Outline of the eviction process in Mississippi

Mississippi residential evictions are governed by the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Miss. Code § 89-8-1 and following. In 2022 the Legislature (Laws 2022, ch. 501, S.B. 2461, effective April 21, 2022) moved the residential eviction procedure out of the old landlord and tenant chapter and into new §§ 89-8-31 to 89-8-45, repealed the old tenant-property sections (§§ 89-7-41 and 89-7-45), and relabeled § 89-7-27 and the sections after it as the procedure for nonresidential evictions only. Forms that cite § 89-7-27 for a dwelling are out of date.

The case may be heard by a justice court, county court or circuit court judge (§ 89-8-7); justice court in the county where the property sits is the common choice. Plan around three things: a default seven-day move-out period after judgment, a tenant’s right in a nonpayment case to pay everything and stay, and a 72-hour window for the tenant to collect belongings after removal. The Act was amended again in 2025.

1. Grounds

A landlord may start a residential eviction in two situations (§ 89-8-31): for a breach of the rental agreement or a violation of the Act under § 89-8-13, or because the tenant did not leave after the rental agreement was terminated or expired under §§ 89-8-17 and 89-8-19. The Act contains no just-cause requirement: a periodic tenancy can be ended on proper notice, and a fixed-term lease expires on its stated date (§ 89-8-17(1)).

The Act applies to rental agreements for dwelling units in Mississippi (§ 89-8-3(1)). A person who entered or stayed without the landlord’s knowledge or permission is not a “tenant” and gets no rights under the Act (§§ 89-8-3(1), 89-8-7).

2. Notices

• Nonpayment of rent: three days (§ 89-8-13(5)). The notice states that the rental agreement will terminate if the rent is not paid within three days. “Rent” under the Act means all payments due to the landlord under the rental agreement, including late fees the agreement requires (§ 89-8-7).
• Other material breach: 14 days with a right to cure (§ 89-8-13(3)). The notice must specify the acts and omissions that make up the breach and state that the rental agreement will terminate on a date not less than 14 days after the tenant receives the notice unless the breach is remedied within a reasonable time not over 14 days. If the tenant adequately remedies a remediable breach before the date in the notice, the agreement does not terminate.
• Repeat breach: 14 days, no cure (§ 89-8-13(3)(b)). If substantially the same act or omission recurs within six months after a prior notice, the landlord may terminate on at least 14 days’ written notice specifying the breach and the termination date.
• Ending a periodic tenancy (§ 89-8-19). At least seven days’ written notice before the termination date for a week-to-week tenancy, and at least 30 days for a month-to-month tenancy.
• Holdover after a fixed term (§ 89-8-17(2)). At any time after the lease expires the landlord may give notice that the tenant is holding over and that eviction proceedings will start no earlier than three days after the notice. After that notice, unless the lease says otherwise, the landlord may charge double rent for the time the tenant stays past the vacate date in the notice (§ 89-8-45).
• Health or safety violations (§ 89-8-19(4)). Notice to terminate is not required where the other party has committed a substantial violation of the rental agreement or the Act that materially affects health or safety. The filing statute still asks for a copy of a written notice (section 3), so serve one anyway.
• Federally backed or subsidized properties may also be subject to the federal CARES Act 30-day notice; confirm before filing on a shorter notice.

How notices are delivered. The Act says the notice is delivered “in writing,” or by email or text message only if the tenant has agreed in writing to be notified that way (§ 89-8-13(3) and (5); § 89-8-17(2) likewise requires the tenant’s agreement). The Act does not list posting on the door or mailing as approved methods and does not set out how days are counted, and the 14-day period runs from the tenant’s receipt of the notice. Rule 13 of the Rules of Justice Court counts court periods by leaving out the triggering day and, for periods under seven days, Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays; counting a three-day notice the same way is the cautious course. The safe practice is hand delivery with a witness or signed acknowledgment, a kept copy, and a full three or 14 days before you file. If your lease has its own notice clause, follow it as well: the judge is directed to abide by the signed rental agreement in a nonpayment case (§ 89-8-13(5)(b)).

3. Filing

To start the case the landlord files (§ 89-8-33): a sworn affidavit or complaint, based on the terms of the rental agreement, that states the facts requiring removal and identifies the address of the dwelling and, if applicable, the rent and additional fees owed; and a copy of the written notice of breach under § 89-8-13 or of the notice to terminate under §§ 89-8-17 and 89-8-19. The court may enter judgment only where the landlord has complied with § 89-8-33 (§ 89-8-37), so a missing or defective notice can sink the case.

Justice court’s general civil jurisdiction is limited to claims of $3,500 or less (§ 9-11-9), so ask the clerk or an attorney where to file if you are also claiming a larger amount of back rent. Get current filing and service fees from the clerk. The Act’s definition of “landlord” includes the owner’s agent (§ 89-8-7), but whether a non-lawyer may appear in court for a corporation or LLC is a separate question; check with the court before sending a manager alone.

4. Summons and hearing

When the affidavit or complaint is filed, a summons is issued to the person in possession commanding them to vacate immediately or show cause before the judge on the date named in the summons (§ 89-8-35(1)). The summons must carry a statutory warning, revised in 2025, telling the tenant about the seven-day move-out period, the right to pay and stay in a nonpayment case, removal by law enforcement, and the 72-hour property rule (§ 89-8-35(2)). Service of the summons is governed by the applicable Mississippi Rules of Court, not by the statute (§ 89-8-35(3)). In justice court, Rule 14 of the Rules of Justice Court has the clerk give the papers to the constable, who serves the defendant personally, or leaves them at the home with the spouse or a family member over 16, or posts them on the door of the home, in either case mailing a copy within three days. Ask the clerk how far ahead of the hearing service must be complete.

A single adjournment may not exceed ten days unless both parties consent, and no adjournment may push the hearing on removal more than 30 days past the date the eviction was filed (§ 89-8-41).

The court must grant a default judgment where the landlord complied with § 89-8-33, the summons was properly issued and served, the tenant failed to appear, and the landlord is otherwise entitled to judgment. If the tenant appears, the landlord wins where the judge finds the tenant presented no valid defense or counterclaim (§ 89-8-37). Judgments must be signed and executed the same business day they are granted (§ 89-8-37(3)).

5. Judgment, pay and stay, and appeal

Seven-day move-out date. If the landlord is granted possession, after a hearing or by default, the judge orders the tenant to vacate seven days from the date of the judgment, unless the court finds a shorter or longer period justified by an emergency or other compelling circumstances. The statute’s examples for a shorter period are a substantial violation materially affecting health or safety, or an immediate and significant risk of damage to the premises or harm to people on it (§ 89-8-39(1)).

Right to pay and stay (nonpayment cases only). Where the possession judgment is based solely on nonpayment of rent, the judge may not issue a warrant for removal if the tenant has paid in full, by the court-ordered move-out date, all unpaid rent and other sums awarded in the judgment, or if the landlord accepts those amounts after that date (§ 89-8-39(4)(a)). The landlord has a good-faith duty to accept full payment tendered on or before the move-out date (§ 89-8-39(4)(b)). The statutory summons tells the tenant this, and that paying all sums owed before the hearing also avoids a move-out (§ 89-8-35(2)).

Appeal. The Act says only that appeals are taken under the applicable Mississippi Rules of Court (§ 89-8-43). Rule 27(a) of the Rules of Justice Court says which rule applies. Civil appeals from justice court generally follow Rule 5.04 of the Uniform Civil Rules of Circuit and County Court (a 30-day notice of appeal), but Rule 27(a) sends an appeal in “a case of unlawful entry and detainer”, which is an eviction, to Miss. Code § 11-51-83. That statute allows five days after the judgment to appeal to the circuit court, on a bond with sureties of double the rent recovered (never under $200), and the appeal then operates as a supersedeas. Treat five days as the controlling deadline in an eviction, not the ten days of the general statute (§ 11-51-85) or the 30 days of Rule 5.04, and confirm with the clerk.

6. The warrant for removal and tenant property

When the warrant issues. Not at judgment. After the court-ordered move-out date has passed, the landlord may request a warrant for removal; on the request and payment of the fee the judge must immediately issue it, unless the pay-and-stay rule applies (§ 89-8-39(2)). The warrant goes to the sheriff or any constable of the county. Since April 10, 2025, the statute says a warrant is not considered executed by posting it on the door: law enforcement must remove all occupants and place the landlord in physical possession.

Tenant property (§ 89-8-39(1) and (3)).

• If the tenant moves out by the court-ordered date and leaves property behind, the landlord may dispose of that abandoned property without further notice.
• If the tenant is removed under a warrant, the landlord must give the tenant reasonable access for 72 hours after the warrant is executed to remove personal property, including any manufactured home. If the tenant moves out within those 72 hours, the landlord may dispose of what is left without further notice.
• After the 72 hours, the landlord may move whatever remains to the curb, to an area designated for garbage, or to another place agreed with the tenant. The statutory summons tells the tenant that they may still retrieve it but the landlord has no duty to preserve it (§ 89-8-35(2)).

Under § 89-8-13(6), the parties’ obligations regarding the tenant’s personal property are governed by § 89-8-39. Do not hold a residential tenant’s belongings for unpaid rent. The route to possession the Act provides is a judgment followed by a warrant executed by the sheriff or a constable; get legal advice before trying anything else, such as changing locks.

Recent law changes landlords should know

• 2022 rewrite (Laws 2022, ch. 501, S.B. 2461, effective April 21, 2022). New §§ 89-8-31 to 89-8-45, described above.
• 2025 amendments (Laws 2025, ch. 460, S.B. 2328, effective April 10, 2025). Revised the summons warning (§ 89-8-35) and added the rule that posting a warrant is not execution (§ 89-8-39(2)).
• Real Property Owners Protection Act (Laws 2025, ch. 474, H.B. 1200, effective July 1, 2025). Creates a separate procedure for removing squatters and amended §§ 89-8-3 and 89-8-7 so that a person occupying without the landlord’s knowledge or permission is not a tenant. It does not replace eviction where there was a tenancy.
• 2026 session. We found no enacted 2026 change to §§ 89-8-31 to 89-8-45, but could not search the session laws completely; check for later amendments.

What actually goes wrong

• Filing without a copy of the written notice, or with a breach notice that does not specify the acts and omissions or the termination date.
• Texting or emailing the notice when the tenant never agreed in writing to be notified that way.
• Getting the appeal window wrong. Rule 27(a) sends an eviction appeal to § 11-51-83, which allows five days; wait until that window has run before you re-rent.
• Asking for the warrant too early. It can be requested only after the court-ordered move-out date.
• Refusing a full payment tendered by the move-out date in a nonpayment case, or accepting one afterward and still expecting a warrant.
• Treating a posted warrant as a completed eviction, or denying access during the 72 hours after it is executed.

When to bring in an attorney

An individual landlord with a clean three-day notice and a written lease can often handle an uncontested nonpayment case. Use counsel for 14-day breach cases, a request for a move-out date under seven days, any defense or counterclaim, subsidized housing, any appeal, a large rent claim or a manufactured home, and whenever the owner is a corporation or LLC. The Mississippi attorneys listed below represent landlords.

Sources

• Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Miss. Code §§ 89-8-3, 89-8-7, 89-8-13, 89-8-17, 89-8-19, 89-8-31, 89-8-33, 89-8-35, 89-8-37, 89-8-39, 89-8-41, 89-8-43 and 89-8-45 (2025 code, with history lines).
• Miss. Code § 89-7-27 (nonresidential evictions) and §§ 89-7-41 and 89-7-45 (repealed); § 9-11-9 (justice court jurisdiction); § 11-51-83 (appeals in unlawful entry and detainer cases) and § 11-51-85 (general justice court appeals); Rules of Justice Court 13, 14 and 27.
• Rules of Justice Court, Rules 13, 14 and 27; Uniform Civil Rules of Circuit and County Court, Rule 5.04.
• Laws 2022, ch. 501 (S.B. 2461); Laws 2025, ch. 460 (S.B. 2328); Laws 2025, ch. 474 (H.B. 1200).

This guide is general information about Mississippi procedure and is not legal advice. Court rules and local practice on service, fees and appeals vary; confirm the current statute text and rules before relying on any deadline.