South Dakota · Weigh your options
How to stop a foreclosure in South Dakota
South Dakota has no general law letting every homeowner catch up and stop a sale, so your best chances are a workout with your servicer, a defense in court, or redemption after the sale. You can move a foreclosure by advertisement into court without giving a reason, and in a court foreclosure, paying the missed installments into court can stop or pause the case. Farm and ranch borrowers may have mandatory mediation.
Reviewed against South Dakota law and official sources on October 12, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Ways to stop or delay a foreclosure in South Dakota
Apply for help from your servicer
As early as possible, ideally before the 120-day mark
Ask for a repayment plan, forbearance or modification and send a complete application. A HUD-approved counselor from South Dakota Housing's HERO network can help for free.
12 C.F.R. § 1024.41
Require foreclosure by action
After the advertisement starts and before the sale
Apply to the circuit court describing the mortgage and your interest; you do not have to give reasons. The judge then orders the lender to stop the advertisement and foreclose in court.
SDCL 21-48-9
Answer the lawsuit
Within 30 days after you are served
Serve a written answer raising any defenses, such as wrong amounts or missing notices. The court also decides whether the lender proved the home's fair value before any shortfall can be charged to you.
SDCL 15-6-12(a), 21-47-16
Pay the missed installments into court
Before judgment to end the case; before the sale to pause it
In a court foreclosure, if you pay into court the principal and interest then due plus costs before judgment, the complaint is dismissed. If you pay after judgment but before the sale, the case is stayed until another default. Ask a lawyer whether this fits your loan.
SDCL 21-47-8, 21-47-10
Use farm and ranch mediation
Before the creditor can start foreclosure on agricultural land
For debts of $50,000 or more on agricultural land, the creditor must go through the state agricultural mediation program first. Missing meetings or not giving requested information waives your right.
SDCL 54-13-10, 54-13-11
Talk to a bankruptcy attorney
Before the sheriff's sale
Filing bankruptcy pauses the foreclosure through the automatic stay, and Chapter 13 can let you catch up over time. Get advice from a licensed bankruptcy attorney or legal aid first.
11 U.S.C. § 362(a)
Redeem after the sale
Within 1 year, or 180 days for a 180-day redemption mortgage
Pay the sale price plus taxes, insurance and similar amounts the buyer paid, with interest. This undoes the sale.
SDCL 21-52-11, 21-52-14, 21-49-34
What South Dakota law gives you
The right to catch up and stop the sale
Limited rightIn a court foreclosure, the complaint must be dismissed if, before judgment, you pay into court the principal and interest then due plus costs, and the case is paused until a later default if you pay before the sale. We did not find a similar right for a foreclosure by advertisement. A 180-day redemption mortgage may require 20 days' notice before the full balance is called due, and that notice can come with a notice of your right to cure. Ask your servicer for a reinstatement figure in writing.
SDCL 21-47-8, 21-47-10, 21-49-13
Foreclosure mediation
No statewide programWe did not find a foreclosure mediation or settlement conference program for ordinary home loans in South Dakota. For farms and ranches, a creditor enforcing a debt of $50,000 or more against agricultural land or agricultural property must first request mediation through the state agricultural mediation program, run by the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and cannot start foreclosure until mediation ends or the borrower waives it. The mediation period is 42 days unless extended. Agricultural land means a parcel over 40 acres outside a city used in farming or ranching.
Right to require a court foreclosure
A homeowner facing foreclosure by advertisement can apply to the circuit court, without giving reasons, and the judge will order the lender to foreclose by court action instead.
SDCL 21-48-9
Possession during redemption
The buyer at a foreclosure sale does not get possession until the redemption period has ended. A 180-day redemption mortgage cannot take away your right to possession during the redemption period.
SDCL 21-47-13, 21-49-12
Fair value rules on deficiencies
A lender that buys the home must show the court it paid fair value before it can collect any remaining balance.
SDCL 21-47-16, 21-48-14
Served notice in addition to newspaper notice
A lender foreclosing by advertisement must serve you with a written copy of the sale notice at least 21 days before the sale.
SDCL 21-48-6.1
The options your servicer can offer
Common questions in South Dakota
Is foreclosure mediation available for South Dakota homeowners?
Not for most homes. We found no mediation program for home loans. South Dakota's agricultural mediation program, run by the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources under SDCL chapter 54-13, is mandatory only for creditors enforcing debts of $50,000 or more against agricultural land or property.
Can I catch up on payments to stop a South Dakota foreclosure?
In a court foreclosure, SDCL 21-47-8 dismisses the case if you pay the principal and interest due plus costs into court before judgment, and 21-47-10 stays it if you pay before the sale. For a foreclosure by advertisement we found no such statute, so ask your servicer in writing for a reinstatement figure.
Why would I ask a South Dakota court to take over my foreclosure?
Under SDCL 21-48-9 a judge then oversees the case, you get time to answer and raise defenses, and the lender must prove its claim before a sale. Court foreclosure can also add costs. Talk to legal aid before you file the application.
Step by step
More on foreclosure in South Dakota
Understand the process
What is happening and how much time there is.
Weigh your options
What can stop it, and what happens if it goes ahead.
- How to stop a foreclosure (this page)
- After a foreclosure sale
Get help now
Who to call, and what to do when a sale is scheduled.
Back to the South Dakota overview
Free, official, nationwide
Free help anywhere in the country
HUD-approved housing counselors
Free foreclosure prevention counseling from agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A counselor can review your budget and deal with your servicer alongside you.
(800) 569-4287CFPB: help for struggling homeowners
Plain-language guides from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and a complaint form if your mortgage servicer is not following the rules.
Legal Services Corporation: find legal aid
Find the free civil legal aid office for your county if you have been served with a foreclosure lawsuit or given a sale date and cannot afford a lawyer.
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Sources for this page
- SDCL 15-6-12(a), Time for presenting defenses and objections
- SDCL Chapter 15-19, Execution sales (notice, return, confirmation, postponement)
- SDCL Chapter 21-16, Forcible Entry and Detainer
- SDCL Chapter 54-13, Agricultural Mediation
- South Dakota Housing, Homebuyer counseling (HERO network of HUD-approved counseling agencies)
- SD Law Help
- East River Legal Services
- Dakota Plains Legal Services
- SDCL Chapter 21-47, Actions to Foreclose Real Property Mortgages
- SDCL Chapter 21-48, Foreclosure of Real Property Mortgage by Advertisement
- SDCL Chapter 21-49, Short-Term Redemption Mortgages
- SDCL Chapter 21-52, Redemption from Sale on Execution or Foreclosure
- South Dakota Housing