Breaking a South Dakota Lease

[Kaleb Carsten]

Hey BP,

I have an interesting question today because I'm on the tenant side right now.  Does anyone know what the South Dakota statute is to break a lease early if there is nothing in the contract? 

Long story short I recently helped my cousin move out of her rented mobile home due to abuse from her live in boyfriend (who is also on the lease).  I spoke with the landlord right away but he didn't have a process for breaking the lease, and I can't seem to find it in the SD statutes. Any advice?

[Melanie Raine]

Hi Kaleb! :-) We missed the last couple REIA meetings. Good to see you here!

Your timing is impeccable. We checked with an attorney regarding South Dakota leases just last week. If they need to break the lease early, the current tenant is responsible for paying the rent until a new tenant is in place. So her landlord has the right to demand the full amount from one and/or the other. 

As Justin said above, it's not the landlord's fault your cousin has bad taste in men, but maybe he'd be willing to work something out because he has a soft spot for people who have been abused, such as having her pay partial rent until the boyfriend's evicted.  I think she's just going to have to have a discussion with her landlord and see what he says.

Kudos to you for getting involved and helping your cousin. Scary stuff!