Mississippi Eviction Notice

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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)

Mississippi Requirements for Eviction Notice

• Notice Period for Nonpayment of Rent (Mississippi Code Section 89-8-13(5)(a))

  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.

• Notice Delivery Method (Mississippi Code Section 89-8-13(3), (5)(a))

  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.

• Governing Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Mississippi Code Sections 89-8-1 to 89-8-45)

  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.

• No-Notice Exception for Health or Safety Violations (Mississippi Code Sections 89-8-19(4), 89-8-13(3)(b))

  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.

• Notice Period for Curable Lease or Act Violations (Mississippi Code Section 89-8-13(3))

  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.

• No Prescribed Form, Statutory Content Required (Mississippi Code Sections 89-8-13, 89-8-33)

  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.

• Holdover and No-Cause Termination Notice Periods (Mississippi Code Sections 89-8-17(2), 89-8-19(2)-(3))

  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.