Mississippi Tenant Rights: Repair and Reimburse, a 3-Day Notice

By Steve Levine · Updated November 3, 2026

Short answer: Mississippi tenant rights come from the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-8-1 to 89-8-45. Its signature tenant remedy is repair-and-reimburse: if your landlord ignores written notice of a material defect for 30 days, you can make the repair yourself and recover up to one month’s rent (§ 89-8-15). The trade-off is speed: a landlord can end your tenancy on a 3-day notice for unpaid rent (§ 89-8-13(5)).

Mississippi’s official code is published through a commercial vendor, so this guide quotes the Act from 2024 House Bill 1580, which reprinted every section of chapter 8 of Title 89 on the Legislature’s own site. A 2025 bill to lengthen the 3-day rent notice died in committee. Other states are on the tenant rights by state hub.

Mississippi tenant rights at a glance

Rule	Mississippi	Statute
Repair and reimburse	After 30 days’ written notice; cost up to 1 month’s rent; once per 6 months	§ 89-8-15
Landlord’s repair duty	Codes affecting health and safety; plumbing, heating and cooling kept as at move-in	§ 89-8-23
Deposit cap	None in the Act	§ 89-8-21
Deposit return	45 days after termination, move-out and your demand; up to $200 extra for bad faith	§ 89-8-21(3), (4)
Unpaid rent notice	3 days	§ 89-8-13(5)(a)
Other breach	14 days to cure, termination at least 14 days after receipt	§ 89-8-13(3)
Month-to-month notice	30 days (7 days week-to-week)	§ 89-8-19
Move-out after judgment	7 days, unless the court finds an emergency	§ 89-8-39(1)
Holding over after a fixed term	Double rent after notice to vacate	§ 89-8-45

What the Mississippi Act covers

The Act governs rental agreements for dwelling units in Mississippi entered into after July 1, 1991 (§ 89-8-3(1)). It doesn’t apply to residence in an institution incidental to medical, educational or similar services, occupancy under a contract to buy the home, fraternity or social-club housing, transient stays in hotels and motels, condo owners and co-op holders, or farm rentals tied to agricultural use or labor (§ 89-8-3(2)).

A lease can’t make you waive the rights, duties or remedies the Act creates (§ 89-8-5). Every duty under the Act carries an obligation of good faith (§ 89-8-9), and landlord rules about use of the unit are enforceable only if they meet the fairness tests in § 89-8-11. In a nonpayment case, the judge must follow the rental agreement both sides signed (§ 89-8-13(5)(b)), so keep a copy of yours.

Repairs: your landlord’s duties and your remedies

Under § 89-8-23, your landlord must at all times comply with building and housing codes materially affecting health and safety, and must keep the unit and its plumbing and heating or cooling system in substantially the same condition as when the lease began, excluding reasonable wear and tear. There’s no duty for damage you, your household or your guests caused, and you can agree in writing to take on some of these duties only in good faith.

Repair and reimburse under § 89-8-15

Send written notice describing a specific and material defect. If the landlord hasn’t repaired it within 30 days, you may fix it and submit receipted bills; the landlord must reimburse you within 45 days. Four conditions apply: you’ve met your own duties under § 89-8-25, the repair cost doesn’t exceed one month’s rent, you haven’t used this remedy in the prior six months, and you’re current on rent. Reimbursement is capped at the usual and customary charge, and any unpaid cost can be offset against future rent (§ 89-8-15(2), (4)).

If a repair affects facilities other units share, you must tell those tenants first and schedule the work to minimize disruption. For a template notice, see how to write a repair request letter.

Ending the lease over the landlord’s breach

If the landlord materially fails its § 89-8-23 duties, you can deliver written notice of the breach (or email or text, if the landlord agreed to that in writing) stating the lease will end on a date at least 14 days after receipt unless the problem is fixed within 14 days. If it’s fixed in time, the lease continues; if the same breach recurs within six months, you can end the lease on 14 days’ notice without a new cure period (§ 89-8-13(2), (3)). On termination, the landlord must return prepaid rent and any recoverable deposit (§ 89-8-13(4)).

The Act doesn’t create a rent escrow or court-deposit procedure. Simply stopping rent is risky, because nonpayment can trigger the 3-day notice.

Security deposits in brief

The Act sets no limit on deposit size and requires no interest. The landlord must itemize any amount claimed and return the rest within 45 days after the tenancy ends, you deliver possession, and you demand the deposit (§ 89-8-21(3)). Keeping a deposit in bad faith can add up to $200 in damages on top of actual damages (§ 89-8-21(4)). The Mississippi security deposit law guide covers allowed deductions and how to make your demand.

Entry, privacy and rules

The Residential Landlord and Tenant Act contains no landlord entry provision, so Mississippi law sets no statewide notice period. Your lease controls, read in light of the good-faith duty in § 89-8-9. If your lease is silent, ask the landlord in writing to give advance notice except in emergencies, and keep the reply. The Act does protect you before an eviction: until the court’s move-out date, you keep the same access to the unit your lease allowed (§ 89-8-39(1)).

Rent increases and late fees

The Act sets no rent cap and no separate notice for raising rent. A month-to-month tenancy can be ended by either side with at least 30 days’ written notice, and a week-to-week tenancy with 7 days (§ 89-8-19), so a landlord typically changes the rent by giving that notice with new terms. After a fixed-term lease expires, the landlord may demand higher rent unless retaliation is the dominant purpose (§ 89-8-17(2)).

No Mississippi statute caps late fees or requires a grace period. Watch the definition, though: “rent” under the Act includes any late fees the lease requires a defaulting tenant to pay (§ 89-8-7). That means an unpaid late fee can count as unpaid rent for a 3-day notice, so pay disputed fees under written protest rather than leaving a balance.

Eviction in Mississippi

Notices

For unpaid rent, the landlord may deliver written notice (or email or text, if you agreed to that in writing) that the lease will end unless rent is paid within 3 days (§ 89-8-13(5)(a)). For other material breaches, the 14-day cure process in § 89-8-13(3) applies. After a fixed term ends, the landlord can give notice that you’re holding over and file no earlier than 3 days later (§ 89-8-17(2)), and it may charge double rent once the date in its notice to vacate passes (§ 89-8-45). No notice is required when either side commits a substantial violation that materially affects health or safety (§ 89-8-19(4)). The notice deadline calculator counts these short windows.

Court, judgment and removal

The landlord files a sworn affidavit or complaint, and the summons orders you to vacate or appear before the judge (§§ 89-8-33, 89-8-35). The summons must explain that if the landlord wins you’ll have at least seven days to move out, and that in a nonpayment case you don’t have to move if you pay everything owed before the hearing or by the move-out date. If you pay in full by that date, the judge may not issue a removal warrant (§ 89-8-39(4)).

After the move-out date, the landlord can request a warrant directing the sheriff or a constable to remove occupants. Once it’s executed, you get 72 hours of reasonable access to remove your belongings, after which the landlord may put remaining property at the curb (§ 89-8-39(2), (3)). The Act’s eviction route runs through the court. It doesn’t authorize lockouts or utility shutoffs, though it also sets no specific penalty for them, so call legal aid at once if either happens.

Retaliation and discrimination

Mississippi’s retaliation protection is narrow. The Act’s only express reference is in § 89-8-17(2): a landlord may raise rent after a lease expires only if retaliation for your actions under the Act was not the dominant purpose and the landlord had written notice of the conditions you raised. Put every repair request in writing so that protection is available.

The Act contains no anti-discrimination provision, so the main protection is the federal Fair Housing Act. It bars refusing to rent, or offering different terms, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status or national origin (42 U.S.C. § 3604), with separate protection for disability, and makes it unlawful to coerce, intimidate or threaten anyone for exercising fair housing rights (42 U.S.C. § 3617). Source of income is not a protected class under the federal Act.

Breaking a lease early in Mississippi

The Act has no general early-termination right for domestic violence survivors or service members. Active-duty tenants use the federal SCRA, which covers permanent change of station orders and deployments of at least 90 days (50 U.S.C. § 3955). Survivors living in federally assisted housing have Violence Against Women Act protections, including emergency transfer plans (34 U.S.C. § 12491).

One Mississippi-specific rule is the Derrick Beard Act: a cosigner may end the lease when the tenant, or all tenants, die, and is presumed to have done so unless the cosigner notifies the landlord within 30 days that the lease will continue (§ 89-8-29). Read breaking a lease by state before you leave early.

Worked example: a broken AC unit in Hattiesburg

Tasha rents a Hattiesburg house for $950 a month, and the air conditioning that worked at move-in fails in late June. On July 1 she hands the landlord a dated written notice describing the failed compressor. By July 31, 30 days have passed with no repair.

She’s current on rent and hasn’t used § 89-8-15 in the past six months, so she hires a technician whose $900 bill falls under one month’s rent. She gives the landlord the receipt on August 2, which sets a reimbursement deadline of September 16. If the landlord doesn’t pay, she can offset the $900 against future rent. Had the bill been $1,200, only costs up to her $950 monthly rent would qualify under § 89-8-15(1)(b)(ii).

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does a Mississippi landlord have to fix something?

For the repair-and-reimburse remedy, 30 days after your written notice under § 89-8-15. To end the lease over a breach instead, § 89-8-13(3) gives the landlord up to 14 days to remedy it.

Can my Mississippi landlord evict me after only three days?

A 3-day notice can end the tenancy for unpaid rent under § 89-8-13(5)(a), but the landlord still has to go to court. If the judge rules against you, you generally have seven days to move, and paying everything owed by that date stops the removal warrant.

Is my landlord required to give notice before entering in Mississippi?

Not by statute. The Act has no entry section, so your lease governs, read in light of the good-faith duty in § 89-8-9.

What happens to my things after a Mississippi eviction?

Under § 89-8-39(3), after the sheriff or constable executes the warrant you have 72 hours of reasonable access to remove your property. After that, the landlord may move what’s left to the curb or another agreed location.

Where to get help in Mississippi

North Mississippi Rural Legal Services offers free civil legal help in northern counties, and LSC’s get legal help page lists the funded program for the rest of the state. This guide is general information, not legal advice. Mississippi’s timelines are short, so if you receive a 3-day notice or an eviction summons, call legal aid the same day and bring the summons, your lease and your rent receipts. New to renting rules generally? Start with tenant rights basics.

Sources

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