South Dakota Residential Lease Agreement

• Max 1 month's rent, unless landlord and tenant agree to more because special conditions pose a danger to the premises. Since July 1, 2026 (SL 2026, ch 179) the landlord has 21 days, up from two weeks, after the tenancy ends and the tenant's mailing address is received to return the deposit or send a written statement of the specific reasons for keeping any of it; a full itemized accounting is due within 45 days only if the tenant asks (SDCL 43-32-6.1, 43-32-24).

Reviewed 5 Oct 2026 · SDCL 43-32-6.1, 43-32-24

Reviewed 5 Oct 2026 · SDCL 43-32-6.1, 43-32-24

• SDCL 43-32-15: a hiring for an unspecified term renews unless a party gives notice of intention to terminate 'at least as long before the expiration thereof as the term of the hiring itself, not exceeding one month' — i.e. one month's notice before the end of a monthly term (statute says 'one month', recorded as 30).
• Tenancy at will (residential): landlord's written notice to remove within a specified period of not less than fifteen days (43-8-8); two months if the tenant or an immediate family member is on active military service, with listed exceptions.
• Landlord may modify month-to-month lease terms (including rent) on at least thirty days' written notice before the end of the month (43-32-13).

Quoted from the source: “at least as long before the expiration thereof as the term of the hiring itself, not exceeding one month”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · SDCL 43-32-15; SDCL 43-8-8; SDCL 43-32-13

• 43-32-15: notice as long as the term of the hiring — one week for a week-to-week hiring.

Quoted from the source: “at least as long before the expiration thereof as the term of the hiring itself”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · SDCL 43-32-15

• A lessee who 'holds over after the termination of his lease or expiration of his term' is subject to a forcible entry and detainer action (21-16-1(4)); the statutory pre-suit notice (21-16-2) was repealed in 2024.

Quoted from the source: “If a lessee in person or by subtenants holds over after the termination of his lease or expiration of his term”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · SDCL 21-16-1(4)

• No just-cause requirement found; periodic and at-will tenancies end on notice under 43-32-15 / 43-8-8.

Quoted from the source: “A tenancy or other estate at will for a residential property, however created, may be terminated”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · SDCL 43-32-15; 43-8-8

• Minimum-late requirement: a forcible entry and detainer action lies when a lessee 'fails to pay his rent for three days after the same shall be due' (SDCL 21-16-1(4)).
• The former three-day written notice to quit (SDCL 21-16-2) was REPEALED by SL 2024, ch 75, s. 1 (2024 SB 90, signed 2024-03-14); the current code page shows '21-16-2. Repealed.' No statutory pre-suit notice remains; the lease may still require one.
• Post-filing: defendant's time to appear/plead is five days from service (21-16-7 as amended by SL 2024 ch 75 s. 2).

Quoted from the source: “or fails to pay his rent for three days after the same shall be due”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · SDCL 21-16-1(4); SDCL 21-16-2 (repealed, SL 2024 ch 75 s. 1); SDCL 21-16-7

• No statutory comply-or-quit notice: SDCL 43-32-18 lets a landlord terminate before the end of the term when the tenant uses the premises contrary to the lease or fails 'within a reasonable time after request' to make repairs the tenant is bound to make; 21-16-1(7) covers waste or any act that under the lease terms terminates it.

Quoted from the source: “When the tenant does not within a reasonable time after request make such repairs as he may be bound to make”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · SDCL 43-32-18; SDCL 21-16-1(7)

• Waste, or any act/omission that under the lease terms operates to terminate the lease (21-16-1(7)); use contrary to the lease agreement (43-32-18(1)) — no statutory notice period.

Quoted from the source: “If a lessee commits waste upon the leased premises, or does or fails to perform any act which, under the terms of the lease operates to terminate the same.”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · SDCL 21-16-1(7); SDCL 43-32-18(1)

• SDCL 43-8-9 (notice to a tenant at will): in writing, served by delivering it to the tenant or to some 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 be conveniently read. No delivery method is prescribed for 43-32-15 periodic-tenancy notices; the repealed 21-16-2 (service like a summons) no longer applies.

Quoted from the source: “delivering the same to the tenant, or to some person of discretion residing on the premises”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · SDCL 43-8-9

• No statutory notice form; 43-8-8 at-will notice must be in writing and specify the removal period (not less than fifteen days).

Quoted from the source: “The notice prescribed by § 43-8-8 must be in writing”

Reviewed 27 Sep 2026 · SDCL 43-8-8; 43-8-9