Sioux Falls, SD Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)
Key Facts
- Adopted code
- 2021 International Property Maintenance Code
- Enforcing agency
- Neighborhood revitalization division
- Owner options if repairable
- Repair, board up, or demolish
- Stalled construction trigger
- 18+ months halted, secured meanwhile
- Unpaid cost recovery
- Special assessment lien on lot
Summary
The code official can order Sioux Falls owners to repair, board up, or demolish structures that are dangerous, unsafe, or unfit for habitation under the city's property maintenance code.
113.1 General. The code official shall order the owner or owner's authorized agent of any premises upon which is located any structure...so deteriorated or dilapidated or has become so out of repair as to be dangerous, unsafe, insanitary, or otherwise unfit for human habitation or occupancy...to demolish and remove such structure; or if such structure is capable of being made safe by repairs, to repair and make safe and sanitary, or to board up and hold for future repair or to demolish and remove at the owner's option.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-135: Current through local ordinance 54-26, passed 7-14-2026).
Full Breakdown
Sioux Falls adopted the 2021 International Property Maintenance Code (§ 150.095) with local amendments in § 150.096, administered by the neighborhood revitalization division. Under amended § 113.1, if the code official finds a structure so deteriorated or out of repair that it's dangerous, unsafe, insanitary, or unfit for habitation and unreasonable to repair, the official orders demolition and removal. If the structure can be made safe, the owner may instead repair it, board it up for future repair, or demolish it voluntarily. Structures vacant more than 18 months of stalled construction must also come down. Unpaid demolition, repair, or abatement costs become a special assessment lien on the property under § 114.1.
Violations & Fines
General penalty for unspecified Code violations: fine up to $500 and/or up to 30 days in county jail, with each day a continuing violation treated as a separate offense; unpaid abatement costs become a special assessment lien.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who decides if a Sioux Falls building is dangerous?
What happens if I don't pay for city-ordered demolition?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Sioux Falls
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