South Dakota · TitleSouth Dakota lis pendens: filing with the register of deeds, the 60-day rule and discharge

In a South Dakota action affecting title to real property, the plaintiff, when filing the complaint or afterward, or a defendant demanding affirmative relief affecting real property, may file for record with the register of deeds of each county where the property lies a notice of the pendency of the action naming the parties, stating its object and describing the property in that county; no such notice is needed for a mortgage foreclosure or a mechanic's or miner's lien except as those statutes provide (SDCL 15-10-1). The action is treated as pending from the filing of the notice, but the notice is of no avail unless followed by the first publication of the summons, or personal service on a defendant, within sixty days after filing (SDCL 15-10-2). From the time of filing only, the pending action is constructive notice to purchasers and encumbrancers, and anyone whose conveyance or encumbrance is executed or recorded later is bound by subsequent proceedings as if a party (SDCL 15-10-3). The party who filed it, or its attorney, may discharge the notice of record by filing an executed and acknowledged certificate of discharge with the register of deeds (SDCL 15-10-4).