Mississippi · Breaking a Lease

Breaking a Lease Early in Mississippi: What Are My Options?

This is not legal advice. We explain what the law says. We cannot tell you what to do in your situation. For that, talk to a lawyer. Find free legal and rent help in Mississippi.

Get legal help early.

Breaking a lease early is legally complicated. If you are in danger, leave and get safe first. Otherwise, talk to legal aid as soon as you can, before you move out or stop paying rent.

You can still owe rent.

Even with a good reason to leave, your landlord can sue you for rent. If a court disagrees with you, you can still owe rent after you move out, up to the end of your lease.

From Mississippi Legal Services.

This page covers when Mississippi law lets you leave a rental early and how to give notice. It also covers what you may still owe and your deposit after you leave.

When you can leave early

  1. Your landlord must follow building and housing codes that seriously affect health and safety. The landlord must keep the home and its plumbing, heating, and cooling about as they were when your lease began. Normal wear and tear (normal use over time) does not count. There is no such duty for a defect you or your guests cause on purpose or by carelessness. Nor is there one if you failed to keep your renter duties.

    Source:
    1. Miss. Code § 89-8-23(1), Mississippi Attorney General (Miss. Code 89-8, as amended through 2018). A government guide.
    Think before you call an inspector.

    You or a neighbor can ask the city to send a code inspector. Be careful: if the home is in very bad shape, the inspector can condemn it (say no one may live there). Then everyone must move out, you too, sometimes on short notice. Think about where you would go before you call.

  2. If your landlord materially (seriously) breaks the rental agreement or a repair duty, send a written notice. List what your landlord did or failed to do. Say your rental will end at least 14 days after your landlord gets it, if it is not fixed in time. If it is fixed first, your rental does not end. Email or text works only if your landlord agreed in writing.

    Source:
    1. Miss. Code § 89-8-13(2), Mississippi Legislature, 2022 Senate Bill 2461 as sent to the Governor. Law.
    Tip.

    Write down each problem, every time you contacted your landlord, and the day you moved out.

    Tip.

    Keep a copy of every letter you give your landlord, and keep your mail receipt. Save the texts and emails you send your landlord, and any replies.

  3. You do not need to give notice to end a rental in one case. That is when you or your landlord has done something that seriously breaks the rental agreement or the rental law. It must seriously affect health or safety.

    Source:
    1. Miss. Code § 89-8-19(4), Mississippi Legislature, 2022 Senate Bill 2461 as sent to the Governor. Law.

How to leave

  1. Say you gave notice about a problem and it happens again within 6 months. If your landlord cannot show due care (reasonable care), send a written notice at least 14 days before the date your rental ends. It must say what went wrong and that date. Email or text works only if your landlord agreed in writing.

    Source:
    1. Miss. Code § 89-8-13(3)(b), Mississippi Legislature, 2022 Senate Bill 2461 as sent to the Governor. Law.

  2. A rental with no fixed end date is month to month, or week to week if you pay rent weekly. To end a month-to-month rental, give your landlord written notice at least 30 days before the end date. To end a week-to-week rental, give written notice at least 7 days before the end date. Your landlord can end either kind the same way.

    Source:
    1. Miss. Code § 89-8-19(1), Mississippi Legislature, 2022 Senate Bill 2461 as sent to the Governor. Law.

After you move out

  1. Your landlord may keep from your deposit only what is reasonably needed. That covers unpaid rent, cleaning, damage you caused beyond normal wear and tear (normal use over time), and reasonable costs of breaking the lease. They must list each amount in writing. The law gives them 45 days to return the rest, after your rental ends, you move out, and you ask for it. They must also return rent paid for time after that.

    Sources:
    1. Miss. Code § 89-8-21(3), Mississippi Attorney General (Miss. Code 89-8, as amended through 2018). A government guide.
    2. Miss. Code § 89-8-13(4), Mississippi Legislature, 2022 Senate Bill 2461 as sent to the Governor. Law.
    Tip.

    Before you leave, clean the home and take photos of how you left it.

  2. Suppose your landlord keeps part of your deposit against the deposit law and without good faith. A court may then order the landlord to pay up to $200 plus your actual losses. For example, with $150 of real losses, a court could award up to $350. You get this money only if you win your case and your landlord pays.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. Miss. Code § 89-8-21(4), Mississippi Attorney General (Miss. Code 89-8, as amended through 2018). A government guide.
    Tip.

    This is only an example to show how the rule works. If it goes to court, a court decides the real amount.

  3. If your landlord says you owe more, a debt collector may call or write to you. The collector must tell you how much, who it is for and how to say it is wrong. You have 30 days after you get that notice to write back. Then the collector must stop trying to get that money until it answers you.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. What information does a debt collector have to give me, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A government guide.
    3. What should I do when a debt collector contacts me, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A government guide.

  4. Your landlord can take money from your pay or benefits only after winning in court. The court must issue a judgment (the court's final decision) that you owe the debt. If you are sued, do not ignore it. You can lose the case if you do not go to court.

    Sources:
    1. Our editorial rules.
    2. Can a debt collector take or garnish my wages, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A government guide.
    Tip.

    If you get court papers, do not ignore them. Go to court, or you can lose the case.

    From Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Special protections

  1. If a renter dies, a cosigner (a person who also signed the lease) may end the lease early. If more than one person rents, all of them must have died. The law treats the lease as ended unless that person tells the landlord they want to keep it. They must say so within 30 days after the death. This covers leases made or renewed on or after July 1, 2011.

    Source:
    1. Miss. Code § 89-8-29(2), Mississippi Attorney General (Miss. Code 89-8, as amended through 2018). A government guide.

  2. A cosigner (a person who also signed the lease) who ends a lease after the renter's death still owes some money. So does the renter's estate (what the renter left behind). That is rent and other sums due before the death, and rent for the rest of that month or 30-day period. It is also the cost to restore the home to its start condition, except normal wear and tear (normal use over time).

    Source:
    1. Miss. Code § 89-8-29(3), Mississippi Attorney General (Miss. Code 89-8, as amended through 2018). A government guide.

Published by Nazanin, October 28, 2026. Sources checked October 26, 2026. Is something on this page wrong or out of date? Tell us.