South Dakota Landlord Guide — Get Your Action Plan in 60 Seconds
Tenant behind on rent? Damage beyond wear and tear? Holding over after the lease ended? Describe the situation in your own words and get a plain-English breakdown, severity rating, step-by-step next steps, and ready-to-send notices — specific to South Dakota law.
Security deposit: you must return it within 14 days of move-out, with an itemized statement for deductions.
Tenant entry: Landlords must generally give 24-hour notice before entering, except in emergencies.
Eviction: you must go through the courts. Self-help eviction is illegal.
South Dakota landlords must return the deposit within 2 weeks after the tenancy ends once they have the tenant's mailing address; if the landlord withholds funds, the tenant may request a written itemized accounting, which the landlord then has 45 days to provide (§ 43-32-24). Entry requires reasonable notice, generally 24 hours (§ 43-32-32). There is no statutory rent grace period — rent is late the day after it is due — but the bad-faith penalty for deposit violations is capped at only $200, unusually low.
Free legal help in South Dakota
South Dakota LawHelp — Joint portal of SD's three legal-aid orgs; shared online intake application.