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South Dakota Mechanics Lien

File a South Dakota mechanics lien to secure payment for construction work. Learn the 120-day recording deadline, the six-year enforcement period, and more.

Introduction

A South Dakota mechanics lien is a legal claim recorded against real property by a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier who improved the property and was not paid. Once filed, the lien attaches to the property and clouds the title, and can be enforced by a court-ordered sale. South Dakota grants the right under Chapter 44-9, but the lien only holds if you act on time. Most claimants need no advance notice, though a supplier to a subcontractor may owe a notice of furnishing when the owner filed a notice of project commencement. To perfect the lien, you must file a lien statement with the register of deeds within 120 days after you last furnish labor or materials, or the lien ceases. You then have up to six years from the last item of your claim to assert the lien in a suit. DocDraft prepares a South Dakota mechanics lien and its notices from your project details, and attorney review is available before you file.

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Key Things to Know

  1. 1

    A South Dakota mechanics lien secures payment against the improved property. Contractors, subcontractors, laborers, and suppliers of skill, services, materials, or machinery who improved real property and were not paid can claim one under SDCL Chapter 44-9.

  2. 2

    Most claimants need no prelien notice. Under SDCL 44-9-53 only a sub-subcontractor or supplier to a subcontractor must send a notice of furnishing, by certified mail within 60 days of last furnishing, and only if the owner filed a notice of project commencement.

  3. 3

    The lien statement must be filed within 120 days. Under SDCL 44-9-15 the lien ceases 120 days after you do the last of the work or furnish the last item unless you file a statement with the register of deeds within that period.

  4. 4

    You have six years to enforce. Under SDCL 44-9-24 the lienholder must assert the lien, by complaint or answer, within six years after the date of the last item of the claim as set out in the filed lien statement.

  5. 5

    South Dakota ties the lien to strict filing. Missing the 120-day filing deadline ends the lien, though the six-year enforcement window is generous; a separate contract claim against the party that hired you may still remain.

  6. 6

    The lien statement must state required details. SDCL 44-9-16 requires it to set forth a notice of intention to claim and hold a lien and the amount, a description of the property, the owner, and the dates of work, though no fill-in form is prescribed.

  7. 7

    The homestead is shielded. Under SDCL 44-9-5 the lien does not extend to or affect any homestead so far as it is exempt from levy and sale on execution, though this does not change the 120-day filing or six-year enforcement deadlines.

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Mechanics Lien in South Dakota, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Mechanics Lien guide walks through them.

Open the Mechanics Lien guide

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MECHANIC'S LIEN STATEMENT (SOUTH DAKOTA)

Filed with the register of deeds under SDCL Chapter 44-9. The claimant files this Mechanic's Lien Statement against the real property described below to secure payment for skill, services, labor, materials, or machinery furnished to improve that property.

  1. NOTICE OF INTENTION AND AMOUNT The claimant gives notice of intention to claim and hold a mechanics lien on the property described below. The amount claimed, after deducting all just credits and offsets, is: $[AMOUNT].

  2. CLAIMANT Name: [CLAIMANT NAME] Role: [CONTRACTOR / SUBCONTRACTOR / MATERIAL SUPPLIER / LABORER] Address: [CLAIMANT ADDRESS]

  3. OWNER OR REPUTED OWNER Name: [OWNER NAME] Address: [OWNER ADDRESS]

  4. HIRING PARTY The claimant furnished the work under contract with, or at the request of: [PERSON OR COMPANY THAT ORDERED THE WORK].

  5. PROPERTY Street address: [PROPERTY ADDRESS]. Legal description: [LEGAL DESCRIPTION]. County: [COUNTY].

  6. WORK OR MATERIALS FURNISHED General description of the skill, services, labor, materials, or machinery furnished: [DESCRIPTION]. Date first furnished: [FIRST DATE]. Date of the last item furnished: [LAST DATE].

  7. VERIFICATION The claimant, or the claimant's authorized agent, states under oath that the claimant has read this lien statement and that the facts stated in it are true to the best of the claimant's knowledge and belief.

Signature: [SIGNATURE] Printed name and title: [NAME AND TITLE] Date: [DATE] [NOTARY / VERIFICATION AS REQUIRED]

NOTICE OF FURNISHING (sent by a sub-subcontractor or supplier to a subcontractor, by certified or registered mail to the contractor with a copy to the owner, within 60 days of last furnishing, when a notice of project commencement was filed, under SDCL 44-9-53)

The undersigned is furnishing skill, services, labor, materials, or machinery to improve the property described above under an agreement with [SUBCONTRACTOR]. This notice is given to preserve the right to claim and extend a mechanics lien for amounts owed.

To (contractor): [CONTRACTOR NAME AND ADDRESS] Copy to (owner): [OWNER NAME AND ADDRESS] From (claimant): [CLAIMANT NAME AND ADDRESS] Date sent: [DATE]

Note: This South Dakota mechanic's lien statement and notice follow SDCL Chapter 44-9. Confirm the current statutory contents and deadlines, including the 120-day filing period and the six-year enforcement window, or have this reviewed by an attorney, before you file.

South Dakota Requirements for Mechanics Lien

South Dakota Filing Deadline and Office

File the South Dakota mechanics lien in the correct office, a county recorder or court as South Dakota requires, within the state's deadline after you last furnish labor or materials. South Dakota applies the deadline strictly, so filing late or in the wrong office can void the lien.

Frequently Asked Questions

A South Dakota mechanics lien is a claim that a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier files against a property they improved but were not paid for. It attaches to the real estate and clouds the title, so the owner cannot easily sell or refinance, and it can be enforced through a court-ordered sale. SDCL Chapter 44-9 governs it.

Contractors, subcontractors, laborers, and those who furnished skill, services, materials, or machinery to improve the property and were not paid can file. A general contractor and a first-tier subcontractor need no advance notice. Only a sub-subcontractor or supplier to a subcontractor may have to send a notice of furnishing, and only in limited cases.

You must file a lien statement with the register of deeds of the county where the property sits within 120 days after you do the last of the work or furnish the last item of materials, under SDCL 44-9-15. If you do not file within that period, the lien ceases and cannot be revived.

Most claimants need no advance notice. A notice of furnishing is required only from a sub-subcontractor or supplier to a subcontractor, and only when the owner or a party in direct agreement with the owner has filed a notice of project commencement. When it applies, under SDCL 44-9-53 it goes to the contractor by certified mail within 60 days of last furnishing.

South Dakota gives an unusually long enforcement window. Under SDCL 44-9-24 you must assert the lien, by complaint or answer, within six years after the date of the last item of your claim as stated in the filed lien statement. If no suit is brought in that time, the owner can file an affidavit and have the register of deeds cancel the lien.

Missing the 120-day deadline to file the lien statement ends the lien, because that filing is what creates and preserves it. You may still sue the party that hired you for breach of contract to recover the debt, but you lose the security a lien provides. The six-year enforcement window only helps if the lien was filed on time.

You can file, but the reach is limited. Under SDCL 44-9-5 the lien does not extend to or affect a homestead so far as it is exempt from levy and sale on execution. The homestead exemption can shield part of the property's value, though it does not change the filing or enforcement deadlines that apply to the lien.

When the debt is paid, the claimant should file a satisfaction or release with the register of deeds to clear the lien. If no suit is brought within six years of the last item of the claim, the owner, agent, or contractor can file an affidavit and the register of deeds will cancel the lien within 30 days. An owner can also challenge an invalid lien in court.