Mississippi Right to Cure: Can You Stop an Eviction by Paying the Rent You Owe?

Yes — and your window to pay is far longer than most Mississippi tenants are told. Mississippi law gives you a chance to stop a nonpayment eviction by paying what you owe, and that chance does not end when the three-day notice period runs out. Under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, you can stop the eviction by paying in full during the notice period, or before the eviction hearing, or — even after a judgment has been entered against you — by the court-ordered move-out date. In a case based only on unpaid rent, a judge who sees that you paid in full by that date is forbidden by statute from issuing the warrant that would remove you. If you have the money, it is almost never too late to use it.

Step One: The Three-Day Notice for Unpaid Rent

When a Mississippi tenant falls behind on rent, the landlord's first formal step is a written notice. The statute states the deadline plainly: the landlord may deliver a notice “specifying the rental agreement will terminate if payment of such rent is not made within three (3) days” (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-13(5)(a), reprinted in full at HB1580 (2024)). Three days — not a week, not a vague “few days.”

The notice must be in writing. It can come by email or text message only if you previously agreed in writing to be contacted that way. If you pay the full amount owed within the three days, the rental agreement does not terminate and the landlord cannot evict you over that unpaid rent.

Three days is short. Do not spend it on hold with a court clerk trying to confirm the number — the number is in the statute above, and the specific date is on the notice your landlord actually served you. Read that notice, then move.

Missed the Three Days? You Can Still Pay.

This is the part that costs Mississippi tenants their homes: they assume that once the notice period lapses, the fight is over. It is not. When the landlord files the eviction case, the summons you receive is required by statute to tell you so, in these words:

“If the landlord seeks possession based on nonpayment of rent, you do not have to move out if you pay all the sums owed to the landlord either before the eviction hearing or, afterwards, by the court-ordered move-out date.” (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-35, as amended by SB2328 (2025 Reg. Sess.), Chapter 460, approved April 10, 2025.)

Read your own summons — that sentence should be printed on it. Paying before the hearing is not a favor the landlord may refuse and it does not depend on the judge's mood. It is written into the law that put the summons in your hand.

Even After a Judgment, Payment Can Stop the Removal

If the landlord wins a judgment for possession, you still have a statutory path to stay. Three provisions work together:

• You get a move-out date, normally seven days out. The judge “shall order the tenant to vacate the premises in seven (7) days from the date of the judgment, unless the court finds that a shorter or longer period of time is justified because of an emergency or other compelling circumstances” (§ 89-8-39(1)). It can be shortened — for example where there is a health or safety violation or a risk of harm or property damage — so read the judgment for your actual date rather than assuming seven days.
• No warrant can issue before that date. Only after the court-ordered move-out date passes may the landlord request a warrant for removal (§ 89-8-39(2)).
• Pay in full by that date and the judge cannot remove you. “In cases in which the possession judgment is based solely on the tenant's nonpayment of rent, the judge shall not issue a warrant for removal if: (i) By the court-ordered move-out date, the tenant has paid in full all unpaid rent and other sums awarded to landlord in the judgment; or (ii) After such date, the landlord has accepted payment of such amounts” (§ 89-8-39(4)(a)).

And the landlord does not get to simply refuse your money to force you out: “A landlord has an obligation of good faith to accept full payment of all sums owed pursuant to the money judgment entered if so tendered on or before the court-ordered move-out date” (§ 89-8-39(4)(b)). This is a right you can hold the court to, not a courtesy you have to beg for.

Two real limits you must understand. First, this post-judgment cure applies only where the possession judgment rests solely on nonpayment of rent. If the landlord also won on a separate lease violation, § 89-8-39(4) does not protect you. Second, the deadline is the move-out date. Tender your payment on or before that date and the landlord's obligation to accept it kicks in; if you show up afterward, the statute only stops the removal if the landlord actually accepts the payment — which at that point is genuinely up to the landlord. So pay by the date on the judgment.

What Must Be Paid to Cure?

What counts as paying “in full” depends on where you are in the process:

• During the three-day notice period: the full amount of unpaid rent the notice demands.
• After a judgment: the statute requires payment of “all unpaid rent and other sums awarded to landlord in the judgment” — which can include court costs, and late fees or attorney's fees where your lease allows them and the court awarded them.

Your lease matters here, because any judge hearing a nonpayment eviction “shall abide by the provisions of the rental agreement that was signed by the landlord and the defaulting tenant” (§ 89-8-13(5)(b)). Ask the landlord or the court for an itemized statement of exactly what is owed before you pay, so your payment is actually enough to stop the eviction and you have a record of what was demanded.

Get Proof of Every Payment

Whenever you pay to cure, get a written receipt or acknowledgment before or at the same time you hand over the money. Pay in a traceable way — money order, cashier's check, or an app or portal that generates a receipt — and avoid handing over cash without a signed receipt. A text, email, or signed note showing the date, the amount, and that it was paid toward the rent owed protects you if the landlord later tells the court you did not pay in time or in full. If a landlord refuses a full and timely tender, document the refusal in writing immediately: under § 89-8-39(4)(b) that refusal is a breach of a statutory good-faith obligation, and you want to be able to prove it happened.

Where the Case Is Heard, and How Fast

A residential eviction runs under the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act's own procedure (§§ 89-8-31 through 89-8-43), not the old unlawful-entry-and-detainer chapter that now applies to nonresidential property. The case is filed in a “court,” which the Act defines as “a justice court, a county court or a circuit court” (§ 89-8-7). The hearing moves quickly: a single adjournment cannot exceed ten days without consent, and the removal hearing cannot be extended beyond thirty days from the filing date (§ 89-8-41). Appeals from a final judgment follow the applicable Mississippi Rules of Court (§ 89-8-43).

One more thing worth knowing after a warrant issues: a 2025 amendment made clear that merely posting the warrant on your door does not count as executing it — law enforcement must physically remove the occupants. Once the warrant is executed, the landlord must give you reasonable access to the premises for seventy-two hours to remove your personal property (§ 89-8-39(2)–(3), as amended by SB2328 (2025)).

Is There a Limit on How Many Times You Can Cure?

For unpaid rent, the Act sets no explicit cap on how many times a tenant may pay to resolve a nonpayment case. The six-month repeat-violation rule — which lets a landlord terminate on fourteen days' notice if substantially the same breach recurs within six months — sits in § 89-8-13(3), the track that governs other material noncompliance, not the three-day nonpayment track in § 89-8-13(5). That said, your lease can address chronic late payment, and the judge is directed to follow your lease, so do not assume repeated late rent is risk-free.

Lease Violations Other Than Nonpayment

Everything above concerns unpaid rent. If you are facing eviction for a different reason — an alleged lease violation, property damage, unauthorized occupants — different rules apply. For material noncompliance other than rent, the landlord must give notice specifying the breach, and the agreement terminates on a date not less than fourteen days after you receive it if the breach is not remedied within a reasonable time not exceeding fourteen days; if you fix the breach before that date, the agreement does not terminate (§ 89-8-13(3)(a)). But if substantially the same breach recurs within six months, the landlord may terminate on at least fourteen days' notice, absent a showing of due care (§ 89-8-13(3)(b)). Critically, the pay-to-stay protection in § 89-8-39(4) applies only to judgments based solely on nonpayment — money will not stop a removal warrant on a lease-violation judgment. Read the notice carefully to see exactly what is alleged, and get legal advice quickly.

Practical Steps to Protect Yourself

• Pay as early as you can. Curing within the three-day notice period is cleanest and cheapest — it stops the case before court costs and fees pile onto what you must pay later.
• If you missed the notice deadline, do not give up. Paying all sums owed before the hearing, or by the court-ordered move-out date, still stops the eviction in a nonpayment-only case.
• Read your summons and your judgment. The summons must spell out your right to pay and stay; the judgment carries your actual move-out date, which is the deadline that matters.
• Pay in a traceable way and get a written receipt showing the date, the amount, and what it was for.
• Tender in full, on the record. If the landlord refuses a full and timely payment, put the tender and the refusal in writing and bring it to the judge — § 89-8-39(4)(b) obligates the landlord to accept it.
• Never skip the hearing. Failing to appear can result in a default judgment against you even if you believe you have resolved the issue.
• Contact legal aid promptly. Eviction deadlines are measured in days, and a difference of a few days can determine whether you keep your home.

Check the Law Yourself

You do not have to take our word for any of this. The full current text of Mississippi's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act is published free by the Mississippi Legislature: HB1580 (2024 Reg. Sess.) reprints §§ 89-8-1 through 89-8-45 verbatim, including the three-day notice at § 89-8-13(5)(a). The current text of the summons and removal provisions, including the cure right at § 89-8-39(4), is in SB2328 (2025 Reg. Sess.), Chapter 460, signed April 10, 2025. (A 2025 bill that would have stretched the three-day notice to five days died in committee, so three days remains the law.)

This article is general information about Mississippi law, not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from an attorney about your own case. Eviction cases move fast — if one has been filed against you, contact a Mississippi legal aid organization or a housing attorney right away.

Official Legal Sources for Mississippi

This page is based on Mississippi state landlord–tenant law. Laws change — verify the current text directly against the official sources below. This is general legal information, not legal advice.

• Mississippi landlord–tenant statutes (full text) — reproduced on this site from the public-domain Mississippi Code, because Mississippi publishes its official code only through a commercial service.
• Mississippi State Department of Health — Guide to Reducing Health Hazards and Managing Repairs (tenant/landlord rights and repair duties) — official state resource.

Local ordinances may apply. This page covers Mississippi state law. Your city or county may add protections — such as rent control, just-cause eviction, rental registration, or stricter housing codes — that change these rules. Check your local city or county ordinances.