A South Dakota lease agreement allows a landlord to rent out their property to a tenant and establish the desired terms. Within this document, a landlord includes their personal details, the tenant’s identifying information, the address of the rented premises, pet allocations, rent payment details, and health hazards.
While the conditions of a lease agreement will differ depending on the size, type, and location of the rented property, landlords should follow basic guidelines when creating these documents to follow federal and local laws.
Laws
Required Lease Disclosures
South Dakota landlords should be aware of two disclosures they must make, one required by federal law and one required by state law:
- Lead-based paint disclosure: If the property they’re leasing was built before 1978, a landlord must inform a tenant that it may contain lead-based paint on its interior (42 U.S. Code § 4852d).
- Methamphetamine production disclosure: If the property they’re leasing was once a location for methamphetamine production, a landlord must disclose this information to a potential tenant (SD Codified L § 43-32-30).
Security Deposit
A landlord may collect up to one month’s rent from a tenant as a security deposit (SD Codified L § 43-32-6.1).
Once a tenant vacates a property, the landlord has two weeks to return the security deposit in full. If damages or unpaid rent require the landlord to make deductions from the security deposit, the landlord should provide an itemized list within 45 days of the tenant vacating the property if the tenant requests it (SD Codified L § 43-32-24).
Landlord Right of Entry
A landlord must provide reasonable notice, which is presumably 24 hours, to a tenant before entering the rental property. No notice is necessary if it’s impractical to do so or there’s an emergency (SD Codified L § 43-32-32).
Lease Modifications
A landlord can make a written amendment to a lease and increase the rent if they provide the tenant with 30 days’ notice (SD Codified L § 43-32-13).
Small Claims Court
A tenant may sue a landlord for up to $12,000 in small claims court if they have an issue with an unrefunded security deposit (SD Codified L § 16-12C-13).
Sample
Here’s a sample of our South Dakota lease agreement template so you can understand what it entails. Download it as a PDF or Word file to start creating your own:
