No State Lease-Termination Right — the Federal Act Is the Whole of It
Several states put a military lease-termination right in their own landlord and tenant law, on top of the federal one. This state does not. Chapter 43-32 is the entire codified law on the lease of real property here, and its section list contains no military, active-duty, deployment or permanent-change-of-station provision at all. A service member breaking a lease here is relying on the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and only on that.
Verified August 23, 2026
What this benefit is
Several states put a military lease-termination right in their own landlord and tenant law, on top of the federal one. This state does not. Chapter 43-32 is the entire codified law on the lease of real property here, and its section list contains no military, active-duty, deployment or permanent-change-of-station provision at all. A service member breaking a lease here is relying on the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and only on that.
What it's worth: No state lease-termination provision for service members — the federal Act stands alone here
- Chapter 43-32 of the codified law is titled lease of real property and is this state's general landlord and tenant chapter.
- Its section list covers lease definitions and terms, lessor and lessee obligations, security deposits, eviction, termination and renewal, service animals, retaliatory conduct and mobile home notices.
- No section of the chapter deals with military service, active duty, deployment, permanent change of station or armed forces lease termination.
- The chapter does contain early-termination routes on other grounds, including provisions relating to domestic abuse and stalking, which shows the legislature knows how to write one when it means to.
Who is entitled to it
- You are in this state.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
From what you have told us so far, you appear to qualify.
How to claim it
- 1Stop looking for a state statute. There is not one in the chapter that would hold it, and hunting for it wastes the days you need for the notice itself.
- 2Use the federal Act and say so in the notice. Deliver written notice with a copy of the orders; on a monthly tenancy the termination takes effect thirty days after the next rent day.
- 3Because there is no state overlay, there is also no state penalty on a landlord who resists. Enforcement runs through the federal route, so involve a legal assistance officer early rather than arguing it yourself.
- 4Read your lease for a military clause. With no statutory backstop beyond the federal Act, a contractual military clause is worth more here than it is in states that legislate their own.
- 5If your landlord charges an early-termination fee on a qualifying federal termination, challenge it — the federal Act, not state law, is what forbids it.
- Form
- The federal notice: written notice of termination with a copy of the military orders
- File with
- Your landlord
- No renewal
- Once granted it does not need renewing.
Sources
- authority · statuteSDCL ch. 43-32 — lease of real property, full section list
Why only one source type: An absence is established by reading the chapter that would contain the provision. The full section list of the state's lease of real property chapter was read from the legislature's own service this session and contains nothing military.
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.