Residential Rental Lease Agreement
Title 89
REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY
Chapter 008 RESIDENTIAL
LANDLORD AND TENANT ACT
Short title.
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Residential
Landlord and Tenant Act." Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-1.
Application of chapter.
(1). This chapter shall apply to, regulate and determine rights,
obligations and remedies under any rental agreement entered into after
July 1, 1991, wherever made, for a dwelling unit located within this state.
The rights, obligations and remedies of this chapter shall be in addition
to all other rights, obligations and remedies provided by law and shall
not alter or abridge the rights, obligations and remedies available to
residential landlords and tenants pursuant to Sections 89-7-1 through 89-7-125.
(2) The following arrangements are not governed by this chapter:
(a) Residence at an institution, public or private, if incidental
to detention or the provision of medical, geriatric, educational, counseling,
religious or similar service;
(b) Occupancy under a contract of sale of a dwelling unit or the
property of which it is a part, if the occupant is the purchaser or a person
who succeeds to his interest;
(c) Occupancy by a member of a fraternal or social organization
in the portion of a structure operated for the benefit of the organization;
(d) Transient occupancy in a hotel, motel or lodgings;
(e) Occupancy by an owner of a condominium unit or a holder of a
proprietary lease in a cooperative; or
(f) Occupancy under a rental agreement covering premises used by
the occupant primarily for agricultural purposes or when the occupant is
performing agricultural labor for the owner and such premises are rented
for less than fair rental value.
Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-3.
Waiver of rights prohibited; provisions prohibited in rental
agreement.
In any agreement, oral or written, for the rental of real property
as a dwelling place, a landlord or tenant may not agree to waive or otherwise
forego any of the rights, duties or remedies under this chapter, except
as otherwise provided by this chapter. No rental agreement may provide
that the tenant or the landlord:
(a) Authorizes any person to confess judgment on a claim arising
out of the rental agreement; or
(b) Agrees to the exculpation or limitation of any liability of
the landlord arising as a result of the landlord's willful misconduct or
the costs connected therewith.
Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-5.
Definitions; agent of landlord.
(1) Subject to additional definitions contained in subsequent sections
of this chapter which apply to specific sections or parts thereof, and
unless the context otherwise requires, in this chapter:
(a) "Building and housing codes" includes any law, ordinance, or
governmental regulation concerning fitness for habitation, construction,
maintenance, operation, occupancy or use of any premises or dwelling unit;
(b) "Dwelling unit" means a structure or the part of a structure
that is used as a home, residence or sleeping place by one (1) person who
maintains a household or by two (2) or more persons who maintain a common
household;
(c) "Good faith" means honesty in fact in the conduct of the transaction
concerned and observation of reasonable community standards of fair dealing;
(d) "Landlord" means the owner, lessor or sublessor of the dwelling
unit or the building of which it is a part, or the agent representing such
owner, lessor or sublessor;
(e) "Organization" includes a corporation, government, governmental
subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association,
two (2) or more persons having a joint or common interest, and any other
legal or commercial entity;
(f) "Owner" means one or more persons, jointly or severally, in
whom is vested (i) all or part of the legal title to property or
(ii) all or part of the beneficial ownership and a right to present
use and enjoyment of the premises, and the term includes a mortgagee in
possession;
(g) "Premises" means a dwelling unit and the structure of which
it is a part, facilities and appurtenances therein, and grounds, areas
and facilities held out for the use of tenants generally or whose use is
promised to the tenant;
(h) "Rent" means all payments to be made to the landlord under the
rental agreement;
(i) "Rental agreement" means all agreements, written or oral, and
valid rules and regulations adopted under Section 89-8-11 embodying the
terms and conditions concerning the use and occupancy of a dwelling unit
and premises;
(j) "Tenant" means a person entitled under a rental agreement to
occupy a dwelling unit to the exclusion of others;
(k) "Qualified tenant management organizations" means any organization
incorporated under the Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act, a majority
of the directors of which are tenants of the housing project to be managed
under a contract authorized by this section and which is able to conform
to standards set by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
as capable of satisfactorily performing the operational and management
functions delegated to it by the contract.
(2) For purposes of giving any notice required under this chapter,
notice given to the agent of the landlord is equivalent to giving notice
to the landlord. The landlord may contract with an agent to assume all
the rights and duties of the landlord under this chapter; provided, however,
that such a contract does not relieve the landlord of ultimate liability
in regard to such rights and duties.
Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-7.
Obligation to act in good faith.
Every duty under this chapter and every act which must be performed
as a condition precedent to the exercise of a right or remedy under this
chapter, including the landlord's termination of a tenancy or nonrenewal
of a lease, imposes an obligation of good faith in its performance or enforcement.
Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-9.
Rules and regulations of landlord concerning tenant's use and
occupancy of premises.
(1) A landlord may, from time to time, adopt rules or regulations,
however described, concerning the tenant's use and occupancy of the premises.
They are enforceable against the tenant only if:
(a) Their purpose is to promote the convenience, safety or welfare
of the tenants in the premises, preserve the landlord's property from abuse,
or make a fair distribution of services and facilities provided for the
tenants generally;
(b) They are reasonably related to the purpose for which they are
adopted;
(c) They apply to all tenants in the premises in a fair manner;
(d) They are sufficiently explicit in their prohibition, direction
or limitation of the tenant's conduct to fairly inform him of what he must
or must not do to comply;
(e) They are not for the purpose of evading the obligations of the
landlord.
(2) A rule or regulation adopted or amended after the tenant enters
into the rental agreement is enforceable against the tenant if reasonable
notice of its adoption or amendment is given to the tenant and it does
not work a substantial modification of the rental agreement.
(3) If the dwelling unit is an apartment in a horizontal property
regime, the tenant shall comply with the bylaws of the association of the
apartment owners; and if the dwelling unit is an apartment in a cooperative
housing corporation, the tenant shall comply with the bylaws of the corporation.
(4) Unless otherwise agreed, the tenant shall occupy his dwelling
unit only as a dwelling unit. Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-11.
Right to terminate tenancy for breach; notice of breach; return
of prepaid rent and security.
(1). If there is a material noncompliance by the tenant with the
rental agreement or the obligations imposed by Section 89-8-25, the landlord
may terminate the tenancy as set out in subsection (3) of this section
or resort to any other remedy at law or in equity except as prohibited
by this chapter.
(2) If there is a material noncompliance by the landlord with the
rental agreement or the obligations imposed by Section 89-8-23, the tenant
may terminate the tenancy as set out in subsection (3) of this section
or resort to any other remedy at law or in equity except as prohibited
by this chapter.
(3) The nonbreaching party may deliver a written notice to the party
in breach specifying the acts and omissions constituting the breach and
that the rental agreement will terminate upon a date not less than thirty
(30) days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied within
a reasonable time not in excess of thirty (30) days; and the rental agreement
shall terminate and the tenant shall surrender possession as provided in
the notice subject to the following:
(a) If the breach is remediable by repairs, the payment of damages,
or otherwise, and the breaching party adequately remedies the breach prior
to the date specified in the notice, the rental agreement shall not terminate;
(b) In the absence of a showing of due care by the breaching party,
if substantially the same act or omission which constituted a prior noncompliance
of which notice was given recurs within six (6) months, the nonbreaching
party may terminate the rental agreement upon at least fourteen (14) days'
written notice specifying the breach and the date of termination of the
rental agreement;
(c) Neither party may terminate for a condition caused by his own
deliberate or negligent act or omission or that of a member of his family
or other person on the premises with his consent.
(4) If the rental agreement is terminated, the landlord shall return
all prepaid and unearned rent and security recoverable by the tenant under
Section 89-8-21.
(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or any other
provisions of this chapter to the contrary, if the material noncompliance
by the tenant is the nonpayment of rent pursuant to the rental agreement,
the landlord shall not be required to deliver thirty (30) days' written
notice as provided by subsection (3) of this section. In such event, the
landlord may seek removal of the tenant from the premises in the manner
and with the notice prescribed by Chapter 7, Title 89,
Mississippi Code of 1972. Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-13.
Repair of defects by tenant.
(1) If, within thirty (30) days after written notice to the landlord
of a specific and material defect which constitutes a breach of the terms
of the rental agreement or of the obligation of the landlord under Section
89-8-23, the landlord fails to repair such defect, the tenant:
(a) May repair such defect himself; and
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section,
shall be entitled to reimbursement of the expenses of such repairs within
forty-five (45) days after submission to the landlord of receipted bills
for such work, provided that:
(i) The tenant has fulfilled his affirmative obligations under Section
89-8-25;
(ii) The expenses incurred in making such repairs do not exceed
an amount equal to one (1) month's rent;
(iii) The tenant has not exercised the remedy provided by this section
in the six (6) months immediately preceding; and
(iv) The tenant is current in his rental payment.
(2) A tenant shall not be entitled to be reimbursed for repairs
made pursuant to this section in an amount greater than the usual and customary
charge for such repairs.
(3) Before correcting a condition affecting facilities shared by
more than one (1) dwelling unit, the tenant shall notify all other tenants
sharing such facilities of his plans and shall so arrange the work as to
create the least practicable inconvenience to the other tenants.
(4) The cost of repairs made by a tenant pursuant to this section
may be offset against future rent.
(5) No provision of this section shall be construed to grant a lien
against the real property.
Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-15.
Rights of landlord after expiration of rental agreement.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 89-8-13, the landlord
may, at any time after the expiration of a rental agreement, recover possession
of the dwelling unit, cause the tenant to quit the dwelling unit involuntarily,
demand an increase in rent or decrease the services to which the tenant
has been entitled in accordance with any other provisions of this chapter,
if such actions by the landlord did not have the dominant purpose of retaliation
against the tenant for his actions authorized under this chapter and the
landlord received written notice of each condition which was the subject
of such actions of the tenant. Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-17.
Length of term of tenancy; notice to terminate tenancy; exception
to notice requirement.
(1) Unless the rental agreement fixes a definite term a tenancy
shall be week to week in case of a tenant who pays weekly rent, and in
all other cases month to month.
(2) The landlord or the tenant may terminate a week-to-week tenancy
by written notice given to the other at least seven (7) days prior to the
termination date.
(3) The landlord or the tenant may terminate a month-to-month tenancy
by a written notice given to the other at least thirty (30) days prior
to the termination date.
(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or any other
provision of this chapter to the contrary, notice to terminate a tenancy
shall not be required to be given when the landlord or tenant has committed
a substantial violation of the rental agreement or this chapter that materially
affects health and safety. Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-19.
Tenant's security deposit.
(1) Any payment or deposit of money, the primary function of which
is to secure the performance of a rental agreement or any part of such
an agreement, other than a payment or deposit, including an advance payment
of rent, made to secure the execution of a rental agreement shall be governed
by the provisions of this section.
(2) Any such payment or deposit of money shall be held by the landlord
for the tenant who is a party to such agreement. The claim of a tenant
to such payment or deposit shall be governed by the provisions of this
section. The claim of a tenant to such payment or deposit shall be prior
to the claim of any creditor of the landlord.
(3) The landlord, by written notice delivered to the tenant, may
claim of such payment or deposit only such amounts as are reasonably necessary
to remedy the tenant's defaults in the payment of rent, to repair damages
to the premises caused by the tenant, exclusive of ordinary wear and tear,
to clean such premises upon termination of the tenancy, or for other reasonable
and necessary expenses incurred as the result of the tenant's default,
if the payment or deposit is made for any or all of those specific purposes.
The written notice by which the landlord claims all or any portion of such
payment or deposit shall itemize the amounts claimed by such landlord.
Any remaining portion of such payment or 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.
(4) The retention by a landlord or transferee of a payment or deposit
or any portion thereof, in violation of this section and with absence of
good faith, may subject the landlord or his transferee to damages not to
exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) in addition to any actual damages.
Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-21.
Duties of landlord.
(1) A landlord shall at all times during the tenancy:
(a) Comply with the requirements of applicable building and housing
codes materially affecting health and safety;
(b) Maintain the dwelling unit, its plumbing, heating and/or cooling
system, in substantially the same condition as at the inception of the
lease, reasonable wear and tear excluded, unless the dwelling unit, its
plumbing, heating and/or cooling system is damaged or impaired as a result
of the deliberate or negligent actions of the tenant.
(2) No duty on the part of the landlord shall arise under this section
in connection with a defect which is caused by the deliberate or negligent
act of the tenant or persons on the premises with the tenant's permission.
(3) Subject to the provisions of Section 89-8-5, the landlord and
tenant may agree in writing that the tenant perform some or all of the
landlord's duties under this section, but only if the transaction is entered
into in good faith.
(4) No duty on the part of the landlord shall arise under this section
in connection with a defect which is caused by the tenant's affirmative
act or failure to comply with his obligations under Section 89-8-25.
Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-23.
Duties of tenant.
A tenant shall:
(a) Keep that part of the premises that he occupies and uses as
clean and as safe as the condition of the premises permits;
(b) Dispose from his dwelling unit all ashes, rubbish, garbage and
other waste in a clean and safe manner in compliance with community standards;
(c) Keep all plumbing fixtures in the dwelling unit used by the
tenant as clean as their condition permits;
(d) Use in a reasonable manner all electrical, plumbing, sanitary,
heating, ventilating, air conditioning and other facilities and appliances,
including elevators, in the premises;
(e) Not deliberately or negligently destroy, deface, damage, impair
or remove any part of the premises or knowingly permit any other person
to do so;
(f) Conduct himself and require other persons on the premises with
his consent to conduct themselves in a manner that will not disturb his
neighbors' peaceful enjoyment of their premises;
(g) Inform the landlord of any condition of which he has actual
knowledge which may cause damage to the premises;
(h) To the extent of his legal obligation, maintain the dwelling
unit in substantially the same condition, reasonable wear and tear excepted,
and comply with the requirements of applicable building and housing codes
materially affecting health and safety;
(i) Not engage in any illegal activity upon the leased premises
as documented by a law enforcement agency.
Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-25.
Housing authorities authorized to contract with tenant management
organizations; authority to sell public housing units to tenant management
organizations.
Any county, municipality, regional housing authority or local housing
authority in the state may make application to and contract with qualified
tenant management organizations for the operation and management of housing
projects of the authority as a means of reducing vacancies, reducing administrative
costs and creating jobs from the establishment of maintenance teams. Such
counties, municipalities, regional housing authorities or local housing
authorities shall have the authority to sell public housing units to such
tenant management organizations, provided that such sale is in compliance
with any applicable federal laws and regulations and any applicable state
laws and regulations. Title 89, Chap. 008, SEC. 89-8-27.
