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In a NutshellLandlords in Mississippi can’t just change the locks, toss your belongings out on the front yard, or shut down essential utilities. A landlord must follow the eviction process in order to have a tenant evicted for any reason. Here's an overview of what this means for tenants in Mississippi.
Written by Upsolve Team.
Updated December 22, 2021
Renters in Mississippi have certain rights to their rental property called tenant rights. These rights also protect renters in the eviction process. Understanding tenant rights, which are governed by state law, can help renters and tenants stop or slow an eviction.
This article covers the basics of Mississippi landlord-tenant law and the rights they give renters. This article will be useful to Mississippi renters who are being threatened with eviction, are behind on rent, or whose lease is about to expire.
Eviction is the formal legal process that landlords must use if they want to remove a tenant from a rental property. Eviction usually involves providing the tenant with written notice of the eviction, an eviction lawsuit, and then a court order that allows the eviction to proceed.
In many other states, landlords must have a court order to remove a tenant from their rental property. Removing a tenant without a court order is called self-help eviction, illegal eviction, or illegal lockout.
Self-help eviction may include changing the locks or shutting off utilities. Mississippi does not allow for self-help eviction unless the lease agreement gives the landlord this right. The landlord can’t breach the peace when carrying out a self-help eviction. This may include breaking into the premises, using violence, or threatening to use violence.
In Mississippi, a landlord can evict a tenant with cause or without cause. An eviction with cause is when a landlord is evicting a tenant because they have violated a term of the lease agreement or committed some other act that justifies terminating the lease. Eviction without cause is when the landlord wants to remove the tenant because they simply don’t want them in the property anymore.
The way the landlord must proceed with evicting a tenant depends on whether they’re evicting them with or without cause. Although the court processes are the same, the notice requirements — discussed below — are not.
For the eviction process to apply, there must be a landlord-tenant relationship. A landlord-tenant relationship is created when a landlord and tenant agree to exchange rent for access to a rental property. Landlord-tenant relationships are usually created when the landlord and tenant sign a written lease agreement, also called a rental agreement. Although written lease agreements are more common, tenancies can also be created through a verbal agreement. These are generally treated as month-to-month tenancies.
In the state of Mississippi, people living with a tenant can also be evicted, even if they’re not on the lease