Mississippi gives renters little, and almost all of it is deadline-shaped. Enter one date — a notice, a judgment, the day you moved out — and get the date that clock runs out, plus Starkville's own rental rules. Not legal advice.
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Two-thirds of Starkville's housing is rented, and a lot of renters here are on a first lease. Mississippi law gives tenants less than most states — but nearly everything it does give is a deadline: 45 days for a deposit, 3 days on a rent notice, 7 days to move out after a judgment, 72 hours to get your things. Miss the window and the right usually goes with it.
Pick your situation below and enter the one date it asks for. Under the calculator is the law behind each number, Starkville's own rental rules — which are stricter than the state's, and include mandatory air conditioning — and who to call.
Your deposit clock does not start until you ask for it
Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-21(3) says the deposit "shall be returned to the tenant no later than forty-five (45) days after the termination of his tenancy, the delivery of possession and demand by the tenant." Three triggers, and the third one is yours. A tenant who never demands the deposit may never start the 45 days at all. So: send your landlord a written demand for the deposit, put a forwarding address in it, keep a copy, and note the date you sent it — that date is what you enter below. A text or an email is written; a phone call leaves you nothing to show.
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How the process works
1
The landlord gives you written notice
Three days for unpaid rent (§ 89-8-13(5)(a)); fourteen days to cure another material breach (§ 89-8-13(3)). It has to be in writing, and a copy of it is a mandatory part of what the landlord files with the court — § 89-8-33. That means a missing, wrong or undated notice is something you can raise at the hearing, so keep whatever you were handed, photograph it, and note the day it arrived.
2
The landlord files in Justice Court
For Starkville that is Oktibbeha County Justice Court, 104 Felix Long Drive. Justice Court handles civil matters up to $3,500 and the county lists eviction hearings for Wednesdays at 9am — confirm the date and time printed on your own summons. § 89-8-35(2) requires the summons itself to spell out your right to pay and stay.
3
The hearing
Go. A hearing you skip is decided without you. Take the lease, every written notice either of you sent, rent receipts or bank records, photographs, and texts. If the case is about unpaid rent, paying everything owed before the hearing ends it.
4
If the judge grants possession
You have 7 days from the date of the judgment to move out (§ 89-8-39(1)). Even then, if nonpayment was the reason, § 89-8-39(4) still applies: pay in full by the court-ordered move-out date and the judge shall not issue a warrant for removal, and the landlord has an obligation of good faith to accept the full payment. Get any payment in a traceable form and keep the proof.
5
Getting your deposit back
The number is 45 days. The thing that decides whether you get it is the paperwork you generate on your way out.
Send a written demand with a forwarding address, and keep a copy. The 45-day clock runs from the last of three things — the tenancy ending, you giving up possession, and your demand (§ 89-8-21(3)).
Mississippi sets no cap on what a landlord can hold as a deposit, and no interest is owed on it.
If the landlord keeps any part of it, the written notice they give you must itemize the amounts (§ 89-8-21(3)).
Bad-faith retention: the penalty is not more than $200, plus your actual damages (§ 89-8-21(4)).
There are no attorney's fees in this chapter — the word "attorney" does not appear in any of its 23 sections. If you are weighing whether it is worth chasing $300, that ceiling is the number to weigh it against. Justice Court's $3,500 civil limit covers most deposit claims.
A lease clause that shortens the 45 days is void. § 89-8-5: a landlord or tenant "may not agree to waive or otherwise forego any of the rights, duties or remedies under this chapter."
Rule: Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-8-5, 89-8-21
Repairs: the 30 days, and the four conditions on repair-and-deduct
Put the defect in writing. That is what starts the landlord's 30 days under § 89-8-15(1) — a verbal complaint starts nothing you can prove later.
If they do not fix it, you may be able to have it repaired and be reimbursed. All four of these must be true: the repair costs no more than one month's rent; you have not used this remedy in the preceding 6 months; you are current on your rent; and you have met your own tenant obligations under § 89-8-25.
Submit receipted bills. The landlord then has 45 days to reimburse you (§ 89-8-15(1)(b)).
The cost may be offset against future rent (§ 89-8-15(4)).
It creates no lien on the property (§ 89-8-15(5)) — this is a reimbursement right, not a claim against the building.
For heat, cooling, smoke detectors or utilities, the city's rental standards are the stronger lever — see Starkville's own rules below and report it to Community Development as well as to your landlord.
Who to contact
Oktibbeha County Justice Court
Where evictions and deposit claims are filed and heard
Open Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. 662-338-1060 is the clerk, 662-338-1083 the civil side. Civil matters up to $3,500; the county lists eviction hearings for Wednesdays at 9am — confirm the time on your summons. The court publishes a residential eviction form and a civil complaint template.
City of Starkville — Community Development Department
Rental registration and licensing, and rental-housing complaints
Where to report a rental-housing violation — no heat, no cooling, a dead smoke detector, utilities cut off. Inspection here is complaint-driven, so a report is what starts it. Permits: permits@cityofstarkville.org. The Building Official is Stein McMullen; use the departmental addresses above, because two different spellings of his personal address appear on the city's own site.
Starkville Code Enforcement
Sits under the Police Department, not Community Development
Worth knowing which office you have reached: code enforcement is a police-department function in Starkville, and it enforces alongside Community Development rather than under it.
Official pages
Starkville Rental Housing Code — Registration, the rental housing inspection checklist, and the rental property complaint form
Starkville fee and fine schedule (PDF) — The published schedule, dated 5 July 2023. Fees are set by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen and change, so we link it rather than quote amounts.
This does the arithmetic and states the published rule — it isn’t legal advice. A deadline that lands on a weekend or holiday may shift, and the body you file with has the final word. When it’s close, file early and confirm with them.
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From Town Tools. For the current version, visit https://www.towntools.org/starkville-mississippi-us/renter-deadlines
A warrant for removal
If a warrant is issued and executed, you have 72 hours from that to retrieve your belongings (§ 89-8-39(3)). That is hours, not days — go straight away.
6
Appeal
Thirty days from entry of the judgment, to circuit court, heard fresh (UCRCCC 5.04 and 5.01). But an appeal does not pause the eviction — the next section explains why that matters more than the 30 days does.
Rule: Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-8-15, 89-8-25
If you're facing eviction
Four things are worth more than everything else on this page put together.
Pay-to-stay. The summons must carry this language, from § 89-8-35(2): "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."
That right is binding, not advisory. § 89-8-39(4): the judge shall not issue a warrant for removal if the tenant pays in full by the court-ordered move-out date, and the landlord has "an obligation of good faith to accept full payment."
A missing or defective notice is a defence. § 89-8-33 makes a copy of the written notice a mandatory part of the landlord's filing, so what you were handed — or weren't — matters at the hearing.
Appealing does NOT stop the eviction. UCRCCC 5.08: "The perfecting of an appeal … does not act as supersedeas." A supersedeas bond of 125% of the money judgment stays the money judgment "but not any other part of the order or judgment" — so you can be put out of the property and still have a live appeal. This is probably the least-known and most consequential fact for a renter here. Ask the clerk, before you pay a bond, exactly what it will and will not stop.
Where it happens: Oktibbeha County Justice Court, which the county lists as hearing evictions on Wednesdays at 9am. Appeals go to circuit court and are heard fresh (trial de novo, UCRCCC 5.01).
Rule: Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-8-31 to 89-8-45; UCRCCC 5.01, 5.04, 5.08
What Mississippi law does not give you
These are plain facts from a complete read of all 23 sections of Chapter 8, not complaints. Knowing which protections don't exist here saves you looking for them, and tells you where your own paperwork has to do the work instead.
No cap on the deposit amount, and no interest on it.
No cap on late fees — and worse, § 89-8-7(1)(k) folds late fees into the definition of "Rent", so unpaid late fees on their own can support a 3-day nonpayment notice.
No rent control, and no cap on how much a rent increase can be.
No statutory grace period for rent. If the lease says the 1st, the 1st is the day.
No standalone anti-retaliation section. "Retaliat-" appears exactly once in the whole chapter, inside § 89-8-17(2), and it engages only after a rental agreement has expired and only if the landlord "received written notice of each condition." The practical consequence: put every complaint in writing and keep a copy, because without written notice that limit does not even apply to you.
Rule: Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-8-1 to 89-8-45
Fixed-term leases: no notice needed, but don't hold over
A 12-month lease — the standard student lease here — needs no termination notice from either side. § 89-8-17(1) says it "expires on the date stated in the rental agreement." The 30-day and 7-day notice periods in the calculator apply only if your tenancy runs period to period.
Staying past the end of a fixed term is expensive: § 89-8-45 exposes a holdover tenant to double rent. If your next place isn't ready, talk to the landlord and get any extension in writing before the end date, not after.
Rule: Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-8-17(1), 89-8-45
Which side of the line you're on
The Residential Landlord and Tenant Act covers privately-owned off-campus apartments and houses in full — the Cotton District, the complexes off Highway 12, a rented house.
It does not cover MSU residence halls: § 89-8-3(2)(a) excludes residence at an institution where it is incidental to an educational service. Hotels and motels are excluded too, under § 89-8-3(2)(d). If you live in a dorm, your relationship is with the university and its housing contract, not with this chapter.
Rule: Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-3(2)
Starkville's own rules — and they are better than the state's
The city regulates rental housing itself, on top of state law. Two of these are more use to a renter than anything in Chapter 8.
Air conditioning is mandatory here, which is unusual. UDC § 17.2.1 adopts the 2024 International Property Maintenance Code, and § 17.2.2 replaces its Section 602 with the city's own rule: heat from 1 October to 1 April, at least 68 °F in all habitable rooms, bathrooms and toilet rooms; cooling from 1 April to 1 October, no more than 80 °F in all habitable rooms.
And there is a clock on it. Where required cooling equipment is inoperable, the owner "shall provide temporary cooling … within a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 24 hours" (UDC § 17.2.2). In a Mississippi July that is the single most useful line on this page.
Your unit has to be registered and licensed. UDC § 17.6.2: "It shall be unlawful for any person and/or entity to maintain or operate any rental housing unit(s) within the City of Starkville unless such person or entity has registered the property and has obtained a rental housing license and privilege license." Hotels, motels, short-term rentals and bed-and-breakfasts are excluded.
Smoke detectors are the owner's job, batteries included: installation, battery replacement, keeping the records, and making sure they are operable before anyone re-occupies the unit — with proof of battery replacement required at inspection (UDC § 17.6.8).
An owner may not shut off required utilities, other than a temporary interruption while repairs are actually being made (UDC § 17.6.8).
Inspection is complaint-driven, not periodic. The Building Official "may request to inspect", and on refusal "shall not make entry in the absence of consent, a lawful warrant, or other legal authority" (UDC § 17.6.2.E). In practice a bad unit gets looked at because someone reported it — so report it.
Once cited, violations must be corrected "within a reasonable period of time as determined by the Building Official or designee not to exceed ninety (90) days" (UDC § 17.6.2.E.3).
Two clauses in UDC § 17.6.5 work in a tenant's favour: an owner "shall not be relieved from responsibility to comply because the tenant(s) have vacated", and shall not re-let a unit under citation until the violations "have been corrected." Moving out does not let a landlord off, and the next tenant should not be moved into the same problem.
A citation appeal goes to the Board of Aldermen within 10 business days (UDC § 17.6.7). That is the owner's route, not yours — and it is counted in business days, which is why it is not in the calculator above.
The "no more than N unrelated people" rule does not exist here
Starkville has no unrelated-occupant cap. The UDC defines "Family" as "One (1) or more persons occupying a single dwelling unit and living as a single household unit" — no number in it. The city controls student-rental intensity by bedrooms instead: a maximum of 3 to 4 bedrooms per unit, 24 bedrooms per acre in MDU-9 and 60 in MDU-20, with parking counted per bedroom.
The only occupancy limit that binds you as a tenant is area-based: at least 100 square feet of floor area per occupant, calculated on the total dwelling-unit area (UDC § 17.6.8). If a landlord, a leasing office or a neighbour tells you a number of unrelated people is illegal in Starkville, ask which section says so.
Rule: Starkville Unified Development Code § 17.6.8, and the UDC definition of "Family"
Three things older guides get wrong
Mississippi rewrote this law in 2022, and a lot of what a search turns up predates the rewrite. Check anything you read against these three:
Residential eviction is no longer in Chapter 89-7. Senate Bill 2461 created §§ 89-8-31 to 89-8-45 for residential eviction and rewrote Chapter 7 as nonresidential.
§ 89-7-45 and § 89-7-41 are repealed.
The 3-day notice in § 89-7-27 is nonresidential only. The residential nonpayment notice is § 89-8-13(5)(a).
A rule of thumb: one widely-used legal-information site still labels its Mississippi landlord-tenant pages "current as of January 01, 2018" — four years before the rewrite. Anything written before 21 April 2022 is describing a different law.
Checked on 26 July 2026: nothing has changed the 2022 text. Bills touching Chapter 8 in the 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 sessions all died in committee.
The chapter itself is Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-8-1 to 89-8-45, as enacted by Laws 2022, ch. 501 (SB 2461), effective 21 April 2022. We cite it by section number rather than linking it: the free statute hosts we tried were not reliably reachable when we checked, and a citation you can search beats a link that fails.
We could not confirm a free tenant-specific legal clinic in Starkville or Oktibbeha County, and Mississippi State has no student legal-services attorney we were able to verify. Rather than list something that might not answer, here is what we did check.
North Mississippi Rural Legal Services covers Oktibbeha County for free civil legal aid, out of its West Point office. Housing is not one of its listed programme areas, so call early and ask plainly whether they can take a landlord–tenant matter or will refer you. Their intake hotline is 1-800-898-8731, Monday to Thursday, 9:30am to 3:30pm; the statewide guide also lists 1-800-519-2915 for southern Mississippi.
If that comes to nothing, the Justice Court clerk can still tell you what to file, what it costs and when it will be heard. That is a real answer, and the number is below.
Intake hotline Monday to Thursday, 9:30am to 3:30pm. The West Point office covers Oktibbeha and nine neighbouring counties. Housing is not one of their listed programme areas, so ask early whether they can take a landlord–tenant matter or will refer you elsewhere.
MSU Off-Campus Student Services
Lease and deposit guidance for Mississippi State students
Their "Renting 101" guide walks through reading a lease and protecting a deposit. It is guidance, not legal representation — we could not confirm a student legal-services attorney at Mississippi State.
Registration fees are set "by action of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen" (UDC § 17.6.2.A.2) and change, so the fee and fine schedule is linked below rather than copied here.
One caution if you go reading the code yourself: three places in Starkville's published text don't line up — § 16.2.1 cross-references a "Section 16.2.2.A" that isn't there, §§ 16.3.2 and 16.3.3 are missing without being marked reserved, and the § 16.2.2 motor-vehicle exception is garbled. We quote around them rather than guess at what was meant.
Rule: Starkville Unified Development Code §§ 17.2.1, 17.2.2, 17.6