HB 3876 would prevent rental hosts from listing their properties on Airbnb if they choose to hire individuals to manage their listings. This is a boon to large property management companies and a hit to small businesses and affordability in South Carolina.
NetChoice Letter of Opposition to South Carolina HB 3876 – Anticompetitive Violation of Private Property Rights
April 8, 2026
The Honorable Thomas Alexander
President
South Carolina Senate
213 Gressette Building
Columbia, SC 29201
The Honorable A. Shane Massey
Majority Leader
South Carolina Senate
311 Gressette Building
Columbia, SC 29201
The Honorable Harvey S. Peeler, Jr.
Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee
South Carolina Senate
111 Gressette Building
Columbia, SC 29201
Dear Mr. President, Mr. Majority Leader and Mr. Chairman,
On behalf of NetChoice, a trade association representing leading internet businesses committed to free expression and free enterprise online, we write in strong opposition to HB 3876. The bill is a significant incursion by the government into private property rights with seemingly no upside. Beyond the anticompetitive benefits to existing large incumbents in the property management industry, what possible justification could the state have for restricting the use of a private platform, or dictating to property owners who can manage their affairs? This legislation represents government paternalism and crony-capitalism at its worst. It should be opposed.
HB 3876 is a Violation of South Carolinians’ Private Property Rights
Any clarification of tax collection and remittance that HB 3876 might provide should not come at the expense of South Carolina property owners being able to hire and partner with the property management professionals of their choosing. Based on the language in HB 3876, the bill creates an untenable relationship between platforms like Airbnb and smaller property management professionals. Property owners get caught in the middle.
The legislation only defines those operating with a licensed real estate broker-in-charge as covered under the definition of “professional property management company (PPMC).” Since HB 3876 also requires that sensitive transaction data be given over by platforms to the PPMC, no platform will accept the increased legal risk of partnering with a property owner that uses an unlicensed property manager. This has the effect of the government mandating the use of large, incumbent PPMCs by private property owners looking to list their properties on platforms like Airbnb. This should be a choice freely made, not one mandated by the state.
The Bill Destroys Small Businesses
It will be a challenge to explain to the small business owners and contractors in South Carolina why they went to sleep with the liberty necessary to shape their own economic destinies, and woke up to find it stripped away from them. To be clear, HB 3876 explicitly takes away the ability of small business professionals to compete against the largest incumbent businesses in the property management industry by shutting them off from modern platforms and tools. The South Carolina legislature should not be choosing winners and losers and distorting market price signals that will drive up costs for consumers and small businesses. HB 3876 serves the interests of the largest rental companies and PPMC’s and no one else.
HB 3876 Leads to Tax Chaos
Airbnb collected and remitted $89.7 million in state and local taxes. Half of that is put at risk if HB 3876 prohibits small property management businesses from using Airbnb’s platform for secure payment processing and tax collection. Since 2020, according to the South Carolina Department of Revenue, Airbnb collected $388 million in taxes. If every single property management company is forced into using its own costly system, the risk of tax leakage and non-compliance will skyrocket.
Conclusion
The taxpayers of South Carolina do not benefit when their money is wasted. The business owners of South Carolina do not benefit when their ability to run their businesses is threatened. South Carolina consumers and the other Americans who visit South Carolina are harmed when costs are driven up and businesses are shuttered. The only group who stands to benefit from this red tape legislation are the politically well-connected incumbents who resent healthy competition. The legislature should respect private property rights, and allow property owners and platform operators to contract and employ people that they trust. For these reasons, NetChoice strongly opposes HB 3876 and respectfully urges you to reject this legislation (The views of NetChoice expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of NetChoice members).
Sincerely,
Zachary Lilly
Director of Government Affairs
NetChoice
NetChoice is a trade association that works to make the internet safe for free enterprise and free expression.