Real estate agent accused in killings prompts new law

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.