What can I do to protect myself from a deficiency judgment after my foreclosure in South Dakota?

Unfortunately, after a South Dakota foreclosure, there is very little you can do to protect yourself from a deficiency judgment. In order to protect yourself from your creditors taking this action, you would have had to act before the foreclosure took place. 

A deficiency judgment occurs when the lender who held the note on your mortgage loan is unable to collect the full amount due from a sale of your home. The house is supposed to serve as collateral and pay off the loan in full, but in a situation where property values have fallen, the home is sometimes worth less than the loan owed and the house doesn't act as sufficient collateral. The lender may still seize and sell the home to recover some of what you owe, but there will be a balance due. A deficiency judgment allows the lender to sue you for that balance due. 

Of course, if you have had your home foreclosed on, you probably don't have a large amount of cash sitting around to pay the lender for the deficiency judgment. This may mean he can place a lien on any property you may still own, or he can even garnish your wages. Sadly, there isn't much you can do to stop this once the foreclosure is done. Your only real option would be to consider bankruptcy after a judgment has been brought against you. 

However, you do have other options before foreclosure. Both a short sale that the bank agrees to, or an arrangement to hand over the deed in lieu of the bank foreclosing, would help you to avoid the risk of a deficiency judgment.