Skip to content

Your situation, stage by stage

WHERE YOU ARE

Pick the situation that is yours and put in each date once, on the stage it belongs to. The page shows the stage you are at and the period the statutes set after it, with whose period it is and the section it comes from. It says what the law sets, never what to do about it.

All of it runs in this browser. The dates are the same ones Your clock and your case file hold, and nothing you type is sent anywhere. What this site records.

Which situation is yours

Rent three days late, two tries at service within thirty days, five days to answer, and a trial on two days' notice.

An eviction for unpaid rent. 5 stages, from Rent unpaid as a ground for eviction.

  1. Stage 1 · What the statutes set next

    Rent unpaid as a ground for eviction

    Period
    3 days
    From
    The day the rent is due
    Whose
    The tenant

    A tenant who fails to pay rent for three days after it is due may be sued for forcible entry and detainer.

    The whole of it: Being Evicted →SDCL § 21-16-1

  2. Stage 2 · Later in the statutes

    Serving the eviction summons

    Period
    30 days
    From
    The first attempt at service
    Whose
    The sheriff or other authorized server

    Two attempts at service are made at least one week apart, both within thirty days, and the second may be by posting and mail.

    The whole of it: Being Evicted →SDCL § 21-16-6

  3. Stage 3 · Later in the statutes

    Answering an eviction

    Period
    5 days
    From
    Service of the summons and complaint
    Whose
    The tenant

    The time for appearing and answering in an eviction is five days from service on the tenant.

    The whole of it: Being Evicted →SDCL § 21-16-7

  4. Stage 4 · Later in the statutes

    Notice of an eviction trial

    Period
    2 days
    From
    Issue being joined in the case
    Whose
    The landlord

    An eviction may be brought on for trial upon two days' notice after issue is joined, faster than an ordinary civil case.

    The whole of it: Being Evicted →SDCL § 21-16-8

  5. Stage 5 · Later in the statutes

    Putting off an eviction trial

    Period
    14 days
    From
    The date set for the trial
    Whose
    The court

    No continuance runs past fourteen days unless the tenant gives security for the rent that may accrue and for costs.

    The whole of it: Being Evicted →SDCL § 21-16-7

Around these dates

What the law asks of each side between them, a step at a time: The Eviction Papers

A date put in here is the same date on Your clock and in your case file, and Add to calendar puts it in your own calendar with reminders. It stays in this browser.

Every stage here is a period on the clock. A situation that is not listed may still have its periods there, and Your clock counts any one of them from a date.

MyRightz is legal education, not legal advice. Nothing here creates an attorney client relationship. Applying the law to a particular situation is the work of a licensed South Dakota attorney.