Wherewithal

South Dakota security deposit return obligations for landlords

What the statute requires of you in South Dakota: return deadlines, clock triggers, itemization / notice duties, deposit caps, and penalties for non-compliance — drawn from Wherewithal’s statute research corpus. A landlord who complies correctly does not create a statutory penalty claim.

Confidence: PRIMARY

PRIMARY — main elements read against statute text

Deadline to return / account	21 days (official code)
When the clock starts	termination + receipt of mailing address / delivery instructions
Penalty for non-compliance	forfeit withhold rights; bad faith → punitive ≤ $200
Deposit cap (maximum you may collect)	1 mo (§43-32-6.1; higher w/ written justification)
Escrow / interest requirements	no
Citation	SDCL §§ 43-32-6.1, 43-32-24

Source: SDCL §§ 43-32-6.1, 43-32-24

Compliance flags / traps

⚠ penalty is ≤$200 not 2×; confirm 21 vs 14 if your code print differs

Residual review notes

SD 21 vs 14 days: Official sdlegislature.gov shows 21 days; some 2025 Justia prints still show two weeks. Confirm current codified print.
was often cited as 2 weeks

Corpus version: 8a49d64205dbd73a (hash of human fields; use as last-updated fingerprint)

Deadline calculator

Compliance tool only — estimates the statutory return / accounting window from Wherewithal’s corpus fields. Not legal advice. No case is created.

This state’s corpus encodes a primary numeric window of 21 days. Enter the move-out / possession-delivery date the statute keys on.

Move-out / termination date (when possession is delivered)

Tenant side: South Dakota security deposit return rules

Same statute corpus, framed for tenants organizing a deposit-return claim.

Nearby states (landlord side)

Wherewithal is an organizational tool only. Not legal advice. Consider consulting a licensed attorney. This page is compliance information for landlords summarizing statutory duties — not legal advice.

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