Free South Dakota Month-to-Month Rental Agreement Template

A South Dakota month-to-month rental agreement covers a tenancy that runs from period to period rather than for a fixed term. It sits under chapter 43-32 of the Codified Laws, which governs the lease of real property.

South Dakota fills gaps with presumptions. A hiring of lodgings for an unspecified term is presumed to run for whatever length the parties use to estimate the rent, so a weekly rate is presumed weekly, and where nothing is agreed about length at all the hiring is presumed monthly.

The most consequential rule in a South Dakota month-to-month rental agreement is not about ending the tenancy. It is about changing it.

The Landlord Can Change the Terms on Thirty Days’ Notice

In a month-to-month lease the landlord may, on giving written notice at least thirty days before the expiration of the month, modify the terms of the lease to take effect at the expiration of that month.

The notice does the work by itself. Once served, it operates to create and establish as part of the lease the terms, rent and conditions it specifies, if the tenant continues to hold the premises after the month expires. Staying on is what accepts the change.

The Tenant Has Fifteen Days to Refuse

That comes with a matching escape. The tenant may terminate the lease effective the first day of the next month by giving notice of termination to the landlord within fifteen days of receiving the notice of modification.

So a rent increase is not simply imposed. It arrives with a short window in which the tenant can leave instead, and missing that window while staying put is what locks the new terms in.

Accepting Rent After the Term Renews the Hiring

Where a tenant remains in possession after the hiring expires and the landlord accepts rent, the parties are presumed to have renewed the hiring on the same terms and for the same time, not exceeding one year.

Entry Needs Notice With Specifics

A landlord must give reasonable notice of an intent to enter and enter only at reasonable times, except in an emergency or where notice is impracticable. Twenty-four hours’ written notice is presumed reasonable. The notice must specify the date or dates of entry, a period during normal business hours, the purpose, and a means by which the tenant can ask to reschedule.

Tip: These periods are statutory and can change, so confirm the current text of chapter 43-32 before relying on a figure.

One month, and the statute gets there by an indirect route.

A hiring for a term the parties have not specified is deemed renewed at the end of the term implied by law, unless one of the parties gives the other notice of an intention to terminate. That notice must come at least as long before the expiration as the term of the hiring itself, and never needs to exceed one month.

For a monthly tenancy the two halves land in the same place: the term is a month, so the notice is a month. The cap matters more for longer arrangements, where the notice period stops growing at one month however long the term.

The right runs to either party. Nothing in the section makes it the landlord’s alone.

One protection is worth knowing if things sour. Where a landlord unlawfully removes or excludes the tenant, or willfully cuts off electric, gas, water or other essential service, the tenant may seek an injunction, recover possession by suit, or terminate the agreement, and in any case recover damages equal to two months’ rent plus the return of any advance rent and deposit.

1. Give notice of the intention to terminate at least one month before the end of the term.
2. Put it in writing and keep proof of delivery, even where the statute does not demand a form.
3. On receiving a notice modifying the terms, decide within fifteen days whether to accept or leave.
4. To refuse a modification, give notice of termination effective the first day of the next month.
5. Vacate at the end of the term rather than holding over, since accepting rent afterwards renews the hiring.
6. Leave nothing behind of value, since abandoned property runs on its own timetable.

For a South Dakota month-to-month rental agreement, the terms worth setting down are:

• The rent, the day it falls due, and the period it covers
• The address each party will accept written notices at
• Any agreed alternative to the presumed 24 hours’ notice before entry
• The deposit amount and the conditions for its return
• Which utilities and services each side is responsible for