HOA and condo association foreclosure in South Dakota

HOA and condo collection rules in South Dakota, step by step

• No general HOA or condo collection statute

  Check your covenants first

  South Dakota's condominium chapter covers creating condo projects, state review of sales and builder liens, but it has no section on liens for unpaid assessments. The old horizontal property regime chapter was repealed in 1980. That means your declaration, covenants and bylaws decide whether the association has a lien, what it can charge and how it collects.

  SDCL ch. 43-15A; SDCL ch. 43-15 (repealed)

• The one HOA statute: disclosure when a home is sold

  Sales after July 1, 2024

  Since July 1, 2024, a seller of a home governed by a homeowners association must give the buyer, before an offer, the governing documents, the amount, frequency and purpose of any assessment, and any special one-time assessments from the last three years. The law defines an HOA as one that has authority under its recorded documents to assess and record liens, which shows that the lien power comes from those documents.

  SDCL § 43-4-44.1

• Get the documents that give the association its power

  As soon as you get a past due letter

  Ask the association in writing for the recorded declaration or covenants, the bylaws, any collection policy and an itemized ledger of every charge, fee, fine and payment. Check the county register of deeds for anything recorded against your home. Whether fines can be collected like dues, and whether there is a lien at all, depends on those documents.

• Any foreclosure would go through the courts or the mortgage process

  If you are served with papers

  We found no South Dakota statute written for association foreclosures, and we did not confirm whether an association can use South Dakota's foreclosure by advertisement. If you are served with a summons and complaint, the time to answer is short, so call legal aid that day. See the state's [how foreclosure works](/states/south-dakota/how-foreclosure-works/) page for the general steps.

• Homestead protection may matter

  If the home is your homestead

  South Dakota law makes a family's homestead exempt from judicial sale and judgment liens, to the extent provided by statute. We did not confirm how that applies to an association's claim based on recorded covenants, so if the home is your homestead, raise it with a lawyer before anything is sold.

  SDCL § 43-31-1

• Payment plans and fees

  Before the debt grows

  No South Dakota statute requires an association to offer a payment plan or caps its late fees, interest or collection costs. Ask for a payment plan in writing, keep paying current dues if you can, and keep a copy of everything you send and receive.

Common questions in South Dakota