Breaking a lease in South Dakota

If you are the tenant

• A periodic hiring renews at the end of each term unless one party gives notice of intent to end it at least as long before the end of the term as the term itself, not more than one month. For a month-to-month tenancy that is one month's notice ending at the end of a rental month (SDCL 43-32-15).

If the landlord ends it

• SDCL 43-32-15 (one month's notice before the end of the term) applies to either party. Separately, SDCL 43-8-8 (as amended in 2024) lets a landlord end a residential tenancy at will, however created, with written notice to leave within at least 15 days, or two months' notice if the tenant or the tenant's spouse or minor child is on active military service (with exceptions for serious misconduct or sale). The official sources reviewed do not say which rule governs an ordinary month-to-month rental, so the calculator should not compute this.

Written notice required: Not stated. SDCL 43-32-15 does not say the notice must be written. A landlord's notice to end a tenancy at will must be written and served personally, on a person of discretion living there, or by posting (SDCL 43-8-9).

• week-to-week, both: 1 rental period, ending with a rental period. For a weekly hiring, notice must be given at least one week before the end of the weekly term (SDCL 43-32-15, 43-32-4).

State law gives no general right to end a fixed-term lease early; the tenant may end early only for the causes in SDCL 43-32-19 (landlord's failure to repair or secure possession after written request, destruction of most of the premises, or domestic abuse under § 43-32-19.1). Otherwise the lease controls.

Landlord's duty to re-rent: Unsettled. No South Dakota statute addresses a landlord's duty to re-rent after a residential tenant leaves early, and no South Dakota appellate decision on the point was found in official sources.

Lease-break fees: No statutory limit on early-termination or reletting fees; the lease controls. A domestic-abuse termination under SDCL 43-32-19.1 is free of early-termination fees.

• Domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking (SDCL 43-32-19.1)

  A tenant who (or whose household member) is a victim of domestic abuse, unlawful sexual behavior or stalking may end the lease and move out by a specified date without an early-termination penalty.

  Proof:

  Written notice that the termination is due to fear of imminent danger to the tenant or a household member, with a police report or protection order from the prior 30 days, or a licensed health care provider's signed documentation of an exam in the prior 30 days.

  What you still owe:

  No early-termination fee and no rent for the month after the month in which the tenant vacates.

• Unit unlivable or landlord fails to repair (SDCL 43-32-9; 43-32-19(1)-(2))

  If the landlord fails to repair conditions making the unit unfit to live in, the tenant may move out and stop owing rent; the tenant may also end the lease if most of the premises is destroyed through no ordinary negligence of the tenant.

  Proof:

  Notice to the landlord of conditions needing repair (written request under 43-32-19).

  What you still owe:

  If the landlord does not repair within a reasonable time, the tenant may vacate and is discharged from further rent.

• Landlord harassment or illegal entry (SDCL 43-32-6)

  If the landlord unlawfully locks the tenant out or willfully cuts off essential utilities, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement.

  Proof:

  None specified.

  What you still owe:

  The tenant may end the lease and recover two months' rent plus advance rent and deposit.

• Other (SDCL 43-32-13)

  When a landlord gives notice changing a month-to-month lease's terms (such as rent), the tenant may end the lease effective the first of the next month.

  Notice:

  15 days, in writing

  Proof:

  Notice of termination within 15 days after receiving the landlord's written notice modifying the month-to-month terms.

  What you still owe:

  The lease ends on the first day of the next month.

Military orders, every state: the federal SCRA lets servicemembers with orders (permanent change of station or deployment of 90+ days) end a lease with written notice and a copy of the orders. How the SCRA date is counted.

• A landlord ending a tenancy at will must give two months' notice if the tenant, or the tenant's spouse or minor child, is on active military service, unless the tenant engaged in sustained serious misconduct or the property was sold or passed to the landlord's estate (SDCL 43-8-8).
• If a tenant stays after the lease ends and the landlord accepts rent, the lease is presumed renewed on the same terms for the same period, up to one year (SDCL 43-32-14).

• Write a South Dakota notice to vacate
• South Dakota security deposit law: getting your deposit back after you move

• SDCL 43-32-15 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• SDCL 43-8-8 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• SDCL 43-8-9 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• SDCL 43-32-4 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• SDCL 43-32-6 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• SDCL 43-32-9 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• SDCL 43-32-13 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• SDCL 43-32-14 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• SDCL 43-32-19 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• SDCL 43-32-19.1 Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• 2024 SB 89 (enrolled), amending SDCL 43-8-8 Retrieved October 13, 2026.

Laws change. This page was checked against the sources above on October 13, 2026. It is legal information, not legal advice; see our methodology.