Breaking a lease in Mississippi

If you are the tenant

• Tenant or landlord: The landlord or the tenant may end a month-to-month tenancy by written notice given at least 30 days before the termination date (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-19(3)).

Written notice required: Yes. Notice to end a periodic tenancy must be written (§ 89-8-19(2)-(3)).

• week-to-week, both: 7 days. The landlord or the tenant may end a week-to-week tenancy by written notice given at least 7 days before the termination date (§ 89-8-19(2)).

Mississippi Center for Legal Services (2002 page) says a tenant who leaves early is liable for rent for the rest of the lease unless released, reduced by any amount a new tenant pays if the landlord re-rents.

Landlord's duty to re-rent: No. No statute requires it. In Holcomb Dunbar v. 400 South Lamar (Miss. 2022, a commercial lease), the Mississippi Supreme Court said, after finding the issue waived, that landlords in Mississippi are not required to actively seek out tenants to mitigate damages (citing Alsup v. Banks, 1891). If the landlord does re-rent, the tenant's debt is reduced by what the new tenant pays (Mississippi Center for Legal Services).

Lease-break fees: No statutory cap on lease-break fees found; the lease controls.

• Unit unlivable or landlord fails to repair (Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-8-13, 89-8-19)

  If the landlord materially fails to comply with the rental agreement or its duties under § 89-8-23, the tenant may give written notice naming the breach and a termination date at least 30 days after the landlord receives it; if the landlord does not fix the breach within a reasonable time (no more than 30 days), the tenancy ends on that date. No notice is needed when the landlord has committed a substantial violation that materially affects health and safety.

  Notice:

  30 days, in writing

  Proof:

  Written notice to the landlord specifying the acts or omissions that make up the breach.

  What you still owe:

  Not stated in the sources checked.

Military orders, every state: the federal SCRA lets servicemembers with orders (permanent change of station or deployment of 90+ days) end a lease with written notice and a copy of the orders. How the SCRA date is counted.

• No Mississippi statute letting domestic-violence victims end a lease early was found; House Bill 65 (2023) proposed one but died.
• No notice is needed to end a tenancy if the other party has committed a substantial violation of the rental agreement or the Act that materially affects health and safety (§ 89-8-19; Mississippi Center for Legal Services).

• Write a Mississippi notice to vacate
• Mississippi security deposit law: getting your deposit back after you move

• Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-19 (official code, LexisNexis public access) Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Hunt v. Allen, No. 2019-CA-00292-COA (Miss. Ct. App. 2020) (quoting § 89-8-19(3)) Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Holcomb Dunbar v. 400 South Lamar Oxford Mad Hatter Partners, No. 2019-CA-01702-COA (Miss. Ct. App. 2021) Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Mississippi Center for Legal Services: Landlord-Tenant Law in Mississippi Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Holcomb Dunbar v. 400 South Lamar Oxford Mad Hatter Partners, No. 2019-CT-01702-SCT (Miss. Mar. 17, 2022) Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Mississippi Center for Legal Services, How To Request Your Landlord To Make Repairs (2004) Retrieved October 13, 2026.

Laws change. This page was checked against the sources above on October 13, 2026. It is legal information, not legal advice; see our methodology.