Mississippi Eviction Notice
Mississippi eviction notice: 3-day pay-or-quit, 14-day cure-or-quit rules under Code Section 89-8-13. Free template, statute cites. Attorney review available.
Introduction
In 2022, Mississippi lawmakers rewrote eviction procedure from the ground up. Senate Bill 2461 pulled residential tenancies out of the old, single landlord-tenant statute and gave them a chapter of their own: Chapter 8 of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Mississippi Code Sections 89-8-1 through 89-8-45. Nonresidential premises, anything that is not a dwelling unit, stayed behind on the older Chapter 7 track, Sections 89-7-1 through 89-7-125, which kept its own separate 3-day nonpayment notice. That 2022 split is why this page follows Chapter 8, and what Chapter 8 requires in practice is a document: the written notice a landlord fills out and serves on a residential tenant before a case for possession can be filed in Justice Court. Chapter 8 sorts violations into tiers rather than assigning one universal notice period, and each tier carries its own consequence. A curable breach of the lease or the Act, described in the notice under Section 89-8-13(3), buys the tenant 14 days to fix it. Nonpayment sits outside that curable-breach framework as its own track: Section 89-8-13(5)(a) gives only 3 days before the rental agreement terminates. At the incurable end, two rules apply. A repeat of substantially the same violation within 6 months still gets 14 days' notice but no chance to cure (Section 89-8-13(3)(b)), while a substantial violation that materially affects health or safety needs no notice whatsoever under Section 89-8-19(4), a harder line than the cure-or-no-cure split most states draw. Service tracks that same minimalism: the Act requires only that notice be in writing, skipping the personal-delivery, substituted-service, and posting hierarchy many states spell out, and email or text substitutes for paper only when the tenant has agreed to that method in writing beforehand. No agency publishes a mandated form. A copy of whatever notice is served must be filed with the eviction affidavit or complaint if the matter proceeds to Justice Court.
Key Things to Know
- 1
Everything below traces to one 2022 event: Senate Bill 2461 split Mississippi eviction procedure by property type. Sections 89-8-1 through 89-8-45 of the Mississippi Code, the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, now hold the residential notice rules described on this page. Nonresidential premises, meaning anything that is not a dwelling unit, run instead on the separate Chapter 7 track, Sections 89-7-1 through 89-7-125.
- 2
Within Chapter 8, the day count on a notice is not one fixed number; it depends on which of three tiers the underlying violation falls into. Curable breaches get time to fix the problem, a repeat of that same breach gets a shorter fixed window with no fix allowed, and a substantial health-or-safety violation gets no notice period at all. Whichever tier applies, the written notice has to be completed and served before a Mississippi landlord can ask a Justice Court to remove a tenant.
- 3
The curable tier covers lease or Act violations other than nonpayment. Mississippi Code Section 89-8-13(3) requires the landlord to spell out the breach and allow up to 14 days to correct it, after which the lease continues if the fix is made in time.
- 4
Nonpayment sits in a track of its own rather than inside the curable-breach tier. Mississippi Code Section 89-8-13(5)(a) sets a 3-day notice, and missing that 3-day window after the notice is received terminates the rental agreement.
- 5
The incurable tier splits two ways. Mississippi Code Section 89-8-13(3)(b) treats a second occurrence of the same violation within 6 months as forfeiting the tenant's right to cure, though the landlord still owes 14 days' notice, a real notice period. Mississippi Code Section 89-8-19(4) goes further for violations that substantially and materially affect health or safety: no notice is required at all, not even the usual 14 days, a step few states' statutes take.
- 6
Delivery is minimal by design too. Where many states walk through a personal-service, then substituted-service, then posting sequence for this notice, Mississippi's Act asks only that it be delivered in writing. Text message or email can substitute for paper, but only where the tenant agreed to that method in writing beforehand. (Mississippi Code Section 89-8-13(3), (5)(a))
- 7
No agency or court hands landlords a fill-in-the-blank notice form to use here. What the statute does require is content: a nonpayment notice must state that the agreement ends if rent is not paid within 3 days, and a breach notice must describe the violation, though, unlike California, Mississippi's statute never requires spelling out the dollar amount owed. A copy of whatever notice is served must later be filed with the eviction affidavit or complaint. (Mississippi Code Sections 89-8-13, 89-8-33)
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Eviction Notice in Mississippi, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Eviction Notice guide walks through them.
Open the Eviction Notice guideCustomize your Eviction Notice Template with DocDraft
Mississippi Requirements for Eviction Notice
3-day pay-or-quit notice. The rental agreement will terminate if rent is not paid within 3 days of the notice. Unlike some states, the statute text does not itself require stating the exact dollar amount owed or payment instructions, and it does not say whether the 3 days excludes weekends or holidays.
The notice must be in writing. Unlike states that specify a personal-delivery, substituted-service, or posting order, the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act does not itself prescribe how the written notice must be physically delivered. Email or text message is allowed only as an alternative, and only if the party being notified has agreed in writing in advance to that method.
The statutory basis for every residential notice type on this page and the eviction process that follows if the tenant does not comply: the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Mississippi Code Sections 89-8-1 through 89-8-45. Commercial and other nonresidential premises are instead removed under the separate Chapter 7 procedure, Mississippi Code Sections 89-7-1 through 89-7-125, since a 2022 amendment restricted Chapter 7 to premises that are not a dwelling unit.
Notice to terminate a tenancy is not required at all when the landlord or tenant has committed a substantial violation of the rental agreement or the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act that materially affects health or safety. Separately, a repeat of substantially the same breach within 6 months of a prior notice, without a showing of due care, allows termination on at least 14 days notice with no cure opportunity offered.
14-day cure-or-quit notice specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach. The tenant may remedy the breach within a reasonable time, not to exceed 14 days, and the rental agreement will not terminate. If substantially the same breach recurs within 6 months of a prior notice, the landlord may terminate on 14 days notice with no further opportunity to cure.
There is no state-mandated fill-in-the-blank form for the pre-filing notice itself. Section 89-8-33 requires the landlord to file a copy of the written notice of breach, or written notice to terminate, along with the sworn affidavit or complaint to commence an eviction. Specific content is required by statute (the breach itself, or that rent is unpaid and the agreement will terminate within 3 days), but not a numbered official form.
Distinct from the for-cause notices above: a landlord who wants to evict a tenant holding over after a fixed-term lease's stated expiration date must give notice, and may not commence eviction proceedings earlier than 3 days after that notice. To end a periodic tenancy without cause, the landlord or tenant must give at least 7 days notice for a week-to-week tenancy, or at least 30 days notice for a month-to-month tenancy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mississippi's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act sets different day-counts by reason. Nonpayment of rent gets 3 days' notice (Mississippi Code Section 89-8-13(5)(a)). Most other lease or Act violations get 14 days to cure (Section 89-8-13(3)). A repeat of the same violation within 6 months gets 14 days with no chance to cure. A substantial violation that materially affects health or safety needs no notice period at all (Section 89-8-19(4)).
Almost never, but there is one exception. Mississippi law generally requires written notice, either a 3-day pay-or-quit notice for nonpayment of rent or a 14-day cure-or-quit notice for other lease violations, before an eviction case can be filed under Mississippi Code Section 89-8-31. The exception: a substantial violation of the lease or the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act that materially affects health or safety requires no notice at all under Section 89-8-19(4).
The required content depends on the reason for the notice. A nonpayment notice under Section 89-8-13(5)(a) must specify that the rental agreement will terminate if payment is not made within 3 days. A cure-or-quit notice under Section 89-8-13(3) must specify the acts and omissions constituting the breach and state that the agreement will terminate on a date not less than 14 days after receipt if the breach is not remedied. Beyond that statutory content, the notice should identify the landlord, the tenant, and the rental address, and be dated, so the applicable period can be calculated.
No. There is no Judicial Council-style, state-mandated fill-in-the-blank form for this pre-filing notice. A landlord can write their own notice as long as it includes the content the statute requires for the reason being given. A copy of the written notice must still be filed with the sworn affidavit or complaint to commence the eviction case in Justice Court (Mississippi Code Section 89-8-33).
A first-time material breach other than nonpayment is curable: Section 89-8-13(3) gives the tenant up to 14 days to fix the problem and keep the lease. Two categories are treated as incurable. If substantially the same violation recurs within 6 months of a prior notice, Section 89-8-13(3)(b) lets the landlord terminate on 14 days' notice with no further chance to fix it. And a substantial violation that materially affects health or safety needs no notice period at all under Section 89-8-19(4), the most extreme category, since eviction proceedings can start immediately.
The clock runs from the date the tenant receives the notice, not the date it is written. A nonpayment notice gives 3 days from receipt (Section 89-8-13(5)(a)); a cure-or-quit notice gives up to 14 days from receipt (Section 89-8-13(3)); a repeat-violation notice gives 14 days with no cure chance (Section 89-8-13(3)(b)); and a holdover notice after a fixed-term lease's stated expiration means eviction proceedings may not commence earlier than 3 days after the notice is provided (Section 89-8-17(2)). The statute text does not itself say whether the count excludes weekends or holidays.
The landlord may then file a sworn affidavit or complaint in the Justice Court of the county where the property is located, under Mississippi Code Sections 89-8-31 and 89-8-33. A copy of the written notice itself must be attached to that filing, so keeping a dated copy of the notice as served matters. The notice is the prerequisite step; it does not by itself remove the tenant.
The statute does not spell out a signature or notarization requirement for this pre-filing notice, only that it be in writing and contain the required content for the reason given. Because the applicable period runs from the date the tenant receives the notice, dating the notice and recording how and when it was served is what supports the deadline calculation and the copy later filed with the affidavit or complaint under Section 89-8-33.