Breaking a lease in South Dakota

A lease ends when its term expires, by mutual consent, or if the tenant acquires a better title to the home than the landlord's. A tenant may end it early if the landlord does not, within a reasonable time after a written request, secure the tenant's quiet possession or make repairs the landlord owes, or if most of the home, or the part that was the main reason for renting it, is destroyed through no ordinary negligence of the tenant (SDCL § 43-32-22; SDCL § 43-32-19).

• A tenant who, or whose household member, is the victim of alleged domestic abuse, unlawful sexual behavior or stalking may end the lease and move out without an early termination penalty by written notice that the termination is due to fear of imminent danger (SDCL § 43-32-19.1).
• The notice must attach a police report signed, a protection order issued, or a licensed health care provider's signed documentation of an examination, within the 30 days before the notice (SDCL § 43-32-19.1).
• That tenant owes no early termination fee and no rent for the month after the month the tenant moves out (SDCL § 43-32-19.1).
• You may not share a forwarding address or other contact information such a tenant gives you, except with the tenant's consent or as the law requires (SDCL § 43-32-19.2).
• A lease may not allow eviction because a tenant called for help from law enforcement or emergency responders over such an incident, and a tenant may not be evicted solely for being a victim (SDCL § 43-32-18.1).
• You may end a lease early for a use the lease forbids or for repairs the tenant owes and does not make (SDCL § 43-32-18).See Notice for lease violations on the South Dakota page
• A lease that one party may end at will ends when the other party is notified of that party's death or incapacity; other leases do not end on death or incapacity (SDCL § 43-32-23).

If you do not make needed repairs within a reasonable time after notice, the tenant may make the repairs and deduct the cost from rent or recover it from you, or move out and be released from further rent and other obligations (SDCL § 43-32-9).

• If the repairs would cost more than one month's rent, the tenant may, after written notice stating the specific reason, withhold rent and deposit it at once in a separate bank or savings and loan account used only for the repairs, giving you written evidence of the deposit (SDCL § 43-32-9).
• The money is released to you once you make the repairs, or the tenant uses it when enough has built up to pay for them (SDCL § 43-32-9).
• A tenant may also end the lease if you do not, within a reasonable time after a written request, put the home in good condition or repair it as you are obliged to (SDCL § 43-32-19 (1)).
• A written repair notice under this section is one of the events that can make later action against the tenant retaliation (SDCL § 43-32-27 (2)).See Retaliation on the South Dakota page

South Dakota has no statute that sets a general rule on subletting a home. The lease controls, so state in it whether the tenant needs your written consent (SDCL chapter 43-32 (Lease of real property)).

• If the tenant assigns the lease, the remedies you have against the tenant for a breach of the lease or to recover possession also apply against the assignee for claims that arise while the assignment lasts (SDCL § 43-32-20).

A tenancy for a term the parties did not specify renews at the end of each period unless one side gives notice of termination at least as long before the end of the period as the period itself, but never more than one month. For a month-to-month tenancy that means one month's notice before the month ends (SDCL § 43-32-15).

• A separate section lets a landlord end a residential tenancy at will with written notice giving the tenant at least 15 days to leave. Whether an arrangement is a tenancy at will or a periodic tenancy is a legal question; giving a full month's notice meets both periods (SDCL § 43-8-8).
• If the tenant, or the tenant's spouse or minor child, is on active military service, a tenant at will is entitled to two months' notice, unless the tenant has engaged in sustained disruptive, illegal, destructive or negligent conduct or a material breach, or the property was sold or passed to the landlord's estate (SDCL § 43-8-8).
• A notice to end a tenancy at will must be in writing and delivered to the tenant or a person of discretion living there; if neither can be found with reasonable diligence, it may be posted in a conspicuous place on the premises (SDCL § 43-8-9).
• Only after the notice period has run may the landlord reenter or go to court to recover possession (SDCL § 43-8-10).
• If the tenant stays after a lease ends and you accept rent, the lease is presumed renewed on the same terms for the same time, up to one year (SDCL § 43-32-14).

Within 21 days after the tenancy ends and you receive the tenant's mailing address or delivery instructions, return the deposit or give the tenant a written statement of the specific reasons for keeping any part of it. You may keep only what is reasonably needed to cover unpaid rent and other money due under an agreement, and to restore the home to its condition at the start of the tenancy, ordinary wear and tear excepted (SDCL § 43-32-24).

• If the tenant asks, give an itemized accounting of any deposit withheld within 45 days after the tenancy ends (SDCL § 43-32-24).
• A landlord who does not follow the section loses the right to withhold any part of the deposit (SDCL § 43-32-24).
• Keeping a deposit in bad faith, or failing in bad faith to give the written statement or itemized accounting, can bring punitive damages of up to $200 (SDCL § 43-32-24).
• The 21-day period comes from a 2026 amendment; older guides give two weeks (SDCL § 43-32-24).