Mississippi security deposit law

Mississippi's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act sets no maximum security deposit. Its deposit section covers any payment whose main purpose is to secure the tenant's performance of the rental agreement, and it controls how that money is held, charged and returned, not how much it may be. Only the Act was read for this point.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-21 (reprinted in 2024 HB 1580, not enacted)

• A payment made to secure the execution of a rental agreement, including an advance payment of rent, is outside the deposit section's rules. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-21(1) (reprinted in 2024 HB 1580, not enacted) See Application and screening fees on the Mississippi page

You may keep only amounts reasonably necessary to cover unpaid rent, damage the tenant caused beyond ordinary wear and tear, cleaning when the tenancy ends, or other reasonable and necessary expenses caused by the tenant's default, and only if the deposit was made for those purposes. Claim them by written notice delivered to the tenant that itemizes the amounts, and return the rest no later than 45 days after the tenancy ends, the tenant delivers possession and the tenant demands the deposit.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-21(3) (reprinted in 2024 HB 1580, not enacted)

• The 45 days run only once all three have happened: the tenancy has ended, the tenant has delivered possession and the tenant has demanded the deposit. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-21(3) (reprinted in 2024 HB 1580, not enacted)
• Keeping a deposit in violation of the section and without good faith may subject the landlord, or a transferee, to damages of up to $200 on top of actual damages. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-21(4) (reprinted in 2024 HB 1580, not enacted)
• When a rental agreement is terminated for breach, the landlord must return all prepaid and unearned rent and the security the tenant can recover under the deposit section. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-13(4)

The landlord holds the deposit for the tenant, and the tenant's claim to it comes ahead of the claim of any of the landlord's creditors. The Act does not require a separate or interest-bearing account and does not require interest to be paid.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-21(2) (reprinted in 2024 HB 1580, not enacted)

The Act requires no move-in inspection, checklist or condition report. Its repair duty is measured against the start of the lease: you keep the unit and its plumbing, heating and cooling in substantially the same condition as at the inception of the lease, reasonable wear and tear excluded, so a dated record of the move-in condition is useful evidence.

Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-23(1)(b) (reprinted in 2024 HB 1580, not enacted)