Being a landlord in Mississippi comes with its share of challenges. One of these is having to deal with a tenant eviction. While you may own the property, it is important to understand that you may not evict a tenant for personal reasons, such as you do not ascribe to their political or religious belief.
Rather, tenant eviction can only be executed on lawful grounds as outlined in Mississippi landlord-tenant law. Here are two lawful grounds upon which you can evict a tenant in Mississippi.
Non-payment of rent or slow payments
This is probably one of the most common reasons for tenant eviction. A landlord has a legal right to evict a tenant who has not paid their rent for a certain number of months. The same applies to a tenant who is habitually late with their rent payments.
Sometimes, it may be prudent to send the tenant a “late rent” notice along with a note reminding them of the clause in the tenancy contract that requires them to pay rent by a certain date. If this inspires them to honor their end of the bargain, great! If not, you can go ahead and serve them with an eviction notice.
Breaches of the lease
Breach of the lease contract may take multiple forms. However, all, or most of them, involve using the property for the non-intended purpose. For instance, if you rent a property for residential purposes, you may not turn the rented property into a business facility. Also, if you rent a property, you cannot sub-let it to another tenant without the landlord’s consent.
Other forms of breach of lease may include:
- Moving in with pets when the lease forbids them
- Failing to pay for utilities as outlined in the lease
- Using the rented property for illegal purposes (like selling drugs)
A landlord-tenant relationship can be rocky at times. However, if you have to evict a tenant, you must do so legally in order to avoid penalties and fines. Make sure you’re operating on the right side of the law and get some experienced guidance if you need it.