Quick Reference: Mississippi Residential Eviction at a Glance

A property manager in Jackson searches for the Mississippi eviction process. Much of the older guidance still points to Title 11, Chapter 25, or to the pre-2022 Chapter 7 procedure and its three-day notice under Section 89-7-27.

Those sources describe the framework as it stood before April 2022. They are not the right starting point for a current residential eviction.

In April 2022, Senate Bill 2461 created an entirely new residential eviction procedure inside the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act at Sections 89-8-31 through 89-8-45, repealed two of the old Chapter 7 provisions, and amended Section 89-7-27 so that it now applies only to premises "not constituting a dwelling unit." The Act took effect on passage, on 21 April 2022.

The result is that Mississippi now has separate residential and nonresidential eviction procedures. Residential dwelling-unit evictions follow Chapter 8, while Section 89-7-27 now addresses evictions involving premises or other lands that do not constitute a dwelling unit. Some published guidance still blends the two.

This guide follows the residential track in the order a manager actually encounters it, and flags the three points where the 2022 changes most often catch people out.

Step 1: Pick the Right Notice, Because the Notice Depends on the Situation

The single most common error in Mississippi is applying the 14-day notice to a nonpayment case. But the required notice depends on why the tenancy is ending. Three-day notices apply to nonpayment and to certain holdover cases, while other breaches and periodic tenancies follow different rules, and one provision removes the notice requirement entirely.

Section 89-8-13 contains two of the notice routes, and they carry very different periods.

For nonpayment, under Section 89-8-13(5)(a): where the material noncompliance is nonpayment of rent under the rental agreement, the landlord may deliver a notice specifying that the rental agreement will terminate if payment of such rent is not made within three (3) days.

For any other breach, under Section 89-8-13(3): the non-breaching party may deliver a notice specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach, and stating that the agreement will terminate on a date not less than fourteen (14) days after receipt if the breach is not remedied within a reasonable time not in excess of fourteen (14) days.

Three qualifications attach to the 14-day route.

Cure defeats termination. Under (3)(a), if the breach is remediable by repairs, payment of damages or otherwise, and the breaching party adequately remedies it before the date specified in the notice, the agreement does not terminate.

A repeat within six months shortens nothing but removes the second chance. Under (3)(b), in the absence of a showing of due care, if substantially the same act or omission that constituted a prior noticed noncompliance recurs within six months, the non-breaching party may terminate on at least 14 days' notice specifying the breach and the termination date.

You cannot terminate for a condition you caused. Under (3)(c), 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.

Both notice provisions permit email or text, but only where the breaching party has agreed in writing to be notified by that means. The agreement to electronic notice has to exist before you use it, which makes it a lease drafting question rather than an operational one.

And on termination, money goes back. Under Section 89-8-13(4), if the rental agreement is terminated, the landlord must return all prepaid and unearned rent and any security recoverable by the tenant under Section 89-8-21.

The third notice sits outside Section 89-8-13 entirely.

Under Section 89-8-17(2), and expressly notwithstanding the provisions of Section 89-8-13, a landlord may at any time after a rental agreement expires provide notice to the tenant specifying that the tenant is holding over after expiration, and that the landlord will commence eviction proceedings no earlier than three days after such notice is provided.

Two details are worth noting.

Section 89-8-17(1) provides that a rental agreement fixing a definite term expires on the date stated in the agreement, so no separate termination notice is needed to end it. The holdover notice is what starts the three-day clock toward filing.

And the electronic notice condition is worded differently here. Section 89-8-13 permits email or text where the breaching party agreed in writing. Section 89-8-17(2) permits it where the tenant has agreed to be notified that way, without the express "in writing" qualifier. Given the difference, the safe practice is to obtain written agreement in the lease and rely on it for both.

Section 89-8-17(2) also allows the landlord to demand an increase in rent after expiration, provided the action did not have the dominant purpose of retaliation against the tenant for actions authorized under the chapter, and the landlord received written notice of each condition that was the subject of those tenant actions.

Periodic tenancies run on their own periods.

Section 89-8-19 covers tenancies with no fixed term. Under subsection (1), unless the rental agreement fixes a definite term, a tenancy is week to week where the tenant pays weekly rent and month to month in all other cases.

Either party may terminate a week-to-week tenancy by written notice given at least seven days before the termination date, under subsection (2), and a month-to-month tenancy by written notice given at least thirty days before the termination date, under subsection (3).

And one provision removes the notice requirement altogether.

Subsection (4) is easy to miss and worth knowing: notwithstanding the provisions of this section or any other provision of this chapter to the contrary, notice to terminate a tenancy shall not be required where the landlord or tenant has committed a substantial violation of the rental agreement or this chapter that materially affects health and safety.

That is a broad carve-out, and it cuts both ways. It is also the same standard the court applies under Section 89-8-39(1) when deciding whether to order a move-out date shorter than seven days. Where conduct meets it, the notice requirement and the standard seven-day period can both fall away.

Step 2: Confirm You Are on the Residential Track

This is where the 2022 changes bite hardest, because the old statute is still on the books and still says three days.

Section 89-7-27 is now expressly nonresidential. As amended by the 2022 Act, it applies to a tenant "of premises or other lands not constituting a dwelling unit as defined in Section 89-8-7(b)." Within that scope it still provides for removal by a justice court judge, county court judge or circuit court judge, on grounds including holding over and, after default in rent, three days' written notice requiring payment or possession.

So both chapters contain a three-day notice. They are not the same three-day notice, and they lead to different procedures.

The practical test is simple. If the property is a dwelling unit as defined in Section 89-8-7(b), you are in Chapter 8 and the residential procedure at Sections 89-8-31 onward applies. If it is not, Chapter 7 governs.

Two Chapter 7 provisions no longer exist. The 2022 Act repealed Sections 89-7-41 and 89-7-45, which had governed the disposition of tenant personal property and when a warrant of removal may issue. Guidance still citing them is describing repealed law.

Step 3: File the Right Documents

Section 89-8-31 identifies two bases for commencing a residential eviction proceeding:

• (a) For breach of the rental agreement or violation of the chapter, pursuant to Section 89-8-13; or

• (b) For failing to vacate after expiration of the rental agreement, pursuant to Sections 89-8-17 and 89-8-19

Note what that does. For the residential eviction procedure covered by Section 89-8-31, the proceeding must be based on one of the statutory grounds identified there and the applicable notice provisions.

Section 89-8-33 then requires two things to be filed, not one:

• A sworn affidavit or complaint, based on the terms of the rental agreement, stating the facts requiring removal of the tenant and identifying the address of the dwelling unit and, if applicable, the amount of rent and any additional fees owed; and

• A copy of the written notice delivered to the tenant, being either the notice of breach under Section 89-8-13 or the notice to terminate the tenancy under Sections 89-8-17 and 89-8-19

That second requirement is the one to build into your filing checklist. The notice is not merely a precondition to filing. A copy of it is a filing document. A manager who served a compliant notice but cannot produce a copy has a paperwork problem at the courthouse counter.

On which court, Chapter 8 defines "court" at Section 89-8-7 to include a justice court, county court or circuit court, so the residential provisions apply in the court with jurisdiction rather than in one forum only.

Step 4: The Summons and the Hearing Timetable

Under Section 89-8-35(1), the court issues a summons commanding the person in possession to vacate the premises, or to show cause why possession should not be delivered to the landlord.

The summons must also carry specific eviction disclosures. These include the tenant's right to at least seven days from judgment to move out, subject to a different period ordered for emergency or compelling circumstances, the payment protection in nonpayment cases, and the 72-hour period for retrieving personal property after removal. Section 89-8-35 was itself amended in 2025, so check the current text before relying on the disclosure wording.

Section 89-8-41 caps delay in two ways. Under subsection (1) the court may adjourn a hearing from time to time at the request of either party. Under subsection (2) a single adjournment shall not exceed ten days, except by consent of both the landlord and tenant, and when an adjournment is granted the court may issue subpoenas and attachments to compel the attendance of witnesses. Under subsection (3), no adjournment shall extend the entire hearing beyond thirty days from the date the eviction action was filed.

Note the consent exception. The ten-day limit on a single adjournment can be waived by agreement, but the thirty-day outer cap in subsection (3) carries no such qualifier.

That outer cap is also where the residential and nonresidential tracks part company again. The equivalent nonresidential provision at Section 89-7-39 sets the ceiling at forty-five days from filing. Residential cases move on a shorter leash.

Step 5: Judgment, the Seven Days, and the Nonpayment Cure

Two sections do the work here, and they are easy to conflate. Section 89-8-37 governs when judgment is granted, including default judgment where the landlord complied with Section 89-8-33, service was proper and the tenant failed to appear, and requires judgments to be signed and executed on the same business day they are granted. Section 89-8-39 governs everything that happens after a judgment of possession is entered.

Seven days, but it can move in either direction. Under Section 89-8-39(1), if a judgment of possession is granted, whether after a hearing or by default, the judge shall order the tenant to vacate in seven days from the date of the judgment, unless the court finds that a shorter or longer period is justified because of an emergency or other compelling circumstances.

The statute gives two non-exhaustive examples of circumstances justifying a shorter period: the tenant has committed a substantial violation of the rental agreement or the chapter materially affecting health or safety, or the tenant poses an immediate and significant risk of damage to the premises or of harm or injury to persons on them.

Before the move-out date, the tenant keeps normal access. Prior to the court-ordered move-out date, the tenant has the same access to the premises as previously allowed under the terms of the rental agreement. Unless the tenant makes the payment contemplated by subsection (4)(i), the tenant has no right to reside in or on the premises after that date.

And in a nonpayment case, paying in full stops the warrant. Under Section 89-8-39(4)(a), where the possession judgment is based solely on nonpayment, the judge shall not issue a warrant for removal if the tenant has paid in full all unpaid rent and other sums awarded in the judgment by the court-ordered move-out date, or if the landlord has accepted payment of those amounts after that date.

Subsection (4)(b) puts a duty on the landlord: a landlord has an obligation of good faith to accept full payment of all sums owed under the money judgment if tendered on or before the court-ordered move-out date.

That is a cure right at the judgment stage, not merely at the notice stage, and it is the reason the rent ledger has to be current and accurate on the day of the hearing rather than the day the notice went out.

Section 89-8-13(5)(b) points the same way from the other direction: any judge presiding over a hearing in which a landlord seeks to evict for nonpayment shall abide by the provisions of the rental agreement signed by the landlord and the defaulting tenant. What your lease says about rent, fees and application of payments is what the court will apply.

Step 6: The Warrant, and 72 Hours for the Property

The warrant comes after the move-out date. Under Section 89-8-39(2), after the court-ordered move-out date the landlord may request a warrant for removal. On that request and payment of fees, the judge shall, except where subsection (4) prohibits it, immediately issue a warrant to the sheriff or a constable commanding removal of all persons from the premises and putting the landlord into full possession.

Posting the warrant is not executing it. The statute is explicit: the warrant of removal shall not be considered executed by law enforcement posting it on the door. Law enforcement must remove all occupants and place the landlord into physical possession. A manager who treats a posted warrant as the end of the process has not yet started the 72-hour clock.

Then 72 hours. Under Section 89-8-39(3), during the 72 hours after the warrant has been executed, the landlord shall allow the tenant reasonable access to remove personal property, including any manufactured home. If the tenant moves out within that window leaving property behind, the landlord may dispose of it without further notice. After the 72 hours, the landlord may remove remaining property to the curb, an area designated for garbage, or another location agreed with the tenant.

The same disposal rule applies earlier in the sequence: under Section 89-8-39(1), if the tenant moves out by the court-ordered date leaving personal property behind, the landlord may dispose of it without further notice.

Under Section 89-8-13(6), the parties' obligations regarding a tenant's personal property, including any manufactured home, are governed by Section 89-8-39. If you manage properties where a tenant owns the structure and rents the lot, these provisions reach the home itself.

Step 7: Judgment Is Not Necessarily the End

Section 89-8-43 is one sentence: appeals from final judgments under the chapter shall be pursuant to applicable Mississippi Rules of Court.

That is worth reading carefully. The chapter sets no appeal period of its own. It hands the question to the Rules of Court, which means the deadline is not something you will find by reading Chapter 8. Check the applicable rule, and note that court practice varies by county.

Section 89-8-45 separately provides a penalty for a holdover tenant, allowing double rent in defined circumstances where the rental agreement does not provide otherwise. It is worth knowing it exists when assessing what a holdover case is actually worth.

What the 2022 Overhaul Did Not Change

Two points that survived, and one boundary worth restating.

• The residential procedure provides a court-based route to possession. Sections 89-8-31 through 89-8-39 establish the sequence from the statutory ground and notice, through judgment, to a warrant for removal executed by law enforcement. Lockouts and removal of belongings are not steps in that sequence.

• The repair and habitability provisions are separate. Section 89-8-23 sets the landlord's maintenance duties and Section 89-8-15 gives the tenant a repair-and-deduct remedy after 30 days' written notice, subject to conditions. Those can surface as a defense or counterclaim in a possession action, and our guide to Mississippi landlord repair obligations covers how they work and where the case law sits.

• Mississippi has no statewide just-cause requirement. The grounds in Section 89-8-31 are breach and holdover after expiration, and Sections 89-8-17 and 89-8-19 govern ending a lease that has run its term or a periodic tenancy.

Common Mississippi Eviction Mistakes

1. Serving a 14-day notice for nonpayment
Section 89-8-13(5)(a) provides three days for nonpayment. The 14-day period in subsection (3) is for other breaches.

2. Applying a breach notice to a periodic tenancy termination
Section 89-8-19 sets 7 days for week-to-week and 30 days for month-to-month, measured before the termination date.

3. Missing the holdover notice after a lease expires
Section 89-8-17(2) requires notice that the tenant is holding over, with proceedings commencing no earlier than three days after it. It operates notwithstanding Section 89-8-13.

4. Starting from Chapter 7 or Title 11, Chapter 25
Since 2022, residential evictions run through Sections 89-8-31 to 89-8-45. Section 89-7-27 now applies to premises not constituting a dwelling unit.

5. Citing Sections 89-7-41 or 89-7-45
Both were repealed by the 2022 Act.

6. Filing without a copy of the notice
Section 89-8-33 requires the affidavit or complaint and a copy of the written notice delivered to the tenant.

7. Using email or text without a prior written agreement
Both notice provisions allow it only where the breaching party agreed in writing to be notified that way.

8. Treating the notice stage as the last chance to cure
In a nonpayment case, payment in full by the court-ordered move-out date bars the warrant under Section 89-8-39(4), and the landlord has a good faith obligation to accept it.

9. Assuming the hearing can be adjourned indefinitely
Section 89-8-41 caps a single adjournment at 10 days, except by consent of both parties, and the whole hearing at 30 days from filing. The nonresidential cap under Section 89-7-39 is 45 days.

10. Forgetting the prepaid rent and deposit on termination
Section 89-8-13(4) requires the landlord to return all prepaid and unearned rent and recoverable security.

11. Treating a posted warrant as executed
Section 89-8-39(2) says posting on the door is not execution. Law enforcement must remove occupants and put the landlord into physical possession, which is when the 72-hour window under subsection (3) starts.

12. Ignoring what the lease says in a nonpayment hearing
Under Section 89-8-13(5)(b), the judge is directed to abide by the provisions of the signed rental agreement.

Where Mississippi Cases Are Actually Won

Mississippi's residential procedure is tightly sequenced. Grounds are defined by reference to a notice. Filing requires a copy of that notice. The hearing is capped at thirty days from filing. Judgment sets a seven-day vacate date. Each stage depends on the one before it being clean.

That puts most of the risk in two documents.

• The notice. It has to match the breach type, carry the right period, and, if sent electronically, rest on a written agreement made earlier. A complete tenant record that connects payment history with communications is what lets a manager confirm all three before the notice goes out rather than after it is challenged.

• The ledger. Because payment in full by the move-out date bars the warrant, and because the judge is directed to apply the rental agreement's own terms, the rent record has to be defensible on the hearing date. Where late fees, partial payments and application of payments are contested, the ledger is the case.

RIOO keeps the lease terms in Contracts & Renewals, the rent and fee ledger in Collecting Rent & Payments, and the condition and repair history that surfaces in habitability defenses in Service Request & Task Management, so the three records a Mississippi hearing turns on sit in one place.

Conclusion

Mississippi rewrote its residential eviction process in April 2022 and did not rename it, which is why so much of the guidance online still points at the wrong chapter.

For a property manager, the practical consequences are narrow and specific. The required notice depends on the reason for eviction: three days for nonpayment under Section 89-8-13(5)(a), fourteen days for other breaches under Section 89-8-13(3), three days before proceedings for a holdover under Section 89-8-17(2), and seven or thirty days for periodic tenancies under Section 89-8-19. Section 89-8-19(4) removes the notice requirement altogether for a substantial violation materially affecting health and safety. Residential eviction proceedings follow the Chapter 8 procedure in Sections 89-8-31 through 89-8-45, not the old unlawful entry and detainer route. A copy of the notice is a filing document. The hearing cannot be stretched beyond thirty days from filing. Judgment gives the tenant seven days to vacate, subject to a shorter or longer period for emergency or compelling circumstances, and in a nonpayment case paying in full by the move-out date still stops the warrant.

None of that is difficult once the sequence is right. The difficulty is that a manager working from a 2021 template, or from a guide that has not been updated since, will serve the wrong notice, cite a repealed section, or file in the wrong posture, and discover it at the hearing.

Before the next Mississippi filing, the useful exercise is not to reread the statute. It is to pull your notice templates and check which chapter they cite.

This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The Residential Landlord and Tenant Act was substantially amended by Laws 2022, ch. 501, and relevant provisions including Sections 89-8-35 and 89-8-39 have since been amended by Laws 2025, ch. 460. Court practice varies by county. Confirm the current text of Chapter 8 and consult a licensed Mississippi attorney on a specific notice or filing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How much notice is required to evict for nonpayment in Mississippi?
Three days. Under Section 89-8-13(5)(a), the landlord may deliver a written notice specifying that the rental agreement will terminate if payment is not made within three days.

Q2. When does the 14-day notice apply?
To material noncompliance other than nonpayment. Under Section 89-8-13(3), the notice specifies the acts and omissions and states that the agreement terminates on a date not less than 14 days after receipt if the breach is not remedied within 14 days.

Q3. What notice applies when a Mississippi lease expires and the tenant stays?
Under Section 89-8-17(2), and notwithstanding Section 89-8-13, the landlord may at any time after expiration give notice that the tenant is holding over and that eviction proceedings will commence no earlier than three days after the notice.

Q4. How do you end a periodic tenancy in Mississippi?
Under Section 89-8-19, either party may terminate a week-to-week tenancy on at least 7 days' written notice, or a month-to-month tenancy on at least 30 days' written notice, given before the termination date.

Q5. Is a termination notice ever unnecessary in Mississippi?
Section 89-8-19(4) provides that notwithstanding any other provision of the chapter, notice to terminate is not required where the landlord or tenant has committed a substantial violation of the rental agreement or the chapter that materially affects health and safety.

Q6. Can a Mississippi landlord send an eviction notice by email or text?
Only where the breaching party has agreed in writing to be notified by that means. The agreement must exist before the notice is sent.

Q7. Which court handles Mississippi residential evictions?
Chapter 8 defines "court" at Section 89-8-7 to include a justice court, county court or circuit court. The residential procedure created in 2022 sits at Sections 89-8-31 through 89-8-45.

Q8. What has to be filed to start a Mississippi eviction?
Under Section 89-8-33, a sworn affidavit or complaint stating the facts requiring removal and identifying the address and any rent and fees owed, together with a copy of the written notice delivered to the tenant.

Q9. Does Section 89-7-27 still apply to residential evictions?
No. As amended in 2022 it applies to premises not constituting a dwelling unit as defined in Section 89-8-7(b). The 2022 Act also repealed Sections 89-7-41 and 89-7-45.

Q10. How long does a Mississippi tenant have to move out after judgment?
Seven days from the date of judgment under Section 89-8-39(1), unless the court finds a shorter or longer period justified by an emergency or other compelling circumstances.

Q11. Can a Mississippi tenant stop the eviction by paying after judgment?
Where the judgment is based solely on nonpayment, Section 89-8-39(4) bars a warrant for removal if the tenant pays in full all unpaid rent and other sums awarded by the court-ordered move-out date, or if the landlord accepts payment after that date. The landlord has an obligation of good faith to accept full payment tendered on or before the move-out date.

Q12. How long can a Mississippi eviction hearing be delayed?
Under Section 89-8-41(2), a single adjournment may not exceed 10 days except by consent of both the landlord and tenant. Under subsection (3), no adjournment may extend the entire hearing beyond 30 days from the date the action was filed. The nonresidential equivalent at Section 89-7-39 allows 45 days.

Q13. How are Mississippi eviction judgments appealed?
Section 89-8-43 provides that appeals from final judgments under the chapter are pursuant to applicable Mississippi Rules of Court. The chapter itself sets no appeal period, so the deadline comes from the rules rather than from Chapter 8.

Q14. What happens to the tenant's belongings?
Under Section 89-8-39(3), during the 72 hours after the warrant has been executed the landlord must allow the tenant reasonable access to remove personal property, including any manufactured home. After that, remaining property may be moved to the curb, a designated garbage area, or another agreed location. Note that under subsection (2) posting the warrant on the door is not execution.