Mississippi Demand Letter

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Mississippi's consumer-protection precondition is not a demand letter at all: Miss. Code Section 75-24-15(2) requires a private plaintiff under the Mississippi Consumer Protection Act to have first made a reasonable attempt to resolve the claim through an informal dispute settlement program approved by the Attorney General, and the statute states no day count, no required letter contents, and no required delivery method for that attempt.

2. 2

   The Mississippi Consumer Protection Act does not give a private plaintiff multiplied damages or attorney's fees for winning: Section 75-24-15(1) limits recovery to actual ascertainable loss, and Section 75-24-15(3) awards fees only to a prevailing defendant, and only if the court finds your action was frivolous or filed to harass or delay.

3. 3

   If your claim is on an open account, Mississippi's closest analog to a fee-shifting demand letter is Miss. Code Section 11-53-81: if the debtor fails to pay a written demand that correctly sets forth the amount owed and includes an itemized statement of the account, within thirty (30) days after receiving it, the debtor becomes liable for reasonable attorney's fees if judgment on the claim is rendered in your favor, and the same fee-shift runs the other way if you sue and lose.

4. 4

   If your claim involves a dishonored check, Miss. Code Section 97-19-57 lets you send a written notice by regular mail; if the drawer does not pay the check amount plus a $40 service charge within fifteen (15) days after receiving it, the notice creates a presumption behind the enhanced civil damages in Section 11-7-12: a $30 service charge if the check was $25 or less, or $40 if more, plus attorney's fees if a licensed attorney files suit. Mississippi's own statutory notice form for this claim is not reproduced in this letter.

5. 5

   Mississippi has no standalone debt-collection-practices act like those in other states, but that does not make a first-party creditor's letter unregulated: other Mississippi laws may still reach false or abusive statements. Never threaten arrest, jail, or criminal prosecution to collect a civil debt in your letter.

6. 6

   Mississippi generally gives the same three years to sue whether your contract is written or oral, and on an open account: Miss. Code Sections 15-1-49(1) and 15-1-29 both set a three-year period, so a written agreement does not buy you extra time the way it does in most states. Section 15-1-29 excepts sale-of-goods claims governed by the Uniform Commercial Code and gives an unwritten employment contract only one year.

7. 7

   Mississippi's Justice Court hears a debt, damage, or personal-property claim of not more than $3,500, under Miss. Code Section 9-11-9. If you extended credit or are owed under a contract with no agreed rate, Mississippi's legal interest rate is 8% a year on notes, accounts, and contracts, calculated by the actuarial method, under Miss. Code Section 75-17-1(1); sending a demand letter does not itself start interest running.

Mississippi Requirements for Demand Letter

• Consumer Protection Act: No Letter, No Multiplied Damages

  Miss. Code Section 75-24-15(2) requires a private Mississippi Consumer Protection Act plaintiff to have first made a reasonable attempt to resolve the claim through an informal dispute settlement program approved by the Attorney General, not to send a demand letter. Section 75-24-15(1) also limits that plaintiff to actual ascertainable loss, with no multiplied-damages provision, and Section 75-24-15(3) awards attorney's fees only to a prevailing defendant whose case the court finds frivolous or filed to harass or delay.

• Open-Account 30-Day Written, Itemized Demand

  Miss. Code Section 11-53-81 lets a creditor on an open account recover reasonable attorney's fees, when judgment is rendered in its favor, if the debtor fails to pay within thirty (30) days after receiving a written demand that correctly sets forth the amount owed and includes an itemized statement of the account. The same fee-shift applies to whichever party prevails if the claim is litigated.

• Bad-Check 15-Day Notice Creates a Fraud Presumption

  Miss. Code Section 97-19-57 lets a payee send written notice, by regular mail, that a dishonored check was not paid; if the drawer does not pay the check amount plus a $40 service charge within fifteen (15) days after receiving it, the notice creates a presumption of the fraudulent intent that the enhanced civil damages in Section 11-7-12(2) depend on.

• Bad-Check Notice Is a Statutory Form, Not This Letter

  Miss. Code Section 97-19-57(3) prescribes its own required notice content for a dishonored-check demand, including telling the drawer that nonpayment may lead to turning the matter over for criminal prosecution. This letter does not reproduce that statutory form; use it only for a general demand, not as the Section 97-19-57 notice itself.

• Fixed Bad-Check Service Charges, Not a Multiplier

  Miss. Code Section 11-7-12 ties enhanced civil bad-check damages to fixed, tiered service charges, not a multiple of the check: $30 if the check was $25 or less, or $40 if it was more, plus attorney's fees only if suit is filed by a licensed attorney. Section 11-7-12(1) separately allows a flat $40 service charge outside litigation on a check issued in violation of Section 97-19-55, meaning with fraudulent intent and knowledge of insufficient funds.

• Flat Three-Year Limitations Period

  Mississippi generally gives three years to sue on a written contract, an oral contract, or an open account, under Miss. Code Sections 15-1-49(1) and 15-1-29. Unlike most states, Mississippi does not give a written contract a longer period than an oral one, though Section 15-1-29 excepts Uniform Commercial Code sale-of-goods claims and gives an unwritten employment contract one year.

• Justice Court Venue and $3,500 Limit

  A Mississippi small-claims-level case is heard in Justice Court, whose jurisdiction reaches a debt, damage, or personal-property claim of not more than $3,500, under Miss. Code Section 9-11-9.

• 8% Legal Interest Rate on Notes, Accounts, and Contracts

  Where the parties have not agreed on a rate, Mississippi's legal rate of interest is 8% per annum on notes, accounts, and contracts, calculated by the actuarial method, under Miss. Code Section 75-17-1(1). Sending a demand letter does not itself start interest running.

• No Standalone State Debt-Collection-Practices Act

  Mississippi has no standalone debt-collection-practices act like those in other states, but that does not make a first-party creditor's demand letter unregulated: other Mississippi laws may still reach false or abusive statements. Never use a demand letter to threaten arrest, jail, or criminal prosecution to collect a civil debt.