Mississippi eviction law

If rent is not paid, you may deliver a notice saying the rental agreement will terminate if the rent is not paid within three days. The notice must be in writing, or by email or text message if the tenant agreed in writing to be notified that way. The Act does not say whether the three days are calendar or business days.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-13(5)(a)

• A copy of the written notice of breach must be filed with the sworn affidavit or complaint that starts the eviction. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-33(b)(i) See Eviction process on the Mississippi page
• Rent includes any late fees the rental agreement requires a defaulting tenant to pay. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-7(1)(k) See Rent and late fees on the Mississippi page
• Mississippi's older three-day notice to pay rent or give up possession now applies only to premises that are not a dwelling unit. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-7-27
• In a nonpayment case, the summons the Act prescribes tells the tenant that paying all sums owed before the eviction hearing, or afterward by the court-ordered move-out date, means the tenant does not have to move out. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-35(2) See Eviction process on the Mississippi page

For a material breach other than unpaid rent, you may deliver a notice specifying the acts and omissions that make up the breach and saying the rental agreement will terminate on a date not less than 14 days after the tenant receives it if the breach is not remedied within a reasonable time of no more than 14 days. If the tenant adequately remedies a remediable breach before that date, the agreement does not terminate.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-13(1), (3)

• The notice must be in writing, or by email or text message if the tenant agreed in writing to be notified that way. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-13(3)
• If substantially the same breach recurs within six months after an earlier notice and the tenant cannot show due care, you may terminate on at least 14 days' notice specifying the breach and the termination date. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-13(3)(b)
• No notice to terminate is needed when the tenant has committed a substantial violation of the rental agreement or the Act that materially affects health or safety. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-19(4)
• A party may not terminate for a condition caused by that party's own deliberate or negligent act or omission, or by a family member or other person on the premises with that party's consent. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-13(3)(c)
• The 14 days count from the tenant's receipt, and the Act does not say when a mailed or posted notice is received, so allow for delivery time when you choose the termination date. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-13(3)

You may start an eviction for a breach of the rental agreement or the Act after the breach or nonpayment notice, or for failing to vacate after the agreement ends or expires. You file a sworn affidavit or complaint stating the facts, the unit's address and any rent and fees owed, with a copy of the written notice you delivered. The summons orders the tenant to vacate or to show cause on a named day, and a judgment must be signed on the same business day it is granted. Service of the summons and appeals follow the Mississippi Rules of Court, which were not read for this page.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-31 Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-33 Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-35 Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-37

• In the Act, a court means a justice court, a county court or a circuit court. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-7(1)(b)
• If you win possession, the judge orders the tenant to vacate in 7 days from the judgment unless an emergency or other compelling circumstance justifies a shorter or longer period. After that date you may request a warrant for removal, which law enforcement executes by removing all occupants; posting it on the door does not count. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-39(1), (2)
• In a case based only on unpaid rent, no warrant issues if the tenant pays all unpaid rent and other sums in the judgment by the move-out date, or if you accept payment of those amounts after that date, and you must accept full payment tendered by the move-out date in good faith. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-39(4)
• A single adjournment may not exceed 10 days without both sides' consent, and adjournments may not carry the hearing beyond 30 days after the eviction was filed. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-41
• Service of the summons and appeals follow the Mississippi Rules of Court. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-35(3) Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-43

The Act's eviction path ends with a warrant for removal that the sheriff or a constable carries out by removing the occupants and putting the landlord in physical possession. The Act has no separate section on lockouts or utility shutoffs, and Mississippi's older eviction chapter and court decisions were not read for this page, so check them before using any self-help.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-39(2)

• Even after you win possession, the tenant keeps the same access to the premises the rental agreement allowed until the court-ordered move-out date, and only law enforcement executing a warrant for removal puts you in possession. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-39(1), (2) See Eviction process on the Mississippi page
• A person who receives money under a lease or rental agreement to pay utility services commits a crime by knowingly, willfully and unlawfully failing to apply it to the amount owed within 60 days after receiving the utility bill. This does not apply when the bill cannot be paid because the tenant did not pay enough on time, or because of an administrative, clerical or technical error by the utility company. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-7-46
• Except where the Act itself allows it, a rental agreement may not waive the rights, duties or remedies the Act gives either side, authorize anyone to confess judgment, or exculpate or limit the landlord's liability for the landlord's willful misconduct. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-5 (reprinted in 2024 HB 1580, not enacted)

The Act's property rules apply after a judgment of possession. If the tenant moves out by the court-ordered move-out date and leaves property behind, you may dispose of it without further notice. After a warrant for removal is executed, you must give the tenant reasonable access for 72 hours to remove personal property, including a manufactured home; property left by a tenant who moves out within those hours may be disposed of without further notice, and after them you may move what remains to the curb, an area for garbage or another place you and the tenant agree on.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-39(1), (3) Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-13(6)

• The eviction summons must tell the tenant these property rules in words the Act prescribes. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-35(2) See Eviction process on the Mississippi page
• The Act does not say when a unit is abandoned before a court judgment or how property left in that situation must be handled. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-39

The Act has no general ban on retaliation. Its only retaliation rule concerns rent: after a rental agreement expires, you may demand a rent increase if that action did not have the dominant purpose of retaliating against the tenant for actions the Act authorizes and you received written notice of each condition that was the subject of the tenant's actions. Mississippi court decisions on retaliatory eviction were not read for this page.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-17(2)