South Dakota mobile home rights cheat sheet

A quick reference to how South Dakota law generally treats mobile home park lot tenancies. South Dakota has no comprehensive dedicated mobile home park act; lot tenancies fall under the general lease law, S.D. Codified Laws Ch. 43-32, which adds one mobile-home-specific protection. This is general information, not legal advice, and the authors are not lawyers — for a specific situation, consider consulting a licensed attorney in South Dakota. Each line cites the controlling authority; read it at the source linked in Sources below.

At a glance

Topic	What the law generally provides	Cite
Governing law	No dedicated park act; general lease law.	SDCL ch. 43-32
Rent cap	No statewide cap.	(no statute)
Month-to-month change	Landlord 30-day modification notice; tenant may terminate within 15 days.	§43-32-13
Termination notice	About 30 days (term length, max one month).	§43-32-15
Eviction	Court forcible-entry-and-detainer; 3-day nonpayment notice.	ch. 21-16
Change of land use	Mobile home owner gets 90 days' notice to move the home.	§43-32-31
Security deposit	One month's rent max (more by special-risk agreement).	§43-32-6.1
Deposit return	Within two weeks, with a written reason for any withholding.	§43-32-24
Entrance/transfer fee	No statutory ban; lease controls.	(no statute)
Sell in place	No statutory right; lease and park rules control.	(no statute)
Utilities markup	No cap; PUC regulates utility rates.	(no statute)
Habitability	Landlord keeps premises fit + electrical/plumbing/heating in good, safe order; repair-and-deduct.	§43-32-8; §43-32-9
Entry	24-hour written notice presumed reasonable.	§43-32-32
Title	County treasurer certificate of title.	title 32, ch. 3
Tax	Mobile home tax on a rented lot; real estate once affixed.	ch. 10-9

How to use this

This sheet summarizes; it does not replace the statute or legal advice. South Dakota has no dedicated park act and no rent cap, and several common protections (sell-in-place, entrance-fee bans, utility caps) don't exist by statute — gaps this guide flags honestly. The one mobile-home-specific rule is the 90-day change-of-use notice. Your written lease and the park rules are especially important. Start there, then check the cited section.

Where to read more

• South Dakota topic guides on FightMyPark: lot rent, eviction, fees, utilities, buying, selling, title, and storm.
• The cited Codified Laws sections and official agency pages, linked in the Sources section below.