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VOL. 41 | NO. 20 | Friday, May 19, 2017
Real estate agent accused in killings prompts new law
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — People who sell or manage property in South Carolina will have to pass a background check to renew their license under a new law prompted by November's arrest of a real estate agent accused of killing seven people.
The law signed Friday requires real estate agents, brokers and property managers to undergo a fingerprint-based check every third license renewal, or every six years. The law takes effect in 2020.
Todd Kohlhepp was arrested after authorities said they found a woman chained in a storage container on his Spartanburg County property. He's accused of killing her boyfriend, another couple who disappeared in December and four people in a motorcycle shop in 2003.
A 2014 state law required first-time applicants to pass a background check. Kohlhepp received his license in 2006.