How to Evict a Tenant in Mississippi: Laws, Process, and Timeline
Mississippi Eviction Timeline 2026: Yes, There’s a Full Residential Landlord-Tenant Act
Mississippi has had a Residential Landlord and Tenant Act since 1991 — Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-8-1 through 89-8-45, originally Laws 1991, ch. 478. What changed in 2022 was the eviction machinery: Laws 2022, ch. 501 (Senate Bill 2461) added §§ 89-8-31 to 89-8-45, so a residential eviction now runs under the Act itself rather than under the older Chapter 7 removal statutes, which were narrowed to premises that are not a dwelling unit. The case is heard by a justice, county, or circuit court judge — all three count as a “court” under § 89-8-7(1)(b).
Grounds and Notice Periods
| Ground | Notice Period | Statute | Curable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-payment of rent | 3 days | Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-13(5)(a) | Yes — the notice has to say the agreement ends only if the rent is not paid within the 3 days |
| Other material lease breach | At least 14 days, with up to 14 days to remedy | Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-13(3) | Yes — under § 89-8-13(3)(a), a breach remedied before the date in the notice does not end the agreement |
| Same breach again within 6 months | At least 14 days | Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-13(3)(b) | No — the second notice only has to specify the breach and the termination date; there is no remedy clause |
| Substantial violation materially affecting health or safety | No notice to terminate required | Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-19(4) | No |
| No-cause, month-to-month tenancy | 30 days | Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-19(3) | N/A |
| No-cause, week-to-week tenancy | 7 days | Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-19(2) | N/A |
| Holdover after a fixed-term lease expires | 3 days’ written notice before eviction proceedings can start | Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-17(2) | N/A |
The 3-day non-payment figure is old, but its citation moved in 2022: for a residential rental it now sits in § 89-8-13(5)(a), while § 89-7-27 was rewritten to reach only “premises or other lands not constituting a dwelling unit.” A guide still citing § 89-7-27 for an apartment or rental house is pointing at the non-residential chapter. The other material breach category is where the bigger gap shows up — 14 days with a chance to remedy, not the flat 30 days some older summaries list, which blurs a lease violation together with the month-to-month notice period in § 89-8-19(3). And a tenant who stays past the end of a fixed term is not owed zero notice: § 89-8-17(2) has the landlord give written notice that eviction proceedings will start no earlier than three days later.
Repairs and the Retaliation Question
Section 89-8-23 sets the landlord’s side of the bargain: comply with building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety, and keep the unit, its plumbing, and its heating or cooling system in substantially the same condition as when the lease began, reasonable wear and tear excluded. A tenant who gives written notice of a material defect has two statutory routes. Under § 89-8-13(2) and (3), the tenant can serve a 14-day notice of breach that ends the lease if the defect isn’t remedied. Under § 89-8-15, if the landlord hasn’t repaired within 30 days of written notice, the tenant can make the repair and be reimbursed, capped at one month’s rent and usable no more than once in six months, and only if the tenant is current on rent.
Retaliation is thinner. The Act has no general anti-retaliation section. The one place it speaks to retaliation is § 89-8-17(2): after a lease expires, a landlord may demand a rent increase only if the increase did not have “the dominant purpose of retaliation” against the tenant for actions the Act authorizes.
The Court Process
- File. Once the notice period passes without payment or cure, the landlord files a sworn affidavit or complaint; § 89-8-33 requires it to state the facts, the unit’s address and any rent owed, and to attach a copy of the notice given under § 89-8-13 or §§ 89-8-17 and 89-8-19.
- Serve. A summons issues under § 89-8-35 and is served under the Mississippi Rules of Court. It has to tell the tenant in plain words that paying everything owed, before the hearing or by the court-ordered move-out date, means a non-payment tenant does not have to move.
- Hearing. Adjournments are capped: no single one over 10 days without both sides’ consent, and none that pushes the hearing past 30 days from filing (§ 89-8-41).
- Judgment. A landlord who prevails gets a judgment for possession, and under § 89-8-39(1) the judge orders the tenant out in 7 days unless an emergency or other compelling circumstance justifies a shorter or longer period.
- Warrant. After the move-out date, the landlord can request a warrant for removal, which the judge issues to the sheriff or a constable; in a case based only on unpaid rent, no warrant issues if the tenant paid the judgment in full by the move-out date (§ 89-8-39(4)). Once the warrant is executed, the tenant gets 72 hours of reasonable access to remove belongings.
What This Costs
No filing figure is quoted here. A Mississippi landlord pays a filing cost when the affidavit goes in and, under § 89-8-39(2), “applicable fees” again when requesting the removal warrant; the clerk of whichever court takes the case — justice, county, or circuit — can give the current amounts for both.
What a Landlord Cannot Do
The Act gives a Mississippi landlord one route to physically remove a tenant: a warrant for removal executed by the sheriff or a constable under § 89-8-39(2), after a judgment and a court-ordered move-out date. Nothing in Chapter 8 authorizes changing locks, shutting off power or water, or clearing out a tenant’s belongings in place of that warrant, and the 72-hour access window in § 89-8-39(3) applies even after a lawful removal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Mississippi have a real landlord-tenant act, or is rental housing governed by general contract law? It has a dedicated one — the Mississippi Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-8-1 to 89-8-45, in force since July 1, 1991, and expanded in 2022 to carry its own eviction procedure. Claims that Mississippi has no comprehensive framework are describing law that has been out of date for decades.
What does a Mississippi landlord have to maintain? Under § 89-8-23, code compliance materially affecting health and safety, plus the unit, plumbing, and heating or cooling in substantially the condition they were in when the lease started. A tenant who gives written notice can use the 14-day breach notice in § 89-8-13 or, after 30 days without a repair, the repair-and-reimburse remedy in § 89-8-15.
Can a Mississippi landlord evict a tenant for reporting a code violation? The Act does not contain a general retaliation defense. Its only retaliation language is in § 89-8-17(2), which blocks a post-expiration rent increase whose dominant purpose is retaliation for the tenant’s actions under the Act.