New restrictions on uninsured drivers are among several new laws that take effect Saturday.

Motorists will lose their driver’s licenses sooner if they let their auto insurance lapse. The notification period drops from 45 days to 20 days starting Jan. 1.

Insurance companies electronically notify the state Department of Motor Vehicles whenever insurance policies lapse or are canceled. The agency automatically sends letters immediately to uninsured drivers notifying them of pending suspensions, said DMV spokeswoman Beth Parks.

Drivers who get new insurance before the 20-day grace period expires can keep their licenses but must pay a $5 fine for each day without insurance, Parks said.

Drivers who fail to act can end up paying $400. That represents $200 to regain a driver’s license and another $200 to pay the maximum fine that can be levied, Parks said.

Anyone whose license is suspended because of a lapse in coverage is required to give the agency proof of auto insurance every seven months for three years to avoid another suspension, Parks said.

Here are other new laws and regulations that become effective with the new year:

• Background checks. Student teachers will have to get background checks and submit to fingerprinting before they start practice-teaching.

That law is intended to keep people who have certain criminal offenses away from classrooms, said Janice Poda, director of the state Education Department’s Teacher Quality Division.

College students seeking education degrees and teacher certificates will have to pay $24 for those checks beginning in January to be eligible for student teaching work in fall, Poda said. In the past, that was required of teachers before they were certified.

People with sex- or child-related convictions won’t pass the background test, Poda said. Other offenses, such as drunken driving, likely will prompt counseling, she said.

Those failing background tests can’t get South Carolina teaching certificates but can earn education degrees, Poda said. And they can appeal decisions to the state Education Board, she said.

• Real estate sales. Consumers will see less paperwork when they begin trying to sell or buy a home, said Jim Peters, chief executive officer of the South Carolina Association of Realtors.

Real estate firms now will be able to designate agents to represent buyers and sellers separately to get around the pitfall of dual agency. Buyers and sellers could not get all the help available to them under current law, which restricts property transactions when the buyer’s agent and seller’s agent work for the same company.

Real estate professionals also can use information from local governments to generate consumer lists for telemarketing and mass mailings (both postal and electronic). The rules also specify that real estate agents generally cannot be sued for failing to disclose the locations of registered sex offenders.

Nick Kremydas, senior vice president of the S.C. Association of Realtors, said the telemarketing provision does not supersede federal Do Not Call rules.

• Property taxes. A new law eliminates property taxes for the primary residences of veterans, police officers and firefighters disabled in the line of duty, and eliminates such taxes for homes of their spouses, widows or widowers.

Taxes typically would be totally eliminated for the home itself and up to five acres around it, said state Sen. Ronnie Cromer, R-Newberry, a sponsor of the measure.

• Pending. Five bills the Legislature passed in June remain on Gov. Mark Sanford’s desk unsigned. Some would take effect as soon as the governor signs them. That’s true of a bill licensing mortgage loan originators and intended to reduce the chances those lenders will lie to or take advantage of consumers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.