On June 1, Governor Nikki Haley (R-SC) signed into law Senate Bill 441, enacting the Guaranteed Asset Protection Act and instituting a framework under which guaranteed asset protection (GAP) waivers may be offered in South Carolina.  As outlined in SB 441, a GAP waiver is “a contractual agreement in which a creditor agrees for a separate charge to cancel or waive all or part of amounts due on a borrower’s finance agreement in the event of a total physical damage loss or unrecovered theft of the motor vehicle.” Effective June 5, SB 441 prohibits the creditor from conditioning the terms of an extension of credit upon the borrower’s purchase of a GAP waiver and requires the creditor to disclose the terms of the GAP waiver “in easily understandable language,” including the purchase price, the procedures for obtaining GAP waiver benefits, and a statement that the purchase of a GAP waiver is optional.