How much notice does a landlord have to give before filing an eviction for unpaid rent in Mississippi?

3 days. Because 3 is fewer than seven, Section 1-3-67 excludes intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, so the notice runs in effect on BUSINESS days — a Monday notice ordinarily expires Thursday. The notice must specify that the rental agreement terminates if the rent is not paid within the three days (Section 89-8-13(5)(a)).

How long does an eviction take in Mississippi?

Realistically two to four weeks from notice to lockout in an uncontested nonpayment case. The hard statutory minimums total only about 10 days (3 + 7), and everything else is court scheduling and service. These are statutory floors rather than an observed average.

How long does a tenant have to appeal an eviction judgment in Mississippi?

No eviction-specific deadline — the standard civil appeal window applies (see notes).

Can a landlord change the locks or shut off utilities instead of going to court in Mississippi?

No statute squarely on point — the notes explain what this state's law does and does not address. Mississippi has NO express statutory ban on landlord self-help and no statutory damages remedy for a wrongful lockout. The bar is structural instead: Section 89-8-39(2) makes the sheriff or a constable the executing officer, and a tenant put out by force has the separate unlawful entry and detainer remedy of Section 11-25-1.

What is the eviction process and timeline in Mississippi?

Verified August 5, 2026 All Mississippi topics →

To evict a residential tenant in Mississippi, serve the notice the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act requires - 3 days to pay for nonpayment of rent, 14 days to cure a different lease breach, 3 days after a fixed term expires, or 30 days to end a month-to-month tenancy - then file a sworn affidavit or complaint with a copy of that notice in justice, county or circuit court, attend the show-cause hearing set in the summons, and if the landlord wins the judge orders the tenant out in 7 days, after which the landlord may request a warrant for removal that a sheriff or constable executes.

Cited to Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-13 Laws 2022, ch. 501, Sec. 10 (enrolled SB2461, approved Apr. 21, 2022); codified 89-8-13(3), (5)(a) and 27 more Mississippi statutes · Verified August 5, 2026

Mississippi rewrote this area in 2022: the old Chapter 7 removal procedure now applies only to nonresidential property, so anything citing Sections 89-7-27 to 89-7-43 for a home or apartment is out of date. Two counting rules catch people out. First, because the 3-day notice is shorter than seven days, Section 1-3-67 excludes weekends and legal holidays from it, so it usually consumes about five calendar days, while the 14-day and 30-day notices run on ordinary calendar days. Second, the 14-day breach notice has two parts that must both appear: the tenant gets a reasonable cure period of up to 14 days, and the termination date stated in the notice must be at least 14 days after the tenant receives it. A tenant behind on rent can stop the eviction at any point up to the court-ordered move-out date by paying everything the judgment awards, and the landlord must accept it in good faith. Mississippi sets no eviction-specific deadline to appeal and no minimum wait between filing and the hearing, though no adjournment may push the hearing past 30 days from filing. The Act contains no ban on lockouts or utility shutoffs, but the warrant for removal must be executed by law enforcement, who must physically remove the occupants - posting the warrant on the door does not count.

Mississippi eviction process at a glance

Nonpayment notice (pay-or-quit)	3 days
Nonpayment notice rules (day counting, cure rights, service)	Because 3 is fewer than seven, Section 1-3-67 excludes intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, so the notice runs in effect on BUSINESS days — a Monday notice ordinarily expires Thursday. The notice must specify that the rental agreement terminates if the rent is not paid within the three days (Section 89-8-13(5)(a)). Residential nonpayment is governed by the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, NOT by the old Chapter 7 procedure. Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-13(5)(a) lets the landlord deliver a notice "specifying the rental agreement will terminate if payment of such rent is not made within three (3) days." Only ONE notice is required before filing: Section 89-8-33(b)(i) requires the landlord to file "[a] copy of the written notice of breach delivered to the tenant pursuant to Section 89-8-13" together with the sworn affidavit or complaint, so the 3-day notice is the sole pre-filing step for nonpayment - there is no separate notice to quit that must expire afterward. DAY COUNTING IS THE TRAP: Section 1-3-67 excludes the day of the triggering event, extends a deadline falling on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday or any day the courthouse or clerk's office is closed, and - critically - provides that "[w]hen the period of time prescribed or allowed is less than seven (7) days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays shall be excluded in the computation." Because 3 is less than 7, the nonpayment notice runs in effect on BUSINESS days (a Monday notice ordinarily expires Thursday; a Thursday notice runs into the following Tuesday). Rules of Justice Court Rule 13 states the identical computation rule for justice court. Delivery: in writing, or by email or text message only "if the breaching party has agreed in writing to be notified by email or text message" (Section 89-8-13(5)(a)). Cure does not end at the notice: under Section 89-8-39(4)(a) the judge "shall not issue a warrant for removal" if by the court-ordered move-out date the tenant "has paid in full all unpaid rent and other sums awarded to landlord in the judgment," or if the landlord accepts payment after that date, and Section 89-8-39(4)(b) imposes on the landlord "an obligation of good faith to accept full payment." "Rent" includes late fees required by the rental agreement (Section 89-8-7(1)(k)). Section 89-8-13(5)(b) requires the judge to "abide by the provisions of the rental agreement," so a lease grace period controls when the default matures.
Lease-violation notice period	14 days
Lease-violation notice rules (cure vs. termination)	Section 89-8-13(3) carries two numbers and both must be stated in the notice. The tenant gets a reasonable cure period of up to 14 days, and the termination date stated in the notice must fall at least 14 days after the tenant RECEIVES it, not after mailing. The TWO-NUMBER structure means the notice is drafted wrong if either number is missing: the nonbreaching party may deliver a written notice "specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and that the rental agreement will terminate upon a date not less than fourteen (14) days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied within a reasonable time not in excess of fourteen (14) days." So the cure window is a reasonable time capped at 14 days, and the stated termination date must be at least 14 days after RECEIPT (not after mailing) - receipt-based triggering is unusual and matters. Because 14 is not less than 7, Section 1-3-67 counts these as calendar days with only the end-date weekend/holiday extension - a different unit from the 3-day nonpayment notice. Section 89-8-13(3)(a): if the breaching party "adequately remedies the breach before the date specified in the notice, the rental agreement shall not terminate." REPEAT VIOLATION - no second cure right: Section 89-8-13(3)(b) provides that "[i]n the absence of a showing of due care by the breaching party, if substantially the same act or omission which constituted a prior noncompliance of which notice was given recurs within six (6) months, the nonbreaching party may terminate the rental agreement upon at least fourteen (14) days' notice in writing ... specifying the breach and the date of termination." Section 89-8-13(3)(c) bars terminating "for a condition caused by that party's own deliberate or negligent act or omission or an act or omission by a family member or other person on the premises when done with the consent of the party." The same notice must be filed with the complaint under Section 89-8-33(b)(i). The section is symmetrical - it also gives the tenant a 14-day termination right against a landlord in material noncompliance with Section 89-8-23.
Unconditional-quit grounds	Mississippi's unconditional ground carries NO notice at all rather than a short notice. Section 89-8-19(4): "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 to be given when the landlord or tenant has committed a substantial violation of the rental agreement or this chapter that materially affects health or safety." The same standard shortens the post-judgment move-out period: Section 89-8-39(1)(a)-(b) lets the court set a move-out date less than seven days after judgment where "[t]he tenant has committed a substantial violation of the rental agreement or of this chapter that materially affects health or safety" or "poses an immediate and significant risk of damage to the premises or of harm or injury to persons on the premises." A repeat of substantially the same breach within six months is terminable on 14 days' notice with no cure right under Section 89-8-13(3)(b). Holdover after a fixed term expires is not a no-notice ground: Section 89-8-17(2) requires notice that "the landlord will commence eviction proceedings no earlier than three (3) days after such notice is provided." There is no separate statutory illegal-drug or criminal-activity eviction track in Chapter 8; such conduct is reached through the material-noncompliance and health-or-safety provisions.
Court and action	Section 89-8-7(1)(b) defines "Court" for the Act as "a justice court, a county court or a circuit court," and Section 89-8-7(1)(e) defines "Judge" as "a justice court judge, a county court judge or a circuit court judge" - all three tiers have jurisdiction, and in practice residential evictions are filed in justice court. The statutory label is simply an eviction: Sections 89-8-31 through 89-8-45 are captioned "Residential evictions," Section 89-8-31 speaks of a landlord who "may commence eviction proceedings," and Section 89-8-41(3) of "the eviction action." Mississippi does NOT call the residential action unlawful detainer, forcible entry and detainer or summary process; the separate unlawful entry and detainer remedy in Miss. Code Ann. Sections 11-25-1 et seq. is a different action. Commencement (Section 89-8-33) requires filing (a) a sworn affidavit or complaint stating the facts requiring removal and identifying the dwelling unit and any rent and fees owed, AND (b) a copy of the pre-suit notice - either the Section 89-8-13 notice of breach or the Section 89-8-17/89-8-19 notice to terminate. Procedure: Section 89-8-35(3) provides that "[s]ervice of summons shall be pursuant to applicable Mississippi Rules of Court"; in justice court the Rules of Justice Court apply, and Rule 12(b)(1) lists evictions among the civil actions requiring a sworn complaint. In circuit and county court the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure and the Uniform Civil Rules of Circuit and County Court Practice apply. CRITICAL: Miss. Code Ann. Sections 89-7-27 through 89-7-43 - the historic "removal of tenants" procedure - were re-scoped by Laws 2022, ch. 501 to premises "not constituting a dwelling unit as defined in Section 89-8-7(b)" and are now captioned "Nonresidential evictions." They do not apply to a residential tenancy.
Filing to hearing	There is NO statutory minimum interval between filing/service and the hearing, and no statutory answer deadline. Section 89-8-35(1) provides that on filing "a summons shall be issued ... command[ing] such person to immediately vacate the premises or to show cause before the judge, on a day to be named in the summons, why possession of the premises should not be delivered to the applicant" - the hearing date is set by the court in the summons, so the interval is a matter of each court's scheduling rather than statute. What the statute does supply is an OUTER limit and a cap on delay: Section 89-8-41(1)-(2) lets the court adjourn "at the request of either party," but "[a] single adjournment shall not exceed ten (10) days, except by consent of both the landlord and tenant," and Section 89-8-41(3) provides that "[i]n hearings for the removal of the tenant from the premises under this chapter, no adjournment shall extend the entire hearing beyond thirty (30) days from the date the eviction action was filed." Section 89-8-35(2) prescribes verbatim tenant-warning language that the summons must contain in addition to what the Mississippi Rules of Court require.
Writ of possession and lockout	The possession process runs judgment -> court-ordered move-out date -> "warrant for removal" (Mississippi's term; it is not called a writ of possession). Section 89-8-37(3): "judgments granted by the court shall be signed and executed on the same business day that the judgment is granted." Section 89-8-39(1): on a judgment of possession, "whether after a hearing or by default judgment, then the judge shall order the tenant to vacate the premises in seven (7) days from the date of the judgment, unless the court finds that a shorter or longer period of time is justified because of an emergency or other compelling circumstances." Before that date the tenant keeps "the same access to the premises as previously allowed under the terms of the rental agreement." Section 89-8-39(2): "After the court-ordered move-out date, the landlord may request a warrant for removal," and on request plus payment of fees the judge "shall ... immediately issue a warrant to the sheriff or any constable of the county ... immediately commanding the sheriff or constable to remove all persons from the premises, and to put the landlord into full possession thereof." Laws 2025, ch. 460 added the anti-shortcut sentences: "The warrant of removal shall not be considered executed by law enforcement posting the warrant of removal on the door of the premises. Law enforcement must remove all occupants from the premises and place the landlord into physical possession of the premises." Section 89-8-39(3) gives the tenant 72 hours of reasonable access after execution to remove personal property including any manufactured home; after 72 hours the landlord may move remaining property to the curb, a garbage area, or another agreed location. Nonpayment brake: under Section 89-8-39(4)(a) the judge "shall not issue a warrant for removal" if the tenant pays all sums awarded by the move-out date or the landlord accepts payment afterward.
Appeal window	No eviction-specific deadline — the standard civil appeal window applies (see notes)
Best-case uncontested timeline (derived from statutory minimums — contested cases run longer)	Realistically two to four weeks from notice to lockout in an uncontested nonpayment case. The hard statutory minimums total only about 10 days (3 + 7), and everything else is court scheduling and service. These are statutory floors rather than an observed average. Adding those statutory minimums step by step: 3 days' notice to pay or the agreement terminates (Section 89-8-13(5)(a)) - but counted under Section 1-3-67, which excludes intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays for periods under seven days, so about 5 calendar days in practice - PLUS filing of the sworn affidavit or complaint with a copy of the notice (Section 89-8-33) PLUS an interval to the show-cause hearing that the statute does NOT floor, since the day is "named in the summons" by the court (Section 89-8-35(1)) PLUS judgment signed and executed the same business day it is granted (Section 89-8-37(3)) PLUS 7 days from judgment for the tenant to vacate (Section 89-8-39(1)) PLUS the landlord's request for a warrant for removal and its execution by the sheriff or constable (Section 89-8-39(2)). The only statutory ceiling is Section 89-8-41(3): no adjournment may extend the entire hearing beyond 30 days from filing. These are statutory floors derived from the sections cited on this page, not an observed average or a promise; contested cases, appeals, and a tenant's payment by the move-out date under Section 89-8-39(4) all run longer or stop the process.
Self-help eviction (lockout, utility shutoff) barred	No statute squarely on point — the notes explain what this state's law does and does not address
Self-help scope and tenant remedies	Mississippi has NO express statutory ban on landlord self-help and no statutory damages remedy for a wrongful lockout. The bar is structural instead: Section 89-8-39(2) makes the sheriff or a constable the executing officer, and a tenant put out by force has the separate unlawful entry and detainer remedy of Section 11-25-1. Not one of the 23 sections of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Sections 89-8-1 through 89-8-45, every odd number in the span) mentions lockout, lock, utility, shut off, self-help, exclude, interrupt, diminish or forcible. There is no counterpart to the lockout/utility-shutoff prohibitions common in URLTA states, and no statutory damages remedy for a wrongful lockout. That is why this answer is left open rather than a yes: no statutory sentence can be quoted for the proposition. What the statutes do supply is a strong structural implication that court process is exclusive: Section 89-8-39(2) requires a judge-issued warrant for removal executed by the sheriff or a constable, and expressly provides that "[l]aw enforcement must remove all occupants from the premises and place the landlord into physical possession of the premises" - a landlord is not the executing officer. The 2022 rewrite also deleted the former Section 89-8-17(2) language that had let a landlord after lease expiration "recover possession of the dwelling unit, cause the tenant to quit the dwelling unit involuntarily," replacing it with a notice-then-file requirement, which cuts against any reading that self-help survives. A tenant put out by force has a separate summary remedy: Miss. Code Ann. Section 11-25-1 gives "[a]ny one deprived of the possession of land by force, intimidation, fraud, stratagem, stealth" the unlawful entry and detainer remedy for one year. Utilities: Laws 2026, ch. 416 (HB 1404, approved March 25, 2026) makes it a crime for a person who received payment under a lease to pay utility services to knowingly fail to pay, but that targets diversion of utility payments, not a retaliatory shutoff. Widely circulated secondary sources flatly contradict each other on this point and one miscites Section 89-8-27 (which actually concerns housing authorities and tenant management organizations) - none of them were relied on.

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Mississippi Eviction Process Laws (verified August 5, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/eviction-process/mississippi/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Mississippi statute in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

Two bodies of law, and they must not be blended — Laws 2022, ch. 501 (enrolled SB 2461, approved April 21, 2022, effective on passage) built a complete residential eviction procedure into the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act at Sections 89-8-31 through 89-8-45, and in the same act re-scoped the historic chapter 7 procedure. Section 89-7-27 now reaches only a tenant 'of premises or other lands not constituting a dwelling unit as defined in Section 89-8-7(b),' and Sections 89-7-27 through 89-7-43 are captioned 'Nonresidential evictions.' Chapter 8 supplies every residential figure; chapter 7 supplies none.
Sources citing chapter 7 for a home or apartment quote repealed law — Section 89-8-13(5)(a) formerly cross-referenced chapter 7 for nonpayment — 'the landlord may seek removal of the tenant ... in the manner and with the notice prescribed by Chapter 7, Title 89.' The 2022 act STRUCK that sentence and replaced it with a self-contained 3-day notice. Sections 89-7-41 and 89-7-45 were repealed outright by Laws 2022, ch. 501, Sec. 27.
The 3-day notice runs on business days; the others do not — Section 1-3-67 excludes intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays from any period under seven days, so the 3-day nonpayment notice behaves as business days. The 14-day breach notice and the 30-day month-to-month notice are calendar days with only the end-date weekend/holiday extension, and the 7-day week-to-week notice sits exactly at the threshold, so it too is calendar. Rules of Justice Court Rule 13 restates the same computation rule for justice court. This unit split is the difference most readers get wrong.
How many notices — one, answered per ground — Nonpayment: one 3-day notice under Section 89-8-13(5)(a), then file. Curable lease breach: one 14-day notice under Section 89-8-13(3). Holdover after a fixed term expires: one 3-day notice under Section 89-8-17(2). Section 89-8-33(b)(i) requires only that one notice be attached to the filing.
Ending a month-to-month may be a two-notice sequence — Section 89-8-31(b) authorizes eviction '[f]or failing to vacate after the termination or expiration of the rental agreement pursuant to Sections 89-8-17 and 89-8-19,' and Section 89-8-33(b)(ii) requires filing '[a] copy of the written notice to terminate the tenancy delivered to the tenant pursuant to Sections 89-8-17 and 89-8-19' — both conjunctive. Read literally, a landlord ends a month-to-month with the 30-day notice under Section 89-8-19(3) and then, once the agreement has terminated, the 3-day pre-filing notice under Section 89-8-17(2), for 33 days total. But Section 89-8-17 is worded around a rental agreement that 'expires on the date stated in the rental agreement,' which fits a fixed term better than a periodic tenancy, so a single-notice reading is also defensible. No Mississippi appellate decision resolving this was located. Treat the 30-day notice as the headline for month-to-month and the 3-day follow-on as a cautious best practice — neither reading is settled.
Both fourteens are the same number — In Section 89-8-13(3) the cure window and the termination date are both 14 days, so Mississippi carries none of the cure-versus-termination gap that trips readers up in other states. What does matter is that the stated termination date runs from RECEIPT of the notice, not from mailing.
No statutory minimum between filing and the hearing — The hearing day is 'named in the summons' by the court (Section 89-8-35(1)), so any specific number would be fabricated. The only statutory constraints run the other way: no adjournment may extend the entire hearing beyond 30 days from the date the action was filed (Section 89-8-41(3)), and a single adjournment may not exceed 10 days (Section 89-8-41(2)). That 30 days is an outer bound on delay, not a filing-to-hearing window.
Why there is no appeal deadline to quote — Section 89-8-43 reads in full: 'Appeals from final judgments under this chapter shall be pursuant to applicable Mississippi Rules of Court.' That is an eviction-specific statute that deliberately sets no period — a stronger absence than in states whose statutes are merely silent and let a general civil window fill the gap. Chasing the cross-reference produces at least three conflicting windows depending on the track and the court: Rules of Justice Court Rule 27(a) routes justice-court civil appeals to UCRCCC Rules 5.01, 5.04, 5.07-5.09, and UCRCCC 5.04 sets 30 days from entry of the judgment; but the same Rule 27(a) sends a party aggrieved in 'a case of unlawful entry and detainer' to Section 11-51-83, which sets FIVE days plus bond; Section 11-51-85 sets TEN days plus double bond for justice-court civil appeals generally and routes the appeal to county court where one exists; and Section 11-51-79 sets THIRTY days for appeals from county court. Showing any one of them here would make a 50-state comparison contradict itself. Practitioners should treat the shortest applicable window as controlling.
No statutory ban on self-help — Mississippi is a genuine outlier — There is no sentence to quote. Of the 23 sections of chapter 8 — the odd numbers 89-8-1 through 89-8-45, with none repealed or reserved — not one addresses lockouts, utility shutoffs or exclusion, and there is no wrongful-eviction damages remedy. The bar, to the extent one exists, is structural: Section 89-8-39(2) makes the sheriff or a constable the executing officer, and a tenant put out by force has the separate unlawful entry and detainer remedy at Section 11-25-1. There is no statutory ban to assert.
The section secondary sources miscite for a self-help ban — Section 89-8-27 is 'Housing authorities authorized to contract with tenant management organizations' — it has nothing to do with lockouts. Widely circulated summaries flatly contradict each other on Mississippi self-help and one miscites this section; none of them were relied on.
Who is outside the Act entirely — Section 89-8-3(2) excludes residence at an institution incidental to detention or to medical, geriatric, educational, counseling or religious service; occupancy under a contract of sale; fraternal or social organization housing; 'transient occupancy in a hotel, motel or lodgings'; condominium owners and cooperative proprietary lessees; and premises used primarily for agricultural purposes or rented below fair value to an agricultural laborer.
Two 2025 removal routes that are not the eviction process — Laws 2025, ch. 460 (SB 2328), Sec. 5 created a separate non-judicial removal procedure for RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARKS: the operator may demand that a person leave for intoxication, profanity, lewdness, brawling, nonpayment, disturbance, illegal or disorderly conduct or nuisance, refusal is trespass, law enforcement removes or arrests the person, and the person has up to 48 hours to retrieve property. Laws 2025, ch. 474 (HB 1200), the 'Real Property Owners Protection Act,' effective July 1, 2025, defines squatting and creates a separate law-enforcement removal route for squatters; it conforms Sections 89-8-3 and 89-8-7 and expressly denies chapter rights to 'any person who trespasses or otherwise enters and/or remains on the property of another ... without the landlord's knowledge or permission.' Neither scheme's figures may be blended into the residential timeline. Manufactured homes, by contrast, are NOT a separate scheme: Section 89-8-39(3) expressly folds 'any manufactured home' into the residential warrant-of-removal process.
Local overlays: nothing in the landlord-tenant chapters, and nothing shown here — No preemption statute sits within the landlord-tenant chapters, and no local just-cause or longer-notice ordinance was located in official sources — Mississippi keeps no official registry of local landlord-tenant ordinances. Express rent-control preemption does exist, but it lives in the home-rule statutes, 21-17-5(2)(h) for municipalities and 19-3-40(3)(g) for counties — see the rent-increase topic, where both clauses are shown; two independent mirrors carry them in identical terms. Nothing eviction-specific is shown here.
Two 2025 acts amended Section 89-8-3(1) the same day — Both were approved April 10, 2025. Laws 2025, ch. 460 (SB 2328, effective on passage) ADDED the clause 'including the parties' rights to possession following the termination or expiration of such an agreement'; Laws 2025, ch. 474 (HB 1200, effective July 1, 2025) re-enacted Section 89-8-3(1) WITHOUT that clause, apparently drafted from the pre-ch.-460 base. The compiler has carried the ch. 460 language forward into the current codified text. This affects none of the answers shown here, but it is a live ambiguity worth not repeating as settled.
The court rules still point at the old section — Rules of Justice Court Rule 12(b)(1) still lists 'Evictions (Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-7-29)' among the actions requiring a sworn complaint — citing what is now the nonresidential section. The residential requirement is in Section 89-8-33; the rule has not been conformed to the 2022 restructuring. Section 89-7-47 was likewise amended in 2022 to add the same 'pursuant to applicable Mississippi Rules of Court' appeal sentence.
2026 session: the bills that would have changed this all died — The official Report of All Measures (last updated June 22, 2026) records the disposition of every landlord-, tenant-, eviction-, rental-, lease-, dwelling- and justice-court-related bill. HB 499, 'Landlord tenant provisions; revise time periods for eviction and removal' — which would have changed service and eviction timing under Section 89-8-35 — DIED IN COMMITTEE on February 3, 2026. HB 442 (tenant repair duties), SB 2012 and SB 2696 (justice-court jurisdictional limits for residential evictions) and HB 1127 also died. The only enacted 2026 measure touching the landlord-tenant relationship is HB 1404 (Laws 2026, ch. 416, approved March 25, 2026), creating the crime of fraudulent utility conversion where a landlord who received lease payments earmarked for utilities knowingly fails to pay them; it amends no section shown on this page, and no enacted-but-not-yet-effective 2026 amendment to any section behind these answers was found.
Mississippi has no free official online code viewer — The official Mississippi Code of 1972 Annotated is published under a Joint Legislative Committee arrangement with Michie/LexisNexis, and its public-access pages serve no statutory text to ordinary readers. Codified text here therefore cites Justia, with every figure that carries weight additionally anchored to an official enrolled act on the Legislature's own billstatus.ls.state.ms.us or to an official courts.ms.gov rules PDF. Sections 1-3-67, 11-25-1, 11-51-79, 11-51-83 and 11-51-85 have not been amended by any act inside the billstatus system's coverage window, so they rest on Justia alone, and they match the 2022 enrolled act's cross-references where those exist.
The acts these figures rest on — The claim that dominates this topic — that residential evictions moved out of chapter 7 and into chapter 8 in 2022 — comes from Section 13 of the enrolled Laws 2022, ch. 501, which limits Section 89-7-27 to 'premises or other lands not constituting a dwelling unit as defined in Section 89-8-7(b).' The same document carries the headline figures verbatim: 89-8-13(5)(a)'s 'within three (3) days' and 89-8-13(3)'s 'not less than fourteen (14) days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied within a reasonable time not in excess of fourteen (14) days.' The 2025 act (Laws 2025, ch. 460 / SB 2328) supplies the seven-day post-judgment move-out at 89-8-39(1) and the show-cause summons at 89-8-35, and HB 1404's session-law chapter number is Laws 2026, ch. 416. Codified text here is the 2025 edition of the Mississippi Code, whose chapter inventory runs to 23 sections, 89-8-1 through 89-8-45, none repealed or reserved. The home-rule rent-control preemption clauses, 21-17-5(2)(h) and 19-3-40(3)(g), appear on two independent mirrors, with the official LexisNexis compilation still not serving directly readable statutory text.

Common questions: Mississippi eviction process

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much notice does a landlord have to give before filing an eviction for unpaid rent in Mississippi?: 3 days. Because 3 is fewer than seven, Section 1-3-67 excludes intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, so the notice runs in effect on BUSINESS days — a Monday notice ordinarily expires Thursday. The notice must specify that the rental agreement terminates if the rent is not paid within the three days (Section 89-8-13(5)(a)).
How much notice is required to evict for a lease violation in Mississippi?: 14 days. Section 89-8-13(3) carries two numbers and both must be stated in the notice. The tenant gets a reasonable cure period of up to 14 days, and the termination date stated in the notice must fall at least 14 days after the tenant RECEIVES it, not after mailing.
How long does an eviction take in Mississippi?: Realistically two to four weeks from notice to lockout in an uncontested nonpayment case. The hard statutory minimums total only about 10 days (3 + 7), and everything else is court scheduling and service. These are statutory floors rather than an observed average.
How long does a tenant have to appeal an eviction judgment in Mississippi?: No eviction-specific deadline — the standard civil appeal window applies (see notes).
Can a landlord change the locks or shut off utilities instead of going to court in Mississippi?: No statute squarely on point — the notes explain what this state's law does and does not address. Mississippi has NO express statutory ban on landlord self-help and no statutory damages remedy for a wrongful lockout. The bar is structural instead: Section 89-8-39(2) makes the sheriff or a constable the executing officer, and a tenant put out by force has the separate unlawful entry and detainer remedy of Section 11-25-1.

Statute citations

Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-13 Laws 2022, ch. 501, Sec. 10 (enrolled SB2461, approved Apr. 21, 2022); codified 89-8-13(3), (5)(a) (verified 2026) Official source
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-13 (3), (3)(a)-(c), (5)(a)-(b) (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-17 (2) - 3 days' notice before commencing eviction after expiration (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-19 (2) week-to-week 7 days; (3) month-to-month 30 days; (4) no notice for health/safety violation (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-31 Laws 2025, ch. 460, Sec. 4 (enrolled SB2328, approved Apr. 10, 2025) (verified 2026) Official source
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-31 (a)-(b) grounds to commence eviction (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-33 (a)-(b) sworn affidavit or complaint plus copy of the notice (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-35 Laws 2025, ch. 460, Sec. 1; codified 89-8-35(1)-(3) (verified 2026) Official source
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-35 (1) show-cause day named in summons; (2) required summons language; (3) service (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-37 (1) default judgment; (3) judgment signed and executed same business day (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-39 Laws 2025, ch. 460, Sec. 2; codified 89-8-39(1)-(4) (verified 2026) Official source
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-39 (1) 7-day move-out; (2) warrant for removal; (3) 72-hour access; (4) nonpayment cure (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-41 (2) single adjournment max 10 days; (3) hearing not beyond 30 days from filing (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-43 appeals pursuant to applicable Mississippi Rules of Court (no day count) (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-7 (1)(b) Court; (1)(c) dwelling unit; (1)(e) Judge; (1)(k) Rent includes late fees (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-3 Laws 2025, ch. 474, Sec. 3 (enrolled HB1200, approved Apr. 10, 2025, eff. July 1, 2025) (verified 2026) Official source
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-8-3 (1) scope; (2)(a)-(f) arrangements not governed by the chapter (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-7-27 Laws 2022, ch. 501, Sec. 13 - limits Chapter 7 removal to premises not constituting a dwelling unit (verified 2026) Official source
Miss. Code Ann. Section 89-7-27 Nonresidential evictions; 3 days' notice for nonresidential rent default (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 1-3-67 computation of time; periods under 7 days exclude intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 11-51-83 appeal in unlawful entry and detainer within five days, with bond (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 11-51-85 justice court civil appeal demanded and bond given within 10 days (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 11-51-79 county court appeal taken and bond given within 30 days (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Miss. Code Ann. Section 11-25-1 unlawful entry and detainer remedy for one year after dispossession by force (verified 2026) Unofficial mirror
Rules of Justice Court, Rules 12, 13, 27 Rule 12(b)(1) sworn complaint for evictions; Rule 13 computation of time; Rule 27(a) civil appeals from justice court (verified 2026) Official source
Uniform Civil Rules of Circuit and County Court Practice, Rule 5.04 Rule 5.04 - notice of appeal and costs within 30 days of entry of the order or judgment (verified 2026) Official source
Laws 2026 regular session - report of all measures session-wide disposition check for landlord-tenant bills (verified 2026) Official source
2026 HB499 (bill history - died in committee) DISPOSITION: Dead; 02/03 (H) Died In Committee (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Mississippi's official code compilation is LexisNexis-published without directly readable section pages (lexisnexis.com/hottopics/mscode redirects to advance.lexis.com), so verification ran on directly published official state sources reconciled with mirrors: enrolled session-law texts on the Legislature's billstatus.ls.state.ms.us (SB 2461/Laws 2022 ch. 501 eff. 2022-04-21; SB 2328/Laws 2025 ch. 460 eff. 2025-04-10; HB 1200/Laws 2025 ch. 474 eff. 2025-07-01; SB 2473/Laws 2018 ch. 446 eff. 2018-07-01) plus the MS Attorney General's consumer-guide PDF reproducing the full pre-2022 act text, each figure used here reconciled verbatim against Justia (2025 code edition) and FindLaw (current through 2025-01-01): 45-day deposit return with its three-element trigger and $200 bad-faith penalty (89-8-21, unamended since Laws 1991 ch. 478 — three matching reads), 30-day month-to-month and 7-day week-to-week termination notice (89-8-19, three reads), 3-day nonpayment termination notice and 14-day cure notice (89-8-13, official + mirror), rent-definition late-fee clause (89-8-7(1)(k), official + AG PDF), and the municipal/county rent-regulation preemption clauses (21-17-5(2)(h) and 19-3-40(3)(g), FindLaw + Justia matching verbatim). Negative checks (no deposit cap, no interest/escrow, no entry statute, no late-fee statute, no rent-increase-notice statute) were run against the complete current chapter assembled from the AG PDF (pre-2022 sections) and all amending enrolled acts. Legislature per-section bill indexes swept for every 89-8 section, 2018-2026, and the full 2026 all-measures index searched: no live bills; HB 442, HB 499 and SB 2012 (2026) all died in committee 2026-02-03. A same-day (2026-07-11) read of the official Lexis compilation's search results sight-confirmed the chapter's current compiled span (§§ 89-8-1 — 89-8-45), the verbatim opening text of 89-8-21(1)-(2), and 89-8-13's post-2022 structure including the (5)(a) nonpayment clause; complete Lexis sight-reads of 89-8-21/-13/-19 and the 21-17-5(2)(h) lettering remain pending, with the figures shown here resting on the reconciled official sources above.