Mississippi Foreclosure Laws: Process, Timeline and Your Rights

Mississippi law provides for land secured by a mortgage or deed of trust to be sold at a public-outcry sale (a non-judicial foreclosure under a power of sale) after it has been advertised as the statute requires. The sale must be held in the county where the land is located or the county where a grantor of the deed of trust lives.

A sale of land under a deed of trust or mortgage must be advertised for three consecutive weeks before the sale in a newspaper published in the county (or, if none, one with general circulation there), and one notice must be posted at the courthouse of the county where the land is located for the same period. The notice and advertisement must give the name of the original borrower(s). A sale that was not advertised this way is not valid, regardless of any contract to the contrary.

The only statutory minimum verified is that the sale must be advertised in a newspaper and posted at the county courthouse for three consecutive weeks before the sale.

A lawsuit on an installment note, or a series of three or more notes, secured by a mortgage or deed of trust must be brought within one year from the date of the foreclosure or sale of the property securing the note(s).

Yes, for condominiums. A reasonable assessment made under a recorded condominium declaration, plus interest, costs, attorneys' fees and penalties allowed by the declaration, becomes a lien on the unit when the management body records a notice of assessment with the chancery clerk. The lien is ahead of liens recorded after the notice (unless the declaration subordinates it). It expires one year after the notice is recorded unless satisfied or enforcement has begun, though the management body may extend it once by up to one additional year by recording an extension. The lien may be enforced by a sale conducted like a deed-of-trust foreclosure sale under § 89-1-55, or in any other manner permitted by law, and the association may also sue for a money judgment without waiving the lien.

Yes, when a home of 1 to 4 dwelling units is sold (or transferred by land contract, lease-option and similar arrangements) by or with the help of a licensed real estate broker or salesperson. The seller must give the buyer a written property condition disclosure statement on a form determined by the Mississippi Real Estate Commission, as soon as practicable before transfer of title (or before the contract is made). If the disclosure is delivered after an offer is made, the buyer may terminate the offer by written notice within three days after in-person delivery or five days after mailing. Foreclosure sales, transfers to the lender in lieu of foreclosure, estate and court-ordered transfers, transfers between co-owners or to a spouse or close relative, and certain other transfers are excluded.

The owner (or someone acting with the owner's consent, or anyone with an interest in the land) may redeem land sold for taxes within two years after the day of sale by paying the chancery clerk the taxes for which the land was sold, all costs of the sale, 5% damages on those taxes, interest on the taxes and costs at 1-1/2% per month from the sale, and later-accrued costs with interest, regardless of the tax-sale bid. The clerk then issues a release that acts as a quitclaim of the tax-sale title. Minors who inherit or acquire land, and persons of unsound mind, have two years after reaching adulthood or being restored to sanity to redeem.

The Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance's Financial Literacy & Education Resource Center points homeowners to HUD's Guide to Avoiding Foreclosure (programs for homeowners at risk of foreclosure or struggling with mortgage payments), to HUD-sponsored housing counseling agencies that advise on defaults and foreclosures, and to Federal Reserve and Federal Trade Commission guidance on recognizing foreclosure rescue scams.