What can I legally do about a tenant who does not pay on time that I can never contact?
Full Question:
I rented my house in Mississippi when I moved to California. The tenant signed a 12-month lease beginning September 1, 2007. She has yet to pay on-time. I allowed her to pay the $900 security deposit in three payments (she still owes $700). Rent is due on the 5th, and November rent has not been paid as of the 29th. She refuses to return phone calls. Now I am unexpectedly unemployed and moving back to Texas to stay with family. I'd like to retake possession of the house to live in and prepare for sale. There is limited equity, but if the tenant isn't paying on time, I can no longer afford to cover the mortgage, much less any unexpected expenses (air condition, water heater, etc). I do not need my only "savings account" going into foreclosure. This is my first (and last) attempt at being a long distance landlord.
11/29/2007 |
Category: Landlord Tenant |
State: Mississippi |
#13059
Answer:
The following are Mississippi statutes:
§ 89-8-13. 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.
§ 89-8-19. 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.
§ 89-7-7. Remedy by action for rent in arrear.
A person having rent in arrear or due upon any lease or demise of lands
for life or lives, for years, at will, or otherwise, may bring an action
for such arrears of rent against the person who ought to have paid the
same or his legal representative.
§ 89-7-23. Notice to terminate tenancy.
Notice to quit shall be necessary only where the term is not to expire
at a fixed time. In all cases in which a notice is required to be given
by the landlord or tenant to determine a tenancy, two (2) months'
notice, in writing, shall be given where the holding is from year to
year, and one (1) month's notice shall be given where the holding is by
the half-year or quarter-year; and where the letting is by the month or
by the week, one (1) week's notice, in writing, shall be given. This
section shall not apply to rental agreements governed by the Residential
Landlord and Tenant Act.
§ 89-7-25. Tenant holding after notice liable for double rent.
When a tenant, being lawfully notified by his landlord, shall fail or
refuse to quit the demised premises and deliver up the same as required
by the notice, or when a tenant shall give notice of his intention to
quit the premises at a time specified, and shall not deliver up the
premises at the time appointed, he shall, in either case, thenceforward
pay to the landlord double the rent which he should otherwise have paid,
to be levied, sued for, and recovered as the single rent before the
giving of notice could be; and double rent shall continue to be paid
during all the time the tenant shall so continue in possession.
§ 89-7-27. Proceedings against tenant holding over.
A tenant or lessee at will or at sufferance, or for part of a year, or
for one or more years, of any houses, lands, or tenements, and the
assigns, under-tenants, or legal representatives of such tenant or
lessee, may be removed from the premises by the judge of the county
court, any justice of the peace of the county, or by the mayor or police
justice of any city, town, or village where the premises, or some part
thereof, are situated, in the following cases, to wit:
First. — Where such tenant shall hold over and continue in
possession of the demised premises, or any part thereof, after the
expiration of his term, without the permission of the landlord.
Second. — After any default in the payment of the rent pursuant
to the agreement under which such premises are held, and when
satisfaction of the rent cannot be obtained by distress of goods, and
three days' notice, in writing, requiring the payment of such rent or the
possession of the premises, shall have been served by the person entitled
to the rent on the person owing the same.
§ 89-7-29. Affidavit to remove.
The landlord or lessor, his legal representatives, agents, or assigns,
in order to have the benefit of such proceedings, shall make oath or
affirmation of the facts which, according to the last preceding section,
authorize the removal of the tenant, describing therein the premises
claimed and the amount of rent due and when payable, and that the
necessary notice has been given to terminate such tenancy.
§ 89-7-41. Form of judgment for landlord.
If the decision be in favor of the landlord or other person claiming
the possession of the premises, the magistrate shall issue his warrant to
the sheriff, constable, or other officer, commanding him forthwith to put
such landlord or other person into possession of the premises, and to
levy the costs of the proceedings of the goods and chattels, lands and
tenements, of the tenant or person in possession of the premises who
shall have controverted the right of the landlord or other person.
§ 89-7-51. Lien of landlord.
(1) Every lessor of land shall have a lien on the
agricultural products of the leased premises, however and by
whomsoever produced, to secure the payment of the rent and of
money advanced to the tenant, and the fair market value of
all advances made by him to his tenant for supplies for the
tenant and others for whom he may contract, and for his
business carried on upon the leased premises. This lien shall
be paramount to all other liens, claims, or demands upon such
products when perfected in accordance with Uniform Commercial
Code Article 9 — Secured Transactions (Section 75-9-101,
et seq.). The claim of the lessor for supplies furnished may
be enforced in the same manner and under the same
circumstances as his claim for rent may be; and all the
provisions of law as to attachment for rent and proceedings
under it shall be applicable to a claim for supplies
furnished, and such attachment may be levied on any goods and
chattels liable for rent, as well as on the agricultural
products.
(2) All articles of personal property, except a stock of
merchandise sold in the normal course of business, owned by
the lessee of real property and situated on the leased
premises shall be subject to a lien in favor of the lessor to
secure the payment of rent for such premises as has been
contracted to be paid, whether or not then due. Such lien
shall be subject to all prior liens or other security
interests perfected according to law. No such articles of
personal property may be removed from the leased premises
until such rent is paid except with the written consent of
the lessor. All of the provisions of law as to attachment for
rent and proceedings thereunder shall be applicable with
reference to the lessor's lien under this subsection.