South Dakota · SDCL 10-13-39, 10-13-40South Dakota owner-occupied classification after buying: the certificate and March 15

South Dakota classifies each owner-occupied single-family dwelling separately for property tax – a house, condo, townhome, residential housing of four or fewer units, a qualifying cooperative unit, or a manufactured or mobile home assessed as a separate unit, with its garages and related structures – and a person may have only one such dwelling, the principal residence; an owner who occupies part of a duplex to fourplex, or less than half the living space, gets the classification for the occupied portion (SDCL 10-13-39). To be eligible, the owner submits a certificate to the county director of equalization by March 15 stating that the owner owns and occupies the dwelling as of the assessment date and that it is the principal residence, signed under penalty of perjury (SDCL 10-13-40). Once granted, the classification stays until ownership is transferred or the use changes – so a buyer has to qualify again; a new owner-occupant of property already classified as owner-occupied may do that by completing and filing the certificate of value required at the time of the transfer (§7-9-7). Anyone who gets the classification by misrepresenting ownership or occupancy is assessed a penalty of $10 per $1,000 of valuation, which becomes a perpetual lien, and is barred from the classification for three years (SDCL 10-13-40.3).