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SOUTH CAOLINA REAL ESTATE COMISSION
104
Mayor Laughl i n, thank you f o r being here t o day .
I know we ' ve taken al l your day . Wo ul d you
introduce yoursel f for us ?
Yes , my name is Drew Laughl i n, Mr . Chairman and
members o f the Commi ss ion . I apprec i a t e the
opportuni ty to be here and sp eak wi th you
t oday . I have been an at t orney on Hi l ton Head
I s l and s ince 1 9 7 7 . I wa-s el ec t e d Mayor in
2 0 1 0 . I have kno wn Dwi ght and Judy Trew for
over 2 5 years . S o over the pas t s everal y ears
I ' ve got t en to kno w Mr . P i erc e here . And I can
t e l l you wi thout he s i tation that I bel i eve that
these p l ans are e thically and wel l run , and
that they are cons i s t entl y trying to i mprove .
They are and they c ontribut e l i teral l y m i l l i ons
o f dollars a year t o the economy o f Hi l t on Head
I s l and . They bri ng a l o t o f p eopl e t o the
i s l and . They do a l ot o f market ing o f the
i s l and . Vi si tors , owners , and gues ts , o f
c ours e , eat in our res taurants and part i cip a te
i n our events . The C oral i s one o f the maj or
empl oyers o f the i sl and . And s o they
contribute a lot to the economy . And i t ' s on
a year- round bas i s becaus e t imes hares , p eopl e
c ome and s tay in t hem year round .
.
CREEL COURT REPORTING, INC.
1230 Richland Street I Columbia, SC 29201
(803) 252-34451(800) 822-0896
S o you have
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SOUTH CAROLINA REAL ESTATE COMISSION
1 0 5
a year-round i nf l ux o f vi s i t ors who are by and
l arge our pool of future property owners . Our
vi s i tors , i t ' s very common to hear f rom
somebody buying a home on Hi l ton Head I s l and
that t hey. f i rs t came t o Hi l t on Head I s l and as
a vi s i t or , s tayed a week , fell in love wi th
i t , l i ked i t , and decided that they woul d l ike
t o own more property there . So we . have
thousand o f folks being brought t o the i s l and
each year by Coral and the o ther ma j or
t imeshare developments . I would t e l l you that
i n my experi ence the t imeshar e pro j ec ts t end to
be bet t er mai ntained proper t i es than a lo t of
regular condomini um regimes . And I think the
reason for that is that they know tha t they
have t o ma intain a t a high l evel for peop l e who
want t o cont i nue t o come and s tay there . And ,
as you have heard, i f they have a s i tua t i on
where an owner i s not paying t hei r maintenance
charges , they can get the uni t back and res old
to s omebo dy el s e a l o t qui cker t han a no rmal
j udi ci al f orecl osure . And , of course , the
normal c ondominium these days , i f they are not
ge t t i ng t hei r regime fees and the f i rs t ho l der
o f the mortgage i s no t i nt erested
CREEL COURT REPORTIN INC.
1230 Richland Street I Columbia, SC 29201
(803) 252-34451 (800) 822-0896
in
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SOUTH CAROLINA REAL ESTATE COMISSION
106
f oreclos ing and taking ownership and b e c omi ng
r
espons i ble for tho s e , i t ' s very di f f i c ul t
to
get those uni t s moved into the hands.
of
s omebody who wi l l p ay . So there i s j us t a big
economic impact here . And , o f cours e , on
Hi l ton Head l i ke everywhere over the l as t
s everal years , we are very much concerne d wi th
the s tat e o f our economy and providi ng
opportuni ty for our res i dents and c i t i z ens apd
maintaining a heal thy economy . So I think i t ' s
t erribly impor tant wha t happens t o thes e f o l ks .
THE CHAIRIAN : Thank you , s i r .
MS . SHUTT : Mr . Chai rman , at that poi nt we have no
o t her tes t imony to o f f er, and we woul d l ike to
conclude by -
THE CHAIRJAN: Wel l , l et ' s see i f the Commi s s i ons
have any ques t i ons for the mayor . Thank you,
s i r .
MR . LAUGHLIN: Thank you .
MS . SHUTT : Mr . Smi th i s going to c l os e f or us , Mr .
Cha i rman .
22 MR. SMITH : Thank you , Mr . Chai rman , members of the
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Commi s s i on . Jus t bri ef l y, I t hink C ommi s s i oner
O ' Kel l ey was get t ing at my point f or the
c l os ing this evening . And I ' m not going t o go
CREEL COURT REPORTING, INC.
1230 Richland Street I Columbia, SC29201
(803) 252-3445 I (800) 822-0896