Mississippi eviction laws vary from county to county, but they still follow the same general steps for an eviction process:
Every eviction process is different. It depends on the lease/rental agreement signed by the tenant and the landlord.
This article details a summary for landlords to refer to when evicting a tenant. A landlord may also seek legal advice from an attorney.
Confirm procedures and information with your justice court to ensure the entire process goes as smoothly as possible.
Get the quintessential guide to eviction laws on the go from DoorLoop’s “Landlord’s Guide” series.
Now, let’s dive in.
To start off the Mississippi eviction process, rent is usually considered late a day past it is due. A grace period may be available if stated in the lease/written agreement.
Before a landlord can start the eviction process, they must give a tenant in Mississippi an official written 3-Day Notice to Pay form.
The notice must have been delivered properly.
If the tenant can pay the rent due within those 3 days, then the filing for eviction does not continue. If they cannot pay rent, the landlord reserves the right to continue filing to evict a tenant.
The terms of the lease have to be upheld by both tenant and landlord for the entire duration of their stay. Agreements may vary from tenant to tenant.
If a tenant fails to uphold any terms from the lease agreement, the landlord must give a 14-Day Notice to Quit form. If the tenant resolves these issues on time, the eviction process must not continue.
Lease violations may include:
If the lease violations are not resolved, or they remain on the property within that amount of time, then the landlord must continue with the process to evict a tenant.
Mississippi law takes into account the health, building, safety, and housing codes. If a tenant violates any of these codes, the landlord is not legally obligated to give the tenant time to fix the problem, nor are they required to send a written notice.
Violations under this could include:
You can skip the notice steps for this violation.
In Mississippi, landlords cannot take eviction action against a tenant or force them to vacate the property without probable cause—and without a notice. As long as the tenant does not violate any rules, they can stay within the days of their rental period.
But if they stay in the property even a day after their lease/rental agreement ends and have not arranged for a renewal, a landlord may issue a written notice to move.
This would depend on the type of tenancy. The notices for the different tenancies include a 7-Day Notice to Quit and a 30-Day Notice to Quit. The following types of tenancies are outlined below:
If you want your own Mississippi lease agreement, head over to DoorLoop's Forms Page to download your very own template.
The eviction process can only begin after the issuance of the appropriate eviction notice. An appropriate notice period must have been allowed before filing for eviction.
The eviction process steps as follow:
There may be more steps depending on your justice court’s rules and regulations.
It takes within 3 days to 1 month from the issuance of the Notice to Vacate/Quit. The notice must have been given to the tenant properly.
This is ensured with a return receipt signed by the tenant.
| Lease Agreement / Type of Tenancy | Eviction Notice to Receive |
|---|---|
| Week-to-week Tenancy | 7-Day Notice to Quit |
| Month-to-month Tenancy | 30-Day Notice to Quit |
| Fixed Term | The landlord is not required to give the tenant a notice unless stated in the lease. |
Before filing for an eviction with the court, you need to issue the tenant a notice to comply. You can either download the free PDF or Word template, or create your Mississippi eviction notice from here using a step-by-step wizard that guides you through the entire process to make sure you are submitting the legally correct notice.
Keep in mind, the step-by-step wizard will ask you to pay a small fee at the end - it's a small price to pay to ensure legal compliance and protection. The last thing you want is to go to court only to find out you did the first process incorrect.
An official from the court delivers the summons for the hearing and the complaint to the tenant at least 5 days in county court before the return date. The sheriff’s office is usually assigned this task.
Alternatively, someone else who is at least 18 years old and is not involved in any aspect of the case may be assigned this task.
There are several methods available to serve these documents:
The sheriff’s office holds the final say in the method.
The tenant has at least 5 days before the eviction hearing date to prepare if they are in county court.
The documents should be served to the tenant within 5 days before the hearing.
A postponement of the hearing (called a continuance) can be requested for a maximum of 10 days if the eviction is about nonpayment of rent.
The landlord has to provide a strong argument backed up by solid evidence against the tenant. If the tenant fails to appear at the hearing, the landlord wins by default.
In the state of Mississippi, a reply from the tenant is not necessary for a court date to be scheduled. They only have to show up to the hearing.
The landlord needs to support the claim with evidence and show it during the court hearing.
This could include, but is not limited to the following:
Eviction hearings are scheduled 5 to 10 days after the Summons and Complaint is issued regardless of when the documents were served to the tenant.
Provided that the tenant does not appeal for reconsideration, a Writ of Execution is a court order that is issued either immediately or 5 days after judgment was granted to the landlord.
If the eviction hearing was about nonpayment of rent, the Writ of Execution is given immediately, but it will be released after 5 days for other types of eviction orders.
A judge can grant a maximum of 3 days to stay the execution. It would have to be for a good cause.
Tenants can continue staying in the property within 3 days.
There is no clear timeframe for when the tenant has to move out once the Writ or court order is issued. At best, they have a maximum of 5 to 8 days to move out of the rental property.
However, if it was an eviction about failure to pay rent, they must immediately move out.
The tenants have a few hours to 8 days upon the court order’s issuance of the Writ of Execution to vacate the property.
Below is the average timeline for a complete eviction process. This timeline does not include special cases such as requests for an appeal or continuance.
On average, it would take anywhere between half a month to 2 months for a complete eviction process.
| Notice Received by Tenants | Average Timeline |
|---|---|
| Issuing an Official Notice | 3 days to 1 month of notice |
| Issuance and Serving of Rule for Possession | 5 days before the return date |
| Court Hearing and Judgment | 5-10 days in county court |
| Issuance of Writ of Restitution | A few hours to 5 days |
| Return of Rental Property | Depends on the judicial officers |
If the tenant disagrees with the eviction request and they reply to the court, it’s important that you keep extremely good records of everything so you can provide proof to the judge and win your case. This part can make or break your entire eviction request in the event of a dispute.
You can stay organized by:
If the tenant doesn’t pay rent, and they dispute that claim, it’s important that you show the judge the following:
If you are evicting the tenant for lease violations, for example, noise complaints, unauthorized pets, or property damages, it’s important to show proof from any of the following methods:
