Mississippi Landlord-Tenant Law 2026: The Plain-English Guide
Mississippi rents under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-8-1 et seq.), and it is one of the most landlord-friendly statutes in the country: no cap on security deposits, 3-day nonpayment notices, a distinctive $200 cap on bad-faith deposit penalties that favors landlords, and no state fair-housing law beyond the federal one. But "landlord-friendly" isn't "lawless" — Mississippi has a genuinely unusual repair-and-deduct statute (§ 89-8-15) with strict qualifying conditions, specific notice math on evictions, and a deposit-return clock that starts only after the tenant demands the money back. Know the handful of rules that actually bind you and the state mostly stays out of your way.
Security deposits
- No cap: Mississippi sets no maximum on security deposits (§ 89-8-21). Charge what the market will bear — but remember that an outsized deposit makes a unit harder to fill, and a deposit twice the rent invites scrutiny from judges even without a statutory ceiling.
- Return within 45 days after termination of the tenancy, delivery of possession, and demand by the tenant — all three (§ 89-8-21(3)). A tenant who never asks technically never starts your clock, but don't game it: return it promptly anyway.
- Written itemized notice is required for any deductions — the notice must itemize every amount claimed (§ 89-8-21(3)).
- Allowed deductions: unpaid rent, late fees, cleaning costs, damages beyond normal wear and tear, and other reasonable and necessary expenses from the tenant's default.
- No separate account, no receipt, no interest required. Keep a clean ledger regardless — see the security deposit laws guide.
- The penalty is small by national standards: bad-faith retention exposes you to no more than $200 in additional damages beyond actual damages (§ 89-8-21(4)). That's the landlord-friendly tradeoff — but it also means tenants' attorneys have less incentive to chase small deposit disputes, so handle them cleanly anyway.
- Tenant priority: the tenant's claim to the deposit beats your creditors' claims (§ 89-8-21(2)).
- A move-in/move-out inspection checklist with photos is still your best defense in a deduction fight. Our deductions guide covers allowable charges.
Rent rules
- No rent control — anywhere. Mississippi has neither statewide rent control nor local rent-control ordinances. Raise rent freely between lease terms.
- No mandatory grace period: Mississippi sets no required grace period — late is whatever your lease says. Most landlords still write a 3–5 day grace period into the lease; make it explicit. See how to handle late rent.
- No late-fee cap: late fees are lease-driven with no statutory ceiling. State the amount, when it kicks in, and any cap directly in the lease — and keep fees defensible enough to survive a justice-court judge's scrutiny.
- Rent-increase notice: the statute sets no dedicated increase period. On a month-to-month tenancy, the 30-day termination notice functions as your rent-change notice — send increases in writing with 30 days' lead time. See how to raise rent legally.
- Partial payments: Mississippi doesn't clearly say whether accepting partial rent waives your termination right — courts have treated acceptance as potentially voiding the eviction. If you take a partial payment during an active notice, reserve your rights in writing first.
Eviction in Mississippi
Self-help is illegal — no lockouts, no utility shutoffs, no seizing belongings. Mississippi evictions run through justice or county court, and the notice math is strict:
- Nonpayment: 3 days' written notice to pay or quit, sent by certified mail, return receipt requested (§ 89-8-13(5)). If the tenant pays within 3 days, you may not proceed.
- Lease violations: 30 days' written notice to cure or quit (§ 89-8-13(3)). If the tenant remedies within a reasonable time (no more than 30 days), the lease survives.
- Repeat violations: if substantially the same violation recurs within 6 months of a noticed breach, you may terminate with 14 days' written notice — no right to cure the second time. Keep every prior notice on file.
- Illegal activity: premises knowingly used for drug violations (Miss. Code § 41-29-139 or § 41-29-313) can be terminated outright (§ 89-8-13(6)).
- After judgment: the court issues a writ of restitution, and only law enforcement may remove the tenant. A typical Mississippi eviction runs from a few days to a few weeks — among the fastest in the country.
- Don't file before the notice expires — premature filing is the most common way Mississippi landlords get their cases tossed.
Full process: how to evict a tenant. Draft airtight notices with our lease agreement guide.
Lease termination and notice periods
- Month-to-month: 30 days' written notice by either party (§ 89-8-19(1)).
- Week-to-week: 7 days' written notice (§ 89-8-19(2)).
- Year-to-year: 60 days' written notice.
- Fixed-term leases end on their own date with no notice required. If the tenant holds over and you accept rent, a periodic tenancy begins.
- Early termination: valid grounds include an early-termination clause, active military duty, an uninhabitable unit, or your own material lease violation. See what to do when a tenant breaks the lease and the lease renewal playbook.
Habitability and repairs
- Your duties (§ 89-8-17): comply with building and housing codes, keep the premises fit and habitable, keep common areas clean and safe, and maintain electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, and other facilities in good working order.
- Repair clock: once the tenant gives you written notice of a defect, act within 14 days. Document the report date — that date starts everything. See how to handle maintenance requests.
- No rent withholding. Mississippi law does not let tenants stop paying rent over repair disputes, and withholding tenants are simply in default.
- Repair-and-deduct exists — but it's narrow (§ 89-8-15). All of these must be true: the tenant gave you 30 days' written notice of the defect, you didn't fix it, the repair costs no more than one month's rent, the tenant is current on rent, the tenant hasn't used this remedy in the prior 6 months, and the tenant submits receipted bills — you're entitled to reimbursement within 45 days of receiving them. If a tenant announces a deduction, verify every condition before accepting it.
- Other tenant remedies: sue for damages or terminate the lease if the unit is genuinely uninhabitable.
- Retaliation is prohibited — no raising rent or bad-faith eviction over a tenant's code complaint.
Discrimination
Mississippi has no state fair-housing statute — one of the few states relying entirely on the federal Fair Housing Act: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability. That is the whole list in Mississippi — no state-level additions like ancestry, sexual orientation, source of income, or criminal-history protections. Still, apply identical written criteria to every applicant and document every decision, because federal enforcement is real and well-funded. See our fair housing guide and the tenant screening services comparison.
One practical note: service and assistance animals are exempt from pet deposits and pet rent under federal law — see our emotional support animals guide before you charge a pet fee.
Practical tips for small Mississippi landlords
- Entry: Mississippi law sets no entry-notice requirement — but "no statute" isn't a strategy. Put a 24-hour notice policy (emergencies excepted) in the lease and log every entry; repeated unreasonable entry still creates disputes and can breach the lease.
- Serve nonpayment notices by certified mail, return receipt requested — the statute names the method, and a process server's affidavit alone may not satisfy it.
- Put the 30/14/6-month notice ladder in your lease: 30-day cure for violations, 14-day no-cure for repeats within 6 months. Having it in writing educates tenants and strengthens your filing.
- Calendar the 45-day deposit clock from the tenant's demand — and send the itemization with it, not after.
- Don't rely on the $200 penalty being small — judges in small counties remember landlords who play games with deposits, and reputation travels in Mississippi rental markets.
- Renters insurance: you can require it — see the renters insurance requirement guide.
The bottom line
Mississippi gives landlords unusual freedom: no deposit cap, 3-day nonpayment notices, no rent control, no late-fee cap, and no state fair-housing overlay — with a modest $200 ceiling on bad-faith deposit penalties to match. The discipline it demands is procedural, not substantive: certified-mail 3-day notices, the 30-day cure / 14-day repeat ladder, 45-day deposit returns with itemization after tenant demand, and a 14-day repair response to written defect notices. The one genuine trap is the repair-and-deduct statute — it exists here, with real teeth, so treat a 30-day written repair notice like the legal document it is. Write the lease precisely, serve notices by the book, and Mississippi's courts will move fast when you need them.
This is general information, not legal advice. Consult a Mississippi landlord-tenant attorney for specific situations.