Horry County

Operating rules

Primary residence

No

Min stay (nights)

—

Max nights / year

—

Max occupancy

—

Zoning-restricted

No

Cap on licenses

No

Zoning: The current Horry County Zoning Ordinance (Appendix B, updated July 1, 2026) was downloaded from the County site and full-text searched. It contains NO 'short-term rental' or 'vacation rental' definition, use category, or restriction. Section 204.2 'Lodging & Transient Accommodations Use Chart' enumerates only: Boarding House, Bed & Breakfast, Hotel/Motel, Non-Profit and/or Religious Spiritual Centers and/or Retreats, Campground, Campers and/or recreation vehicles used as temporary living accommodations, and Fraternity & Sorority Houses. Bed & Breakfast is a Special Exception use in most residential districts and is defined (per SC Code 45-4-20) as 'a residential-type lodging facility having no more than ten guestrooms where transient guests are fed and lodged for pay' - this expressly 'does not apply to other types of transient accommodations'. Hotel/Motel is a Permitted use in RR, RH, RCS, TRS, HC, RE and several commercial districts. Because renting a dwelling short-term is not a listed use, the County does not regulate it through zoning; it is treated as a business activity subject to the business license and hospitality fee. NOTE: municipalities within Horry County (notably Myrtle Beach) DO impose STR zoning restrictions - those are separate jurisdictions.

• No county-level short-term rental ordinance exists as of 2026-07-16. Regulation is via general business license + hospitality fee/accommodations tax, not a dedicated STR program.
• 90-consecutive-day exemption: 'Long-term accommodation rentals 90 consecutive days at the same location to the same patron does not require collection and remittance of the Hospitality Fee.' This is a tax exemption threshold, not a minimum-stay restriction - there is no county minimum stay. If ALL renters are 90+ consecutive days, the operator should submit a business change notification to close the hospitality account.
• The County defines transient accommodations to expressly include a 'residence': 'Includes rental or charges for any rooms, campground spaces, lodgings, or sleeping accommodations furnished to transients by any hotel, inn, tourist court, tourist camp, motel, campground, residence, or any place in which rooms, lodging or sleeping accommodations are furnished to transients for a consideration within the County to which the sales tax imposed by the State of South Carolina pursuant to Section 12-36-920 of the South Carolina Code applies.' This is the hook that brings STRs into the hospitality fee.
• This record covers UNINCORPORATED Horry County only. The county's municipalities - Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Surfside Beach, Atlantic Beach, Conway, Aynor, Loris - each levy their own rules and taxes and must be researched separately.
• Nonresident operators (no fixed principal place of business within the County) pay 200% of all minimum business license fees and rates.
• State preemption watch: SC S.442 (2025-2026 session) would add SC Code 6-1-195 expressly authorizing municipalities and counties to enact and enforce STR ordinances (including prohibition). It is NOT law - introduced and read first time 3/11/2025, referred to Senate Judiciary, scrivener's error corrected 3/19/2025; still in committee. No effect on current Horry County requirements.
• Business change notifications (address change, closure, ownership change) must be registered with the Hospitality Fee Department within five (5) days prior to legal transfer or closure.

Enforcement

Active enforcement

yes

Fines

No STR-specific penalties (no STR ordinance exists). Enforcement runs through the business license and hospitality fee ordinances. BUSINESS LICENSE (Ord. 24-18 amending Ch. 12.5-105): late penalty of 10% of the unpaid fee per month or portion thereof, capped at 30% of any one year's delinquent fee; a $100.00 reinstatement fee if not renewed on or before September 30; if unpaid 60 days after due date the County issues an execution constituting a lien on the licensee's property and collects as it would other taxes. Each day of violation is a separate offense. HOSPITALITY FEE (Ch. 19 Art. I §19-6): Failure to File Penalty and Late Filing Penalty each accrue at 10%/month (0.333%/day), each capped at 20% of the fee due for that period; Late Payment Penalty accrues at 10%/month (0.333%/day) with NO cap unless the fees were found due under audit, in which case the failure-to-pay penalty is capped at 25% if paid within 10 days of the County's assessment, after which the cap is lifted from the 11th day until paid. Audit findings are 'subject to fine(s) and/or imprisonment' and audit costs may be added.

Notes

Active and systematic, not complaint-driven only. The Hospitality Fee Department states it performs regular field audits: 'Audits are performed to assure proper accounting and collection of fee revenues. Field audits are regularly performed to ensure compliance of existing and new businesses.' Selected businesses get 24 hours' written notice before an on-site audit. On 4/25/2025 the County launched a public search tool letting residents and visitors verify valid business licenses in unincorporated Horry County, which materially raises the odds an unlicensed STR is spotted. The County also publishes an STR-specific compliance flowchart, indicating STR operators are a known, targeted compliance population. Ordinance 24-18 additionally created a Council-authorized amnesty period mechanism for voluntary disclosure of unpaid hospitality fees and business license fees (requires a Council resolution adopted at least 60 days before the amnesty period begins) - relevant to operators with back exposure.