The state sent out notices last week to consumers who received a loan from Household between January 1999 and September 2002, even if they're unaware that anything was wrong.

"A lot of these people don't know that they had these type of violations perpetrated against them," said C.H. Jones, Jr., South Carolina's senior assistant attorney general.

Consumers who received the notices must return them by Oct. 14 to receive their portion of the settlement. Payments will be sent by the end of the year.

In December, attorneys general from each of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia reached a settlement with Household International, of which Household and Beneficial Finance are subsidiaries. Household is one of the nation's largest sub-prime mortgage lenders, companies that make loans to people with less-than-stellar credit histories.

The states alleged that the company overcharged borrowers with fees and interest, and had misled borrowers about other loan terms, like prepayment penalties and credit insurance.

The $484 million was the largest ever obtained by state attorneys general in a consumer protection case.

"With the amount of money, I think a message was sent to financiers of the type of abuses that will not be tolerated," Jones said. "This was a big chunk of change."

Each state sets its own rules for distributing the money. In South Carolina, half the $5.2 million will be distributed to each borrower. The rest will be distributed based on the size of the loan. Thus, each borrower will get at least $325, plus more based on the size of his or her loan.

As part of the settlement, Household also agreed to implement a series of reforms in its lending operations. Court injunctions in place in all states restrict repayment penalties on current and future home loans, limit up-front points and origination fees and improve loan disclosures.

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