Published 2026-09-25 · 9 min read

South Dakota Landlord-Tenant Law 2026: The Plain-English Guide

South Dakota runs its rentals under SDCL Title 43, Chapter 32 (Lease of Real Property), with eviction mechanics in the forcible entry and detainer chapter, Title 21, Chapter 16, and the state civil-rights layer in the Human Relations Act, Title 20, Chapter 13. The reputation is landlord-friendly — a one-month cap on security deposits, no rent control, and fast court mechanics — and in 2024 and 2026 the Legislature made it faster still. But the deposit rules carry a forfeiture sanction that wipes out every deduction if you miss the paperwork, and the tenant repair remedies are unusually structured.

Three warnings, because the earlier version of this page got them wrong and most of the internet still does. First, the deposit return deadline is no longer two weeks: Senate Bill 4 (2026), signed February 11, 2026, amended § 43-32-24 to give the landlord twenty-one days after termination of the tenancy and receipt of the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions to return the deposit or furnish a written statement of the specific reason for withholding any of it. Pages that still say "two weeks" — including, as of this writing, the Attorney General's fast-facts page — are describing the pre-amendment statute. Second, there is no pre-filing notice to quit anymore: Senate Bill 90 (2024) repealed § 21-16-2 effective July 1, 2024, so an eviction case now starts with a verified complaint and summons, not with a three-day notice. The three days that still exist are the three days rent must be unpaid before the nonpayment ground matures under § 21-16-1(4) — a waiting period, not a notice. Third, the entry statute, § 43-32-32, requires far more than "24 hours' notice": the written notice must specify the date or dates of entry, a period of time during normal business hours, the purpose of the entry, and a means by which the tenant may request to reschedule.

South Dakota landlords: compare your state's rules against all 50 at once — the 50-State Landlord Law Dataset (CSV + JSON) ($29) puts every state's deposit, eviction, and rent rules side by side.

South Dakota at a glance

The clocks table

South Dakota landlord-tenant law is mostly clocks. Here is every deadline in this guide in one place:

How the South Dakota stack is built

Four layers do the work. Chapter 32 of Title 43 is the substantive core — but it is not a modern residential landlord-tenant act. It is the general lease-of-real-property chapter, and its residential provisions (§§ 43-32-6.1, 43-32-8 through 43-32-10, 43-32-24, 43-32-27, 43-32-32) sit inside older general rules about hiring, terms, and termination (§§ 43-32-12 through 43-32-15). That structure explains the chapter's quirks: the deposit rules live in two sections written decades apart, the periodic-tenancy rules are split between § 43-32-13 (modification), §§ 43-32-14 and 43-32-15 (termination), and § 43-8-8 in a different title entirely (estates at will). Chapter 16 of Title 21 is the procedure: grounds (§ 21-16-1), the verified complaint and summons (§ 21-16-6), the five-day answer (§ 21-16-7), and judgment and execution. Chapter 13 of Title 20 is the civil-rights layer. The lease fills the space the statutes leave open — late fees, grace periods, and most fee terms are creatures of the agreement, not the code — which is why precise lease drafting matters more in South Dakota than in states with a dense residential act.

Two construction points landlords miss. First, several Chapter 32 duties are nonwaivable: § 43-32-8 says expressly that the parties may not waive or modify the habitability requirements it imposes, with a single permitted variation — the landlord may agree that the tenant will perform specified repairs or maintenance in lieu of rent. Second, the chapter's protections are keyed to residential premises: the deposit cap, the return rules, the habitability duty, and the retaliation cause of action are all framed for residential hirings, while the general termination and eviction rules reach further.

How much can a South Dakota landlord charge as a security deposit, and when must it be returned? (§§ 43-32-6.1, 43-32-24)

The cap: one month's rent, however the money is labeled

Section 43-32-6.1 provides that a lessor may not demand or receive a security deposit in an amount or value in excess of one month's rent. The codified definition treats money held to secure the rental agreement as a security deposit however it is denominated, so relabeling part of the deposit a "pet deposit," a "cleaning deposit," or a "reservation deposit" does not take it outside the cap. The Consumer Protection office's own example of the one exception is a pet: a larger deposit may be agreed where special conditions pose a danger to maintenance of the premises. Three limits on that exception matter. The larger amount requires the tenant's agreement — it is not a unilateral landlord election. The statute sets no ceiling on the larger deposit, which makes the written justification do all the work if the amount is ever challenged. And there is no furnished-unit exception: neither the statute nor the Attorney General's guidance recognizes one, so a richly furnished unit does not by itself lift the cap — you still need an agreed special condition. Document the condition in the lease itself (the animal, the waterbed, the workshop equipment), state the deposit amount next to it, and keep the signed page.

The return clock: 21 days, two triggers

As amended by 2026 Senate Bill 4, § 43-32-24 requires every lessor of residential premises to, within twenty-one days after the termination of the tenancy and receipt of the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions, either return the deposit or furnish the tenant a written statement showing the specific reason for withholding the deposit or any portion of it. Both triggers must occur before the clock runs: termination alone does not start it if the tenant never gave you an address or delivery instructions, and an address alone does not start it before the tenancy ends. That is why the forwarding-address request belongs in the move-out paperwork, in writing, every time — the date you received the address is a fact you may have to prove.

Worked example, with the weekdays checked: the tenancy terminates and the tenant hands you a forwarding address on Monday, March 2, 2026. The twenty-one days run to Monday, March 23, 2026: by that date the deposit, or the balance plus the written statement of specific reasons, must be furnished. If the tenant instead asks for the itemized accounting on the way out, that accounting is due within forty-five days after termination — Thursday, April 16, 2026 on the same dates. Calendar both dates the day the tenant gives notice; the 21-day clock is short enough that a single week of drift consumes a third of it.

Use our Security Deposit Deadline Finder to calendar the dates, and the South Dakota security deposit law guide for the deposit rules in full.

What you may withhold — a closed list of two

The amended statute lets the lessor withhold only the amounts reasonably necessary to remedy two things: (1) tenant defaults in the payment of rent and other funds due to the landlord pursuant to an agreement, and (2) the cost of restoring the premises to their condition at the commencement of the tenancy, ordinary wear and tear excepted. "Reasonably necessary" is the operative standard on both prongs: the amount, not just the category, must be defensible. Cleaning to reverse tenant-caused filth fits prong two; repainting after a long tenancy's ordinary scuffing does not. Keep the move-in and move-out condition records paired — our move-in/move-out inspection checklist is built for exactly this comparison — and price each deduction from an invoice, a receipt, or a written estimate rather than a round number.

The statement and the accounting are different documents

Section 43-32-24 imposes two distinct paperwork duties, and conflating them is the most common compliance error in South Dakota. The written statement of specific reasons for withholding is automatic: if you keep any portion, it is due inside the same 21 days, whether or not the tenant asks. The itemized accounting of any deposit withheld is due within forty-five days after termination, upon the request of the lessee. The safe practice is to send a fully itemized statement inside the 21 days unprompted — it satisfies the automatic duty, answers the accounting request before it is made, and removes the factual basis for a bad-faith claim. Generate it from the deductions guide workflow while the unit is still empty and the evidence is fresh.

Interest, accounts, and receipts: what the statute does not require

South Dakota does not require deposits to be held in a separate or segregated account, does not require interest to be paid on them, and does not impose a statutory receipt duty. All three are negative findings — the absence of a rule, verified against the chapter — not permissions to be casual. Commingling is lawful and still creates your worst accounting posture if a forfeiture claim is filed, because the landlord who cannot trace the money looks like the landlord who spent it. A separate ledger per unit costs nothing and answers the question before it is asked.

The penalty: forfeiture first, $200 second

A lessor who fails to comply with § 43-32-24 forfeits all rights to withhold any portion of the deposit. That is the real sanction: a $3,000 documented damage claim dies entirely if the statement was late, because the forfeiture reaches the right to withhold, not just the amount withheld. On top of forfeiture, the bad-faith retention of a deposit — expressly including the bad-faith failure to provide the written statement or the itemized accounting — subjects the lessor to punitive damages not to exceed $200. Two hundred dollars is modest next to the double- and treble-damage multipliers in other states, and summaries that lead with it understate the exposure: the deposit itself, every deduction, and the punitive award are all in play, in a magistrate-court small-claims system (claims up to $12,000, § 16-12C-13) that is cheap and simple for a tenant to use.

Is there rent control or just-cause eviction law in South Dakota?

No rent control, and no just-cause statute

South Dakota has no statewide rent-control or rent-stabilization law, and no city ordinance of consequence regulates residential rent. There is also no just-cause eviction statute: outside a fixed term, possession turns on the termination rules below, not on a landlord's stated reason — subject always to the retaliation and discrimination limits. You can set and reset market rent between terms freely; within a month-to-month tenancy, the modification procedure of § 43-32-13 is the mechanism, and it has teeth worth reading closely. See how to raise rent legally.

Modifying a month-to-month tenancy: § 43-32-13

In all leases from month to month, the landlord may, upon giving notice in writing at least thirty days before the expiration of the month, modify the terms of the lease to take effect at the expiration of the month. A rent increase is a modification of terms, so it travels this route: written, at least 30 days ahead, effective only at a month boundary — never mid-month. The tenant's counterweight is built into the same section: on receiving the modification notice, the tenant may terminate instead by notifying the landlord within fifteen days of receiving it. Worked example: you deliver a written increase notice on Monday, March 2, 2026. Thirty days before the expiration of March is March 1 — already past — so the earliest month-end the notice can target is Thursday, April 30, 2026, with the new rent effective Friday, May 1, 2026; and the tenant has fifteen days from March 2 to elect termination instead. Serve increase notices early in the month and this trap disappears.

When rent is due, grace periods, and late fees

South Dakota's default rule is that rent is due in month-long increments at the end of each month (§ 43-32-12) — a default virtually every written lease overrides with a first-of-month due date. Make the due date explicit, because the eviction ground in § 21-16-1(4) is measured from it. The statute sets no mandatory grace period and no cap on late fees: both are lease terms. Three drafting consequences follow. Write the grace period in if you want one — three to five days is common practice, not law. State the late fee as a specific amount with a specific trigger, and keep it proportionate; an uncapped statute is not a promise that a court will enforce a punitive fee. And ledger rent and fees separately: the nonpayment ground is failure to pay rent, so a ledger that blends fees into "rent due" invites a fight about whether the ground ever matured. See how to handle late rent for the workflow.

Returned-check charges

A charge for a dishonored check is capped at $40, and only where the fee policy has been conspicuously disclosed as § 57A-3-421 requires — posted conspicuously or given to the tenant in a written statement. Put the $40 figure in the lease itself and the disclosure condition is satisfied by the document both parties signed.

How does a South Dakota landlord terminate a tenancy?

Termination and eviction are different operations in South Dakota, and the 2024 repeal made the distinction sharper: termination ends the tenancy under Title 43; an eviction case under Title 21 removes a tenant who stays after a ground exists. Ending a tenancy correctly is what creates the holdover ground if the tenant does not leave.

Fixed terms

A fixed-term lease ends on its own date. No statutory notice is required to prevent renewal, because South Dakota's periodic-tenancy rules govern tenancies that continue period to period — but send a written non-renewal reminder 60 or more days before expiration anyway. The reminder prevents the accidental holdover, starts the forwarding-address conversation while the tenant is still cooperative, and costs one stamp. If the tenant stays past the term without your consent, the holdover ground under § 21-16-1 is available; if you accept rent for a new period with knowledge of the holdover, you risk converting the arrangement into a periodic tenancy on the old terms — decide before you deposit the check. See tenant breaking a lease for the early-exit side.

Periodic tenancies: §§ 43-32-14 and 43-32-15

For a hiring for an unspecified term, the tenancy renews automatically unless a party gives notice to terminate at least as long before the expiration of the term as the term of the hiring itself, not exceeding one month (§§ 43-32-14, 43-32-15). For a week-to-week tenancy that is a week's notice; for a month-to-month tenancy it is a full month's notice timed to expire at a period boundary. Either party may give it — the tenant's duty mirrors the landlord's — and it should be written even where an oral notice might be argued, because the date of notice is the fact every later filing depends on. Note the division of labor inside the chapter: use § 43-32-13 to change the terms of a continuing month-to-month tenancy, and §§ 43-32-14 and 43-32-15 to end a periodic tenancy. Summaries that cite § 43-32-13 for both are compressing two different procedures.

Estates at will: § 43-8-8

A tenancy or other estate at will for residential property, however created, may be terminated by the landlord giving the tenant notice, in the manner § 43-8-9 prescribes, to remove from the premises within a period specified in the notice of not less than fifteen days (§ 43-8-8). Section 43-8-9 prescribes the manner: the notice must be in writing and served by delivering it to the tenant, or to a person of discretion residing on the premises, or — if neither can with reasonable diligence be found — by affixing it on a conspicuous part of the premises where it may conveniently be read. Estates at will arise in informal arrangements — the undocumented occupant, the employee-tenancy that outlived the job, the family arrangement that was never papered — and the 15-day residential floor is the rule landlords most often miss, because the general estate-at-will rule outside residential property is shorter. Active-duty military tenants and tenants with an immediate family member in service carry additional notice protection under the same section, with exceptions for disruptive or illegal conduct and for sale of the property; check the current text before serving on a service member.

Mitigation: no statutory duty

South Dakota imposes no statutory duty on the landlord to mitigate damages by re-renting when a tenant breaks a lease. The departing tenant remains liable under the agreement, and the landlord may pursue the outstanding funds. "No duty" is not "no benefit": a re-rented unit still collects rent once rather than arguing about it in court, and a documented attempt to re-let strengthens your credibility on damages even where the law does not compel the attempt. Price the choice with the lease agreement guide drafting points in view — an early-termination fee clause, agreed while everyone is friendly, converts this whole dispute into a number.

How does eviction work in South Dakota, and why is self-help unlawful?

Self-help eviction is unlawful in South Dakota — no lockouts, no utility shutoffs, no seizing belongings to force a departure. Chapter 43-32 prices the violation directly: a tenant who is unlawfully removed or excluded, or whose services are willfully diminished by interruption of electric, gas, water, or other essential service, may sue for injunctive relief, recover possession by suit, or terminate the agreement — and in any case recover damages equal to two months' rent plus the return of advance rent and any deposit paid. Possession changes hands only through a forcible entry and detainer action under Title 21, Chapter 16, and since 2024 that action no longer begins with a notice to quit.

The grounds: § 21-16-1

An FED action lies only on a statutory ground. The grounds landlords actually use are: a forcible entry, or an entry by force, intimidation, fraud, or stealth followed by forcible detention; a tenant who, having entered peaceably, forcibly detains the premises; wrongful expulsion of a person entitled to possession; a lessee or tenant holding over after expiration of the term; a lessee or tenant failing to pay rent for three days after it is due; the post-sale and post-judgment holdover situations the section enumerates; and a tenant who commits waste or breaches a lease condition in a way that works a forfeiture of the term — a category that also reaches unlawful use of the premises and the false-claiming of a need for a service animal. Read the nonpayment ground precisely: rent must be unpaid for three days after it is due. If rent is due Monday, March 2, 2026, the ground matures on Thursday, March 5, 2026 — and not before, however confident you are that payment is not coming. Filing early on an unmatured ground is the unforced error that costs landlords the case and the filing fee.

There is no notice to quit anymore

Before July 1, 2024, § 21-16-2 required a three-day written notice to quit before proceedings could be instituted, and the old version of this page — like most forms libraries and many court-adjacent guides still circulating — described service of that notice as step one. Senate Bill 90 (SL 2024, ch. 75) repealed § 21-16-2 outright. Today no pre-filing notice is required by state statute for any FED ground: once the ground exists, the case begins with the complaint. Two qualifications keep this honest. First, your lease may still promise a notice or a cure period; a contractual notice is enforceable as a contract term even though the statute no longer imposes one, and filing in breach of your own lease invites a defense. Read the lease before you file, not after. Second, many landlords still send a written demand before filing as a matter of practice — it produces settlements, starts the paper trail, and gives the tenant a last clear chance to pay or leave. That is strategy, not law, and this guide labels it that way wherever it appears.

Filing, service, and the five-day answer

The action begins with a verified complaint — in writing, verified by the plaintiff or the plaintiff's agent, or signed by the plaintiff's attorney — served together with a summons (§ 21-16-6). The South Dakota Unified Judicial System publishes the standard forms: UJS-109 (the eviction-action checklist), UJS-111 (Summons for Eviction), and UJS-112 (Verified Complaint for Eviction). Use them; a court-facing form error is a delay you chose. Service follows the summons rules, and where personal service cannot be completed after the prescribed attempts, the summons and complaint may be posted conspicuously on the premises and mailed — document every attempt with dates and times, because service is the second thing (after the ground) that a challenged case turns on. The tenant then has five days from service to appear and answer (§ 21-16-7). That five is itself new: the same 2024 act that repealed the notice to quit raised the answer period from four days to five, so any older guide quoting four days is stale on both points at once.

Hearing, judgment, and execution

If the tenant answers, the court sets the matter for hearing on an expedited track; if the tenant does not answer, the landlord proceeds by default. A judgment for the landlord awards possession, and execution is carried out by law enforcement — the landlord never removes the tenant or the tenant's property personally. Keep the file boring and complete: the lease, the ledger showing the due date and the three unpaid days, proof of service, and any written demand you chose to send. South Dakota's process is fast when the ground, the service, and the arithmetic are all clean, and slow only when one of the three is not. The full sequence, with the general (non-South-Dakota) steps flagged as such, is in how to evict a tenant.

How much notice must a South Dakota landlord give before entering?

The standard: reasonable notice, reasonable times

Except in case of an emergency or if it is impracticable to do so, a landlord or the landlord's agent must give the tenant reasonable notice of the intent to enter and must enter only at reasonable times (§ 43-32-32). The statute then defines the safe harbor precisely: twenty-four hours' written notice is presumed to be reasonable, unless alternate methods of notification or times for entry are mutually agreed in the lease. A lease can therefore set a different agreed system — a different notice channel, a standing window for recurring services — but it must be genuinely mutual and genuinely in the lease; a unilateral house rule is not an alternate method "mutually agreed upon."

The four things the notice must contain

A compliant entry notice states: (1) the date or dates of entry; (2) a period of time during normal business hours for the entry; (3) the purpose of the intended entry; and (4) a means by which the tenant may request to reschedule the entry. Contents (2) and (4) are the ones landlords omit, and both omissions are visible on the face of the notice: "sometime Tuesday for maintenance" names neither a business-hours window nor a reschedule method. Build the notice as a form with four fields and the problem solves itself. Log every entry — date, how the notice was delivered, the window given, the purpose, time in and out — because the log is the evidence that converts a trespass argument into a compliance record.

Emergencies and impracticability

The emergency and impracticability exceptions excuse the notice, not the reasonableness of the entry itself: a burst pipe justifies entering now, at whatever hour the water demands, for the purpose the emergency presents. It does not convert the entry into a general inspection. Note what the statute does not contain: there is no South Dakota provision in § 43-32-32 giving the landlord a court-order remedy for refused entry in the terms the old version of this page described, and that claim has been removed rather than repeated. A tenant who persistently refuses lawful entry is breaching the arrangement, and the landlord's practical routes are documentation, negotiation, and — where the refusal works a lease forfeiture — the FED grounds; get advice on the specific facts instead of forcing a door.

What must a South Dakota landlord keep in repair?

The duty: § 43-32-8, and it cannot be signed away

In every hiring of residential premises, whether in writing or oral, the lessor must keep the premises and all common areas in reasonable repair and fit for human habitation and in good and safe working order during the term of the lease, and must maintain in good and safe working order and condition all electrical, plumbing, and heating systems of the premises (§ 43-32-8). The duty has one internal exception: it does not cover disrepair caused by the negligent, willful, or malicious conduct of the tenant or a person under the tenant's direction or control. And it is expressly nonwaivable: the parties may not waive or modify the requirements the section imposes. An "as-is" clause, a tenant-pays-all-repairs clause, or a hold-harmless for system failures is void on this point. The single permitted variation is an agreement that the tenant will perform specified repairs or maintenance in lieu of rent — specified, not general, and in exchange for rent, not in addition to it. The tenant's mirror duty is § 43-32-10: the lessee must preserve the premises, appliances, and appurtenances in good condition and repair all deterioration or damage occasioned by the tenant's own negligent, willful, or malicious conduct or that of persons under the tenant's direction or control. Read together, §§ 43-32-8 and 43-32-10 allocate every repair by cause: system age and ordinary failure sit with the landlord; tenant-caused damage sits with the tenant; and the move-in condition record is what proves which is which.

The remedies: § 43-32-9, in the statute's own structure

When the landlord neglects or refuses to make a repair the law requires, after the tenant has given notice and a reasonable time to act, § 43-32-9 gives the tenant a structured set of choices. First, the tenant may vacate the premises, in which case the tenant is discharged from further rent and from performing the other conditions of the lease. Second, the tenant may make the repairs and deduct the cost from the rent, or recover the cost from the landlord. The statute states no dollar cap on that deduction — a contrast with the capped repair-and-deduct statutes in many states that summaries wrongly import into South Dakota law. Third, for expensive repairs there is the escrow mechanism, and it is the part of South Dakota law landlords most need to understand before it happens to them: if the cost of necessary repairs exceeds one month's rent, the tenant may, after written notice stating the specific reason for the withholding, withhold payment of rent and immediately deposit it in a separate bank or savings and loan account, providing the landlord written evidence of each deposit. The account may be maintained only for the purpose of making the repairs. The tenant releases the accumulated deposit to the landlord when the landlord makes the repairs; if the landlord still has not acted once enough has accumulated to cover the cost, the tenant may cause the repairs to be made and pay for them from the account.

Three operational consequences follow. The tenant who follows § 43-32-9 is not "behind on rent" in the ordinary sense — the money is escrowed with written evidence delivered to you — so an eviction filing that treats escrowed rent as simple nonpayment walks into a statutory defense. The trigger is your own delay after notice: every element (notice specifying the repair, a reasonable time, a cost above one month's rent) is within your power to interrupt by simply making the repair. And the notice that starts the sequence arrives as a maintenance complaint, not a legal filing, which means the landlord who date-stamps requests and responds in writing will see the § 43-32-9 clock coming weeks before the landlord who lets voicemail pile up. Give every tenant a written maintenance-request channel at move-in and work it like a legal inbox — see how to handle maintenance requests.

Disclosures worth building into the lease packet

Federal law requires the lead-based paint disclosure for pre-1978 housing; that duty is national and unchanged. South Dakota adds a state disclosure landlords forget: a unit that was used in the manufacture of methamphetamine carries a notification duty to prospective tenants. Neither disclosure is a Chapter 32 deposit or eviction rule, but both belong in the same lease packet, signed before possession, because the time to prove disclosure is never after the dispute starts.

Retaliation

South Dakota's retaliation rule, § 43-32-27, is a cause of action, not a flat prohibition, and its precision is its protection — for both sides. A cause of action may arise in the tenant's favor when the landlord, subsequent to a protected event: (1) increases rent above fair market value; (2) decreases electric, gas, water, or sewer services; or (3) gives the tenant a notice to vacate not based upon a breach of the terms of the lease. Note what is and is not on that list. An increase to fair market value is not actionable — the statute reaches only increases above it. And a possession action for an actual lease breach is not one of the three acts; the third act is a no-cause notice to vacate.

The protected events are equally specific: (1) the landlord has received written notice that the tenant complained to a governmental agency charged with enforcing a building or housing code violation materially affecting health and safety, and the complaint is determined to be reported in good faith; (2) the tenant has given the landlord written notice of a condition requiring repair under § 43-32-9; or (3) the tenant has organized or become a member of a tenants' union or organization. Two defenses close the section. It is a defense that the notice to vacate was given more than 180 days after the protected event — the practical lookback window runs in the landlord's favor after six months. And the landlord's failure to renew a written lease at or before its expiration is not retaliation, full stop: non-renewal at term is always available, whatever complaints preceded it. A tenant who proves the claim is entitled to the remedies available for unlawful ouster or diminished services, plus reasonable attorney's fees (§ 43-32-28) — which ties retaliation exposure to the two-months'-rent measure described in the eviction section. The compliance habit that defeats most claims is documentation of the independent reason: the market study behind the increase, the ledger behind the notice, dated before the protected event wherever the facts allow.

Victims and emergency calls

Two narrower protections belong in every South Dakota landlord's file. A documented victim of domestic abuse, unlawful sexual behavior, or stalking may terminate a lease early without penalty under §§ 43-32-18.1 and 43-32-19.1, on the documentation those sections prescribe — a protection that overrides the ordinary early-termination analysis, so route any such request to the statute before quoting the lease. And a lease may not authorize evicting a tenant for calling emergency responders: the call for help is protected conduct, not a lease violation.

Discrimination

The federal Fair Housing Act applies in full. South Dakota's own law — the Human Relations Act, § 20-13-20 — makes it an unfair or discriminatory housing practice to refuse to rent, to discriminate in terms or conditions, or to advertise a discriminatory preference because of race, color, creed, religion, sex, ancestry, disability, familial status, or national origin. The old version of this page said the state law "tracks the federal protected classes" and listed seven; that understated it. The state list adds ancestry and creed to the familiar federal seven, and the section also protects the disabled tenant's right to make reasonable modifications at the tenant's own expense — with the landlord permitted, where reasonable, to condition the modification on an agreement to restore the interior at the end of the tenancy. The section carries narrow exemptions (including the owner-occupied two-family dwelling), which are read narrowly and never as a general small-landlord exemption. Enforcement runs through the state Division of Human Rights as well as the federal route. Screen every applicant with the same written criteria, apply them in the same order, and document every decision: tenant screening walks through a compliant process, and our fair housing guide covers what you can and cannot ask.

A ten-step South Dakota compliance checklist

• 1. Cap the deposit at one month's rent — or document the agreed special condition, in the lease, that justifies more (§ 43-32-6.1).
• 2. Get the forwarding address in writing at move-out — the 21-day clock does not run until you have it (§ 43-32-24).
• 3. Calendar day 21 and day 45 on the termination date — statement of specific reasons by day 21; itemized accounting by day 45 if requested (§ 43-32-24).
• 4. Send the itemized statement unprompted, inside the 21 days — it answers both paperwork duties at once and undercuts any bad-faith claim.
• 5. Write the due date, grace period, and late fee into the lease — the statute supplies none of them, and the eviction ground is measured from the due date.
• 6. Serve rent increases early in the month — at least 30 days before the month-end they take effect at, and expect the tenant's 15-day termination election (§ 43-32-13).
• 7. Read your own lease before filing for eviction — the statute no longer requires a notice to quit, but your lease may (§ 21-16-2, repealed 2024).
• 8. Wait the full three days on nonpayment — the ground matures only after rent is unpaid for three days after its due date (§ 21-16-1(4)).
• 9. Use the four-field entry notice — date, normal-business-hours window, purpose, and a reschedule method, 24 hours ahead in writing (§ 43-32-32).
• 10. Treat every repair notice as a legal clock — date-stamp it, respond in writing, and finish before the tenant's § 43-32-9 remedies — vacatur, repair-and-deduct, or the escrow account — become the cheaper option for them.

Practical tips for small landlords

• Run the deposit clock yourself. Twenty-one days is short, and the sanction for missing it is not the $200 — it is the forfeiture of every deduction. Build the move-out workflow now: written forwarding-address request at the walkthrough, photo documentation the same day, the itemized statement generated within the first week, and the balance mailed with days to spare. Deposit disputes are the most common small-landlord lawsuit in South Dakota, and they go to magistrate court (up to $12,000), where filing is cheap enough that an annoyed tenant has little to lose.
• Do not file evictions on muscle memory. Any form, checklist, or habit built before July 1, 2024 that begins with a three-day notice to quit is describing a repealed statute. The modern sequence is: confirm the ground under § 21-16-1, check your lease for a promised notice or cure period anyway, then file the verified complaint and summons on the UJS forms.
• Document service of everything. Termination notices, entry notices, and the summons itself all live or die on proof of delivery. Hand-deliver with a witness, use the posting method § 43-8-9 prescribes where it applies, and keep copies of everything with dates.
• Never let repairs sit. The § 43-32-9 escrow mechanism turns slow maintenance into a tenant-held bank account funded by your rent. A written request channel and a 48-hour acknowledgment habit will keep you out of it.

Read the statute yourself

• South Dakota Legislature, Codified Laws Title 43, Chapter 32 (Lease of Real Property) — the official text of §§ 43-32-6.1, 43-32-8, 43-32-9, 43-32-13, 43-32-24, 43-32-27, and 43-32-32, via sdlegislature.gov.
• South Dakota Legislature, 2026 Senate Bill 4 (signed February 11, 2026) — the enrolled amendment to § 43-32-24 substituting the 21-day return period, via mylrc.sdlegislature.gov.
• South Dakota Legislature, Codified Laws Title 21, Chapter 16 (Forcible Entry and Detainer) — §§ 21-16-1, 21-16-6, and 21-16-7, and the repeal of § 21-16-2 by SL 2024, ch. 75 (Senate Bill 90).
• South Dakota Legislature, Codified Laws § 20-13-20 and § 43-8-8 — the Human Relations Act housing section and the residential estate-at-will rule.
• South Dakota Unified Judicial System forms UJS-109, UJS-111, and UJS-112 — the eviction checklist, summons, and verified complaint.

The bottom line

South Dakota is a landlord-friendly state whose two most-cited rules changed within the last two years: the deposit return deadline is 21 days, not two weeks (2026 SB 4 amending § 43-32-24), and there is no pre-filing notice to quit anymore (the 2024 repeal of § 21-16-2) — an eviction starts when rent is three days past due and the verified complaint is filed. Around those changes the durable rules hold: a one-month deposit cap, forfeiture of all deductions for deposit noncompliance with up to $200 in punitive damages for bad faith, a 24-hour written entry notice with four required contents, a nonwaivable habitability duty, and a repair-remedy scheme — vacatur, uncapped repair-and-deduct, and the over-one-month's-rent escrow account — that punishes slow landlords precisely. Write the lease precisely, calendar the deposit the day the tenancy ends, answer repair notices like legal filings, and South Dakota's speed works for you instead of against you.

Frequently asked questions

How much security deposit can a South Dakota landlord charge?

One month's rent, under § 43-32-6.1 — and the cap reaches the money however it is labeled, so a separate pet or cleaning deposit counts toward it. A larger deposit is allowed only where the landlord and tenant agree to it because special conditions pose a danger to maintenance of the premises; the agreement and the condition belong in the written lease. Check a proposed deposit against the one-month ceiling with our Security Deposit Max Checker, which applies South Dakota's one-month cap under § 43-32-6.1 — the agreed larger deposit for special conditions sits outside that check.

How long does a South Dakota landlord have to return a security deposit?

Twenty-one days after the tenancy terminates and the landlord receives the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions, under § 43-32-24 as amended by 2026 Senate Bill 4. By that date the landlord must return the deposit or furnish a written statement showing the specific reason for withholding any portion. The older two-week figure still appears on many websites, including the Attorney General's fast-facts page, but it describes the pre-amendment statute.

Does the tenant have to request the itemized accounting?

Yes — the itemized accounting of a withheld deposit is due within 45 days after termination upon the tenant's request. The written statement of specific reasons for withholding is different: it is automatic inside the 21 days if you keep any portion. Send a fully itemized statement inside the 21 days anyway and both duties are answered at once.

What happens if a South Dakota landlord misses the deposit rules?

Forfeiture: a lessor who fails to comply with § 43-32-24 forfeits all rights to withhold any portion of the deposit, so even documented deductions are lost. Bad-faith retention — expressly including bad-faith failure to provide the written statement or the itemized accounting — adds punitive damages of up to $200.

Do I still have to serve a three-day notice to quit before evicting in South Dakota?

No. Section 21-16-2, which required that notice, was repealed by Senate Bill 90 effective July 1, 2024. A forcible entry and detainer case now begins with a verified complaint and summons once a § 21-16-1 ground exists. Two cautions: your lease may still promise a notice or cure period, which binds you as a contract term; and for nonpayment, the ground itself requires rent to be unpaid for three days after it is due — that is a waiting period measured from the due date, not a notice you serve.

When can I file for eviction for nonpayment in South Dakota?

Once the tenant has failed to pay rent for three days after it was due (§ 21-16-1(4)). If rent is due on Monday the 2nd, the ground matures on Thursday the 5th. The tenant then has five days after service of the summons and verified complaint to answer (§ 21-16-7). To run these same dates for your own case — the three unpaid days after the due date, filing the verified complaint, and the five-day answer window — use the Eviction Timeline Calculator.

How much notice must a South Dakota landlord give before entering?

Reasonable notice, at reasonable times, except in an emergency or where notice is impracticable. Twenty-four hours' written notice is presumed reasonable. The notice must specify the date or dates of entry, a period of time during normal business hours, the purpose of the entry, and a means for the tenant to request rescheduling (§ 43-32-32). Different methods or times can be set by mutual agreement in the lease.

Can a South Dakota tenant repair and deduct?

Yes. Under § 43-32-9, after giving notice of a required repair and allowing a reasonable time, the tenant may vacate and be discharged from further rent, or make the repairs and deduct the cost from rent or recover it — the statute states no dollar cap on the deduction. If the repair costs more than one month's rent, the tenant may instead withhold rent into a separate bank account, giving the landlord written evidence of the deposits, until the landlord makes the repair or enough accumulates for the tenant to pay for it from the account.

Can I raise the rent on a month-to-month tenant in South Dakota?

Yes, on written notice at least 30 days before the expiration of the month, effective at that expiration (§ 43-32-13). South Dakota has no rent control. The tenant may respond to a modification notice by terminating instead, by notifying you within 15 days of receiving it.

How much notice ends a month-to-month tenancy in South Dakota?

A full month's notice, expiring at a period boundary: for periodic tenancies the notice must be at least as long as the term of the hiring, not exceeding one month (§§ 43-32-14, 43-32-15). A residential tenancy at will is different — the landlord may terminate it on written notice to remove within not less than 15 days, served as § 43-8-9 prescribes (§ 43-8-8).

What counts as retaliation in South Dakota?

Section 43-32-27 gives the tenant a cause of action if, after a protected event — a good-faith code complaint the landlord has been notified of in writing, a written § 43-32-9 repair notice, or organizing or joining a tenants' union — the landlord raises rent above fair market value, decreases electric, gas, water, or sewer services, or gives a notice to vacate not based on a lease breach. It is a defense that the notice to vacate came more than 180 days after the event, and failure to renew an expiring written lease is never retaliation.

Does South Dakota law add protected classes beyond federal fair housing law?

Yes. Section 20-13-20 covers race, color, creed, religion, sex, ancestry, disability, familial status, and national origin — adding ancestry and creed to the federal list — and protects a disabled tenant's right to make reasonable modifications at the tenant's expense.

More landlord-tenant law guides

• Landlord-tenant law by state
• South Dakota security deposit law
• South Carolina landlord-tenant law
• Tennessee landlord-tenant law
• Rhode Island landlord-tenant law
• Texas landlord-tenant law

This is general information, not legal advice. Consult a South Dakota landlord-tenant attorney for specific situations.