Small landlord exemptions from just-cause eviction and rent control laws
Here is the bottom line for a South Dakota small landlord: the state draws no legal distinction between a one-unit owner and a thousand-unit REIT — because there is almost nothing to be exempt from. South Dakota has no rent control statute and no just-cause eviction law, so the small-landlord carve-outs that dominate the conversation in California or Oregon simply have no counterpart here. The operative rule for everyone is SDCL §43-32-13: a month-to-month tenancy ends on one calendar month's written notice, no stated reason required, regardless of who owns the building.
That makes South Dakota a genuine outlier among the states we track. The question for a mom-and-pop owner is not "which exemptions do I qualify for" but "what baseline duties still bind me" — and there are real ones, starting with the habitability obligation in SDCL § 43-32-8. This page walks through both sides.
The term "mom-and-pop landlord" typically refers to an individual or family that owns a small number of residential rental units, often 1 to 4, and frequently lives in or near the property. In states with tenant-protection legislation, the legislature has carved out exemptions recognizing that small landlords operate differently from large institutional property managers.
South Dakota has no statewide just-cause eviction law and no active rent control, so all residential landlords, small or large, operate under the same straightforward statutory framework. There is no formal "small landlord" exemption because none is needed: you may terminate a month-to-month tenancy with proper notice without providing a reason, and you may set or raise rent to any amount you choose.
In states with just-cause eviction or rent stabilization, lawmakers typically soften the blow for small owners: unit-count thresholds, owner-occupied duplex carve-outs, new-construction exclusions. Those exemptions exist because there is a heavy rule to be excused from. South Dakota never enacted the heavy rule. There is no just-cause law and no rent control law on the books, so the legislature never needed to decide who escapes them — and the state code contains no unit-count threshold of any kind.
The practical consequence: everything you read on this page applies identically whether you rent out a single basement apartment in your own home or run a professional portfolio. Under SDCL § 43-32 (Lease of Real Property), landlord size is legally invisible.
The workhorse statute is SDCL §43-32-13. A month-to-month tenancy terminates on one calendar month's written notice — note that the statute runs on the calendar month, not a flat 30 days, so the notice period tracks the rental month rather than a day count. No cause needs to be stated, and no relocation payment is owed under state law.
On pricing, South Dakota imposes no ceiling on rent increases and no mandated increase-notice schedule beyond the tenancy rules themselves. With average rent in the state at $783, the market — not a statute — sets the boundaries. The discipline that binds you is contractual: a fixed-term lease locks the rent for its term, and whatever notice terms you wrote into your own lease are enforceable against you.
Light regulation is not zero regulation. Three obligations apply to every South Dakota lessor at any scale:
Notably, South Dakota's code does not set a statewide entry-notice hour requirement or a standalone retaliation statute the way many states do — but treating tenants as if habitability and fair housing were optional is the fastest way for a small landlord here to convert a friendly legal climate into a courtroom problem.
Because the statutes are thin, execution is everything. Four habits cover most of the risk:
About this analysis: This page was researched and written by the Eviction Risk Map research team based on SDCL § 43-32 (Lease of Real Property), including the termination-notice rule at SDCL § 43-32-13 and the habitability duty at SDCL § 43-32-8. Last reviewed July 2026. This material is provided for general information only and is not legal advice; consult a South Dakota landlord-tenant attorney before acting on a specific tenancy.
"}There is nothing to be exempt from. South Dakota has no just-cause eviction statute for any landlord, whether you own one duplex or ten thousand apartments. To end a month-to-month tenancy, you give one calendar month's written notice under SDCL §43-32-13, and you do not have to state a reason. States with just-cause laws often carve out small or owner-occupied properties; South Dakota never built the law those carve-outs would exempt you from.
State law imposes no cap on rent increases — there is no rent control statute anywhere in South Dakota, and no unit-count threshold that triggers one. On a month-to-month tenancy, the practical timing benchmark is the same calendar-month window in SDCL §43-32-13: since either party can end the tenancy entirely on one calendar month's notice, a rent change operates on that same rhythm. For fixed-term leases, the rent is locked until the lease term allows a change. For context, average rent in South Dakota is $783.
Three obligations never scale with portfolio size. First, the habitability duty in SDCL § 43-32-8 — keeping the dwelling fit for occupancy applies to every lessor. Second, fair housing law: discrimination claims do not care whether you manage from a kitchen table or a corporate office. Third, your own lease — whatever terms you signed bind you just as they bind the tenant. The state's light regulatory posture reduces paperwork, not these core duties.
No. Owner-occupancy exemptions matter in states where they unlock relief from just-cause eviction or rent caps — South Dakota has neither, so there is nothing for owner-occupancy to unlock. An owner living in one half of a duplex follows exactly the same SDCL § 43-32 rules as an out-of-state investor: one calendar month's notice to end a month-to-month tenancy, the habitability duty under SDCL § 43-32-8, and no rent ceiling on either side.
Data sourced from SDCL §43-32-13. Eviction notice data from SDCL § 43-32-21. Last updated July 14, 2026. For informational purposes only, not legal advice.
