South Dakota doesn't have a fair housing organization of its own. When renters, landlords or homebuyers here have questions about housing discrimination, the closest help has been in North Dakota. This summer, that help was stretched thin.
Now a long-delayed federal grant has come through. According to the North Dakota Monitor, which first reported the story before South Dakota Searchlight republished it, the Grand Forks-based High Plains Fair Housing Center had been waiting on the $425,000 final installment of a three-year Fair Housing Initiatives Program grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The money was first expected in May. The delay dragged on through the summer, and last month the center furloughed four of its eight staff members.
Back to full strength
Executive Director Michelle Rydz said she got word on a Saturday that the grant money was in HUD's system for paying out funds. The grant period begins Thursday, Oct. 15.
Three of the four furloughed employees can come back. The fourth took a job with Legal Services of North Dakota, a partner organization.
Rydz said the center's intake line took the biggest hit during the funding gap, "because we just didn't have the resources to be able to contact as many people as possible, and so people were waiting longer." It isn't clear whether anyone lost housing as a result, she said.
She credited North Dakota's congressional delegation for making calls and following through. U.S. Rep. Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., said in a statement that her office reached out to HUD and the White House after learning about the delay.
"I know this funding gap had real consequences, and I'm glad we could get this issue resolved and the center fully staffed again," Fedorchak said.
HUD did not respond to the Monitor's request for comment.
What the center does
The center works within the federal Fair Housing Act, which bars treating people differently because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status or disability. It investigates, mediates and resolves housing discrimination complaints, and it helps with accommodations.
In 2025, the center fielded 958 calls. More than a third involved allegations of housing discrimination. The rest dealt with landlord-tenant issues or general questions. The center reached 204 resolutions for clients, and about half of those were settled without anyone filing a formal complaint.
The South Dakota numbers are smaller but real. In the last year and a half, the center has handled about 100 calls from South Dakota. Rydz said the center will be able to resume taking those calls now that the grant has arrived.
For South Dakota renters and landlords, that means there is again someone to call with a fair housing question, even if that someone is across the state line in Grand Forks. The funding gap also showed how much of that help depends on a single federal grant reaching a single office on time. When the money stalled, a staff of eight was cut in half and callers waited longer for answers.
Why it matters for Contractors
Fair housing might sound like an issue for landlords and lawyers, not builders. But contractors who build, manage or own rental housing deal with it every day. Questions about accessibility, reasonable accommodations and who gets a lease can land on a builder-owner's desk as easily as on a property manager's.
The Fair Housing Act also includes accessibility design requirements for many new multifamily buildings. Contractors building apartments in South Dakota, where new rental projects are going up in Sioux Falls and planned in places like Huron, need to get those details right the first time. Fixing them later costs a lot more.
Having a working fair housing center that serves both Dakotas gives landlords and tenants a place to go for answers before a disagreement becomes a formal complaint. With about half of the center's resolutions reached without a complaint, that kind of early help can save everyone time and money. For contractors in the rental business, it's worth knowing the center is back to full strength and taking South Dakota calls again. It's also a good time to review your own leasing and accommodation policies, and to make sure your design team has accessibility covered on your next apartment project.