 of the Consumer Protection Code. Section 37-7-103 is blunt about the sequence: an organization may not offer or agree to offer credit counseling services in this State without first filing a surety bond with the department.
The amount is not a flat number — it must equal or exceed the total amount of South Carolina clients' funds in your trust account at the time you apply or renew, as determined by the department, and it can never be less than $25,000. The bond is conditioned on the faithful accounting of all money collected on accounts entrusted to the organization or its employees and agents.
It is not insurance for you — the bond runs to the State of South Carolina and to any consumer with a cause of action against you, and if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. Licences expire December 31 each year and the bond must be maintained for three years after a revocation, denial, or failure to renew, so we track the term and send renewal notices 60 and 30 days out.
You need this bond if you're
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields — organization details, the bond amount Consumer Affairs approved, an effective date, and a term.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other South Carolina bonds.
File your credit counseling bond today.
1% of the bond amount, $100 minimum, issued the moment you pay, soft pull only. Free until issued.