S.D. Codified Laws § 44-9-26

Forfeiture of lien for failure to commence suit upon demand--Cancellation by register of deeds

Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case Lytle v. Morgan (1978)

Most recently applied in Suvada v. Muller (December 2022)

Source: SL 1913, ch 263, § 11; SL 1917, ch 295, § 4; RC 1919, § 1653; SDC 1939, § 39.0713; SL 2007, ch 254, § 1.

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

Upon written demand by the owner, the owner's agent, or contractor, served on any person holding a lien, requiring the person to commence suit to enforce the lien, the person shall commence suit within thirty days after such service or the lien is forfeited. The register of deeds shall cancel the lien of record, if the owner, the owner's agent, or contractor files no sooner than the fortieth day following service of the written demand:

(1) An affidavit stating that the person holding the lien has not commenced suit to enforce the lien within thirty days after the service of the written demand;

(2) A copy of the written demand that was served on the person holding the lien; and

(3) Proof of service on the person holding the lien.

Official source: South Dakota Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain South Dakota statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.