Delinquent Property Taxes in South Dakota: Year Three Opens the Door, a Filed Affidavit Closes It
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · South Dakota · Last updated October 21, 2026
South Dakota hands the clock to whoever holds the tax certificate and then takes it away again: no proceeding for a tax deed may be initiated until three years after the December certificate sale, and if it is not completed within six years the certificate and the tax lien behind it cease and are forever barred (SDCL 10-25-1, 10-25-16). Delinquent property taxes are taxes a homeowner did not pay by the state's deadline, after which the county adds interest and can force a sale to collect them. The first half of a bill is delinquent on May 1 and the second on November 1, with interest at five-sixths of one percent a month from each date (SDCL 10-21-23, 54-3-16). The treasurer then offers a tax certificate at public sale at the courthouse on the third Monday of December (SDCL 10-23-7). Whether an investor can buy it is a county decision: no county may sell a tax certificate unless its board of commissioners adopts a resolution waiving that prohibition, and absent one the county is the holder (SDCL 10-23-28.1). Where a county has waived it, bidders compete by naming the lowest yearly rate, no bid above ten percent per year is valid, and the redeemer pays the rate printed on the certificate (SDCL 10-23-8, 10-24-1). Redemption stays open at any time before a tax deed issues (SDCL 10-24-1), and the real deadline arrives quietly: sixty days after the affidavit of completed service of the notice of intention to take tax deed is filed (SDCL 10-25-8). You pay the county treasurer. Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
Find out where you stand in South Dakota
Where are you with the unpaid property taxes?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
When can a South Dakota county take my house for unpaid property taxes?
Not quickly, and not on an anniversary you can guess. A proceeding to procure a tax deed must be initiated after three years from the date of the tax certificate sale, and within six years of that sale (SDCL 10-25-1). Even then the deed waits sixty days after the affidavit of completed service is filed (SDCL 10-25-8).
How much interest does it cost to redeem a South Dakota tax certificate?
That depends on the certificate, not on a statewide rate. A redeemer pays the sum listed in the tax certificate plus interest on that sum at the rate the property was sold at, from the date of purchase (SDCL 10-24-1). Bidding runs down to the lowest yearly rate, and no bid above ten percent per year is valid (SDCL 10-23-8).
When exactly does the right to redeem end in South Dakota?
Sixty days after a filing, not on a date set in advance. The right of redemption does not expire until sixty days after the affidavit of completed service of the notice of intention to take tax deed is filed with the treasurer (SDCL 10-25-8), and the notice itself must say the right will expire then (SDCL 10-25-2).
When do South Dakota property taxes become delinquent each year?
In halves. Taxes are due January 1 of the year after assessment (SDCL 10-21-4). One half of all unpaid real property taxes is delinquent on May 1, and the other half on November 1 if it is not paid by October 31, with interest at five-sixths of one percent a month attaching from each date (SDCL 10-21-23).
South Dakota delinquent property tax rules at a glance
South Dakota runs this entire process through one county officer. The treasurer sends the bill, adds the interest, offers the certificate, serves the deed notice and takes the redemption money. Delinquent property taxes are property taxes left unpaid past the deadline the state sets, after which interest accrues and the property can be sold to satisfy them. Two things here are unusual. The certificate stays with the county unless the commission passes a resolution waiving the statutory ban on selling one (SDCL 10-23-28.1). And the final deadline is a document rather than a date, since the right of redemption lasts until sixty days after an affidavit of completed service is filed (SDCL 10-25-8). A homestead worth under 170,000 dollars owned by someone seventy or older is exempt from sale for taxes (SDCL 43-31-1).
A Watertown house where year three only opened the door and a filed affidavit shut it
Nothing happened to this Watertown house in year four, which is exactly what made it dangerous. About 2,180 dollars of the prior year's taxes went unpaid past both deadlines, so the Codington County treasurer offered a certificate at the sale on the third Monday of December 2022, nobody bid, and it was bid off in the county's name (SDCL 10-23-24). From there it carried the Category G rate, five-sixths of one percent a month (SDCL 10-23-25). December 2025 came and went with no deed, because three years only opens the window (SDCL 10-25-1). The notice of intention landed in March 2026, the affidavit of completed service was filed on the sixteenth, and redemption ran out sixty days later in mid May (SDCL 10-25-8). The treasurer computes the figure, with notice costs capped at 400 dollars (SDCL 10-25-9).
Relevant Laws
SDCL 10-21-4 (taxes due January 1)
Provides that except as provided in section 10-9-10, all taxes are due on January first of each year following assessment, levy, or extension of the taxes, and as between vendor and vendee become a lien on the real property on and after January first.
SDCL 10-21-23 (delinquency dates and the monthly interest)
Provides that on May first of the year after which taxes have been assessed, one-half of all unpaid real property taxes are delinquent, that real property taxes totaling fifty dollars or less must be paid in full on or before April thirtieth, that on May first and the first day of each month thereafter interest is added at the Category G rate established in section 54-3-16, and that the other half becomes delinquent on November first if not paid on or before October thirty-first, with the same interest attaching in the same manner. Where the last day of April or October falls on a weekend the tax is due on the last working day of that month.
SDCL 54-3-16 (the official state interest rates, including Category G and Category E)
Lists the official state interest rates referenced throughout the South Dakota Codified Laws. The Category G rate of interest is five-sixth percent per month or fraction thereof, which is the rate carried by delinquent property taxes and by a tax certificate issued to a county. The Category E rate is four percent per year, which is the rate on taxes a county is prohibited from collecting under chapter 10-6C.
SDCL 10-21-25 (penalty and interest collected in addition to the principal)
Provides that all penalty and interest provided for in section 10-21-23 shall be collected by the treasurer in addition to the principal amount.
SDCL 10-21-33 (taxes as a perpetual lien)
Provides that taxes on real property and any penalty and interest imposed is a perpetual lien against all persons and bodies corporate, except the United States and this state.
SDCL 10-23-2, 10-23-2.1 and 10-23-3 (notice before the certificate sale)
Section 10-23-2 requires the treasurer to give notice of the sale of the tax certificate by publication once during the week before the sale in the official newspapers of the county, or by posted notice at the courthouse door for two weeks where no newspaper is published in the county. Section 10-23-2.1 requires an additional notice, by first class mail or electronic means, to any owner at the owner's last known address, to any holder of a special assessment certificate that is a lien on the property, and to the municipal finance officer, mailed or transmitted at least fourteen days before the day of sale. Section 10-23-3 sets the contents, including the time and place of the sale and a list of the certificates to be sold on which taxes were unpaid as of the close of business on the first Monday of December.
SDCL 10-23-5 (the publication charge added to the property)
Requires the treasurer to charge and collect, in addition to the taxes and special assessments and interest and penalty, the sum of four dollars and fifty cents on each tract of real property and on each municipal lot or group of municipal lots advertised for sale, with the fee deposited in the county general fund.
SDCL 10-23-7 (the annual sale on the third Monday of December)
Provides that on the third Monday of December in each year, between the hours of nine a.m. and four p.m., the treasurer shall offer at public sale at the courthouse a tax certificate for any real property that is liable for taxes of any description for the preceding year or years and that remains due and unpaid, that the treasurer may adjourn the sale from day to day until all the tax certificates have been offered, and that no taxable property is exempt from levy and sale for taxes except as provided in section 43-31-1.
SDCL 10-23-8 (bidding the interest rate down, with ten percent a year as the ceiling)
Provides that if any person bids the full amount of the taxes, interest and costs due, stating in the bid the lowest rate of interest per year at which the bidder will pay the taxes assessed and due against the property, the treasurer shall sell and issue the certificate to that bidder, that in no case may the rate of interest exceed the rate named in the bid, that the bid at the lowest rate of interest per year is considered the best bid, and that no rate of interest higher than ten percent per year is a valid bid. It also allows a county commission to set a fee of up to fifty dollars, deducted on redemption from the proceeds paid to a holder other than the county, and states that no property owner may be assessed that additional fee.
SDCL 10-23-28.1 (a county may not sell a certificate unless its commission waives the ban)
Provides that notwithstanding chapters 10-23, 10-24 and 10-25, no county may sell any tax certificate unless the board of county commissioners adopts a resolution waiving the provisions of the section that prohibit the sale of tax certificates, and that the county shall be the holder of any tax certificate issued by the county unless such a resolution is adopted. The treasurer must still serve notice on the owner of record, publish notice and attend to the other administrative provisions of those chapters.
SDCL 10-23-24 and 10-23-25 (bidding off for the county, and the Category G rate it carries)
Section 10-23-24 provides that if there are no other bidders offering the amount due, the treasurer may bid off any certificate in the name of the county for the taxes, penalty, interest and costs due and unpaid, and that the county acquires all the rights a purchaser would. Section 10-23-25 requires the treasurer to issue the certificate to the county in the same manner as to any other person and provides that the tax certificate issued to the county shall bear interest at the Category G rate of interest as established in section 54-3-16.
SDCL 10-24-1 (the right to redeem before a deed, and what the redeemer pays)
Provides that any person may redeem a tax certificate on real property sold for taxes at any time before issue of a tax deed for the property, by paying the treasurer the sum listed in the tax certificate, the interest on that sum at the rate that the real property was sold from the date of purchase, other taxes subsequently paid, and interest on those taxes at the same rate from the date of payment. The treasurer enters a memorandum of the redemption, gives a receipt, files the receipt with the county auditor, and holds the money subject to the order of the purchaser.
SDCL 10-24-5 (redeeming a certificate the county bid off)
Provides that any person may redeem a tax certificate bid off by the treasurer in the name of the county at a tax sale, at any time before the tax deed has been issued, by paying the amount of all delinquent taxes with penalty and interest up to the date of redemption and the costs of advertising and selling the tax certificate, after which the treasurer issues a tax receipt and marks the record redeemed.
SDCL 10-24-3 and 10-24-4 (extra time for people under disability, and no fee for the redemption)
Section 10-24-3 allows a person adjudged incompetent to redeem within one year after the person is adjudged competent, and a minor to redeem within one year after reaching the age of eighteen, while preserving partition proceedings. Section 10-24-4 provides that no fee may be charged for any service provided for in sections 10-24-1 to 10-24-3, inclusive.
SDCL 10-25-1 (no deed proceeding before year three, none after year six)
Provides that if a tax certificate is sold for taxes and not yet redeemed, the owner or holder may conduct a proceeding to procure a tax deed as provided by sections 10-25-2 to 10-25-12, that a proceeding shall be initiated after three years from the date of the tax certificate sale or at any time thereafter within six years from that date, that the time period applies equally to the county or any other purchaser, and that an assignee takes the certificate subject to the time period of the first owner.
SDCL 10-25-2, 10-25-3 and 10-25-5 (the notice of intention to take tax deed)
Section 10-25-2 requires the notice to be signed by the lawful holder of the certificate and to state the date of sale, the description of the property, the name of the purchaser and of any assignee, and to state that the right of redemption will expire and a deed will be made upon the expiration of sixty days from the completed service unless the property is redeemed. Section 10-25-3 lists who must be served, including the owner of record, the person in possession, the person in whose name the property is taxed, mortgagees of record, lienholders, creditors of record and other interested persons. Section 10-25-5 requires personal service in the manner provided for a summons on the owner of record, the person in possession and the person in whose name the property is taxed, allows service on others by summons or by publication once a week for at least two successive weeks, and requires mailed notice by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested.
SDCL 10-25-8 and 10-25-8.1 (sixty days from the filing of the affidavit)
Section 10-25-8 provides that service of the notice is complete when an affidavit of the service and of the particular mode of service, duly signed and verified by the person or officer making the service, has been filed with the treasurer authorized to execute the tax deed, that the record or affidavit is presumptive evidence of completed service, and that the right of redemption from the sale does not expire until sixty days after the filing of the affidavit of completed service. Section 10-25-8.1 provides that failure to redeem within those sixty days passes all of the right, title and interest of the owner, mortgagee, lienholder and other interested persons to the holder of the certificate, subject to section 10-25-12.
SDCL 10-25-9 (notice costs added to the redemption, capped at four hundred dollars)
Provides that the total costs of serving the notice of intention to take a tax deed, whether by publication or otherwise, together with the costs of the affidavit, the cost of a records search, the cost of locating owners and an attorney fee, may not exceed four hundred dollars, and that these costs are added to the redemption money only if the treasurer received written notice that service had begun or was made and a verified statement of the costs was filed in the treasurer's office before redemption is made.
SDCL 10-25-11 (the deed is prepared immediately after the sixty days run)
Provides that immediately after the expiration of sixty days from the date of the filing of the affidavit of completed service, the treasurer shall prepare a deed for each parcel for which the certificate was sold and remains unredeemed, signed by the treasurer and attested by the county auditor under seal, delivered on return of the certificate of tax sale, with the treasurer receiving five dollars for each deed prepared on a sale.
SDCL 10-25-16 and 10-25-17 (the six year ceiling, and the county exception)
Section 10-25-16 provides that if a proceeding to procure a tax deed is not completed within six years after the date of the tax certificate sale, the sale, the lien for taxes, the lien of any taxes paid by the holder as subsequent taxes and all rights thereunder cease and are forever barred, and requires the treasurer to cancel the certificate and note the bar on the records. Section 10-25-17 provides that section 10-25-16 does not apply to certificates held by the county, and that where the county assigns a certificate dated more than four years before the assignment, the purchaser has one year from the assignment to commence a proceeding.
SDCL 10-25-39 (surplus proceeds returned to the prior owner of record)
Provides that the proceeds of the tax deed sale, after deducting the expenses the county incurred in the proceeding to take tax deed and in the sale proceeding, are distributed by prorating on the basis of the tax levies for the most recent year for which taxes are included, until all tax and interest have been paid, and that any surplus proceeds remaining after payment of the taxes, penalty, interest, county liens and other costs must be returned to the prior owner of record, with the surplus transferred to the Unclaimed Property Division under chapter 43-41B if the prior owner of record cannot be found within one hundred eighty days. Amended by SL 2024 ch 38, effective 12 February 2024, and by SL 2025 ch 49.
SDCL 10-25-39.1 and 10-25-39.2 (the deed holder must sell within one year)
Section 10-25-39.1 requires a county that has acquired real property by a tax deed to declare it surplus property and conduct a sale under chapter 6-13 within one year of the issuance of the tax deed, with proceeds distributed under section 10-25-39 and notice of the sale published at least twice, the first publication not less than thirty days before the sale. Section 10-25-39.2 requires any person other than a county who acquires real property by a tax deed after being issued a tax certificate to offer the property at public auction within one year of the issuance of the deed, with that seller entitled to compensation in the same manner as redemption of a tax certificate under section 10-24-1 and the proceeds distributed under section 10-25-39. Both sections date from SL 2024 ch 38.
SDCL 10-25-44 (one hundred eighty days to contest a recorded tax deed)
Provides that no action may be commenced by the former owner, or by any person claiming under the former owner, to recover possession of real property sold and conveyed by deed for nonpayment of taxes or to avoid the deed, unless the action is commenced within one hundred eighty days after the recording of the deed, and that no defense may be interposed or maintained in an action to quiet title in the grantee unless the defense is interposed within one hundred eighty days after the deed is recorded in the office of the register of deeds.
SDCL 10-26-1, 10-26-4 and 10-26-10 (the scavenger route for taxes six years behind)
Section 10-26-1 allows the treasurer of each county to make a list of all taxes on real property in the county that appear from the tax records to be delinquent for a period of at least six years and have not been satisfied. Section 10-26-4 requires the treasurer, on or before October tenth of the year the list is prepared, to give notice that a tax deed will issue on the listed lands by serving a notice to take tax deed by county on the recorded owner, in person or by registered or certified mail, with the statutory form stating that the right of redemption will expire and a tax deed will be issued to the county upon the expiration of sixty days from the completed service unless redemption is made. Section 10-26-10 provides that the chapter is supplemental and in addition to, but not in lieu of, the ordinary procedure for collecting unpaid real estate taxes and taking tax deeds.
SDCL 43-31-1 and 10-23-2.5 (the homestead that cannot be sold for taxes, if the owner speaks up)
Section 43-31-1 provides that a homestead with a value of less than one hundred seventy thousand dollars of a person seventy years of age or older, and of the unremarried surviving spouse of such a person, is exempt from sale for taxes for so long as it continues to possess the character of a homestead. Section 10-23-2.5 requires a homestead owner who receives a notice of delinquent taxes and who will be seventy years of age or older by the date of the certificate sale to notify the treasurer before the sale that the owner occupies the home and meets the age requirement, failing which the owner is responsible for costs related to the sale of the certificate.
SDCL 10-6C-2, 10-6C-3, 10-6C-8 and 10-6C-9 (low-income elderly relief that stops collection)
Chapter 10-6C entitles a qualifying applicant to a prohibition on the collection of real property taxes on the applicant's single-family dwelling. Section 10-6C-2 sets the qualifications, including three years of ownership or five years of residence, eight months of occupancy in the previous calendar year, an established base year, and household income under sixteen thousand dollars for a single-member household or twenty thousand for a multiple-member household, each figure increasing annually by the index factor from January 1, 2024. Section 10-6C-3 requires an annual application to the county treasurer on or before April first. Section 10-6C-8 makes the uncollected taxes a lien bearing interest at the Category E rate, payable in full before the property can be transferred. Section 10-6C-9 provides that those taxes may not be considered delinquent.
SDCL 10-21-7 and 10-21-7.1 (partial payments, where the county allows them)
Section 10-21-7 provides that the board of county commissioners may authorize the treasurer to accept partial payments of taxes, upon application, any time after January first to apply against the taxes due, and requires an applicant who owes taxes on more than one parcel to designate the parcel the partial payment applies to. Section 10-21-7.1 provides for monthly payment of property taxes by electronic transmission.
South Dakota Department of Revenue: County Treasurers
The department's reference page for county treasurers, which summarises the same statutory scheme for the officials who run it. It lists the annual sale under SDCL 10-23-7 as the third Monday in December from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, notes under SDCL 10-23-8 that the lowest interest rate prevails if there is competition, states that the county must bid off the taxes if there is no buyer, describes SDCL 10-25-1 as no sooner than three and no later than six years, and describes SDCL 10-25-8 as sixty days from filing being the last chance to redeem.
Minnehaha County Treasurer: property tax questions
A county treasurer page showing how the statutory interest is administered in practice. It states that taxes become delinquent May 1st and November 1st, that payments not postmarked by April 30th and October 31st respectively are also considered delinquent, and that there is a 10 percent annual penalty for late payments charged at .83333 per month, which is the Category G rate of five-sixths of one percent per month expressed as a monthly figure.
Regional Variances
South Dakota delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Sale mechanism
A tax certificate first, a tax deed much later. The treasurer offers a certificate at public sale at the courthouse on the third Monday of December for property liable for unpaid taxes of the preceding year or years (SDCL 10-23-7). The holder may then conduct a proceeding to procure a tax deed (SDCL 10-25-1). A supplemental route exists for taxes delinquent at least six years, under which the treasurer gives notice that a deed will issue to the county (SDCL 10-26-1, 10-26-4, 10-26-10).
Who ends up holding the certificate
The county, unless its commission voted otherwise. No county may sell any tax certificate unless the board of county commissioners adopts a resolution waiving that prohibition, and absent such a resolution the county is the holder of any certificate it issues (SDCL 10-23-28.1). Where there are no other bidders offering the amount due, the treasurer may bid the certificate off in the county's name (SDCL 10-23-24).
Delinquency dates
Taxes are due January 1 of the year after assessment (SDCL 10-21-4). One half of all unpaid real property taxes is delinquent on May 1, and the other half on November 1 if it is not paid on or before October 31. A bill totalling fifty dollars or less must be paid in full on or before April 30 (SDCL 10-21-23).
Interest before any sale
Monthly, not annual, and there is no separate flat penalty on the delinquency. Interest is added at the Category G rate on May 1 and the first day of each month thereafter, and in the same manner on the second half from November 1 (SDCL 10-21-23). The Category G rate is five-sixth percent per month or fraction thereof (SDCL 54-3-16). The treasurer collects it in addition to the principal (SDCL 10-21-25).
Time before the certificate sale and before the deed
Short to the sale, long to the deed. A half delinquent on May 1 can be in the published list of certificates to be sold as of the close of business on the first Monday of December (SDCL 10-23-3). A deed proceeding, by contrast, may not be initiated until three years after the certificate sale and must be completed within six years of it (SDCL 10-25-1, 10-25-16).
Redemption period and clock
No fixed number of months. Any person may redeem at any time before issue of a tax deed (SDCL 10-24-1), and the right of redemption does not expire until sixty days after the affidavit of completed service of the notice of intention to take tax deed is filed with the treasurer (SDCL 10-25-8). The clock is that filing, not the sale date and not the service date. A person adjudged incompetent has one year after being adjudged competent, and a minor one year after turning eighteen (SDCL 10-24-3).
Redeemer's charge
The rate on the certificate, which is bid down rather than fixed by statute. Bidders state the lowest rate of interest per year they will accept, the lowest is the best bid, and no rate higher than ten percent per year is a valid bid, so ten percent is a ceiling (SDCL 10-23-8). The redeemer pays the certificate sum plus interest at the rate the property was sold at from the date of purchase, plus subsequent taxes paid and interest on those at the same rate (SDCL 10-24-1). A county-held certificate bears the Category G rate instead (SDCL 10-23-25).
Other redemption costs
Notice costs are capped. Service of the notice of intention to take a tax deed, with the affidavit, records search, cost of locating owners and an attorney fee, may not exceed four hundred dollars, and is added only if a verified statement of costs was filed before redemption (SDCL 10-25-9). A publication charge of four dollars and fifty cents per tract or municipal lot is collected as well (SDCL 10-23-5). No fee may be charged for the redemption itself (SDCL 10-24-4), and a county commission's fee of up to fifty dollars is deducted from a non-county holder's proceeds, not assessed on the owner (SDCL 10-23-8).
Notice to the owner
Twice over. Before the sale, publication once during the week before it in the official county newspapers (SDCL 10-23-2) plus mailed or electronic notice to any owner at the last known address, sent at least fourteen days before the day of sale (SDCL 10-23-2.1). Before the deed, personal service of the notice of intention on the owner of record, the person in possession and the person in whose name the property is taxed, with others served by summons or by publication once a week for at least two successive weeks, and mailed notice by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested (SDCL 10-25-3, 10-25-5).
Where to redeem
The county treasurer of the county where the property sits. Payment goes to the treasurer, who enters a memorandum of the redemption in the list of sales, gives a receipt, files the receipt with the county auditor, and holds the money subject to the order of the purchaser (SDCL 10-24-1). For these chapters, treasurer means the county treasurer (SDCL 10-21-1.2).
Surplus proceeds
Returned to the prior owner of record, and the sale that produces them is compulsory. A county that takes a tax deed must declare the property surplus and sell it within one year, and a private deed holder must auction it within one year, taking only the equivalent of a redemption (SDCL 10-25-39.1, 10-25-39.2). Surplus remaining after taxes, penalty, interest, county liens and other costs goes back to the prior owner of record, and to the Unclaimed Property Division if that owner cannot be found within one hundred eighty days (SDCL 10-25-39).
Payment plan
Not a statewide right. The board of county commissioners may authorize the treasurer to accept partial payments on application any time after January 1 (SDCL 10-21-7), and monthly electronic payment is permitted (SDCL 10-21-7.1). A qualifying low income owner who has reached seventy can have collection prohibited entirely, so the taxes are not delinquent but become a lien at the Category E rate of four percent a year, with the annual application due to the treasurer by April 1 (SDCL 10-6C-3, 10-6C-8, 10-6C-9).
After the deed is recorded
A short window to contest. No action by a former owner to recover possession or to avoid a deed given for nonpayment of taxes may be commenced unless it is started within one hundred eighty days after the recording of the deed, and a defense in a quiet title action brought by the grantee faces the same one hundred eighty day limit (SDCL 10-25-44). Attorney review of a recorded deed and of a surplus claim is available through DocDraft.
Frequently Asked Questions
Other South Dakota guides
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Adverse Possession in South Dakota: Twenty Years, or Ten If You Paid the Taxes
Asset Protection Planning in South Dakota (2026)
Dealing With Debt Collectors in South Dakota (2026)
Expunging a Criminal Record in South Dakota (2026)
Filing a Workplace Harassment Complaint in South Dakota
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