If a foreign individual buys more than 320 acres of Mississippi farmland, is the deed automatically void, or does the land go to the state through escheat?

Plain-English summary

Mississippi has had a foreign-land-ownership statute on the books for over a century. Section 89-1-23 generally prohibits nonresident aliens from acquiring or holding land in Mississippi, with several exceptions. The most-discussed exception lets nonresident aliens "acquire and hold not to exceed three hundred twenty (320) acres of land in this state for the purpose of industrial development thereon."

Commissioner Gipson asked the AG a sharp question: if a single foreign investor takes title to more than 320 acres of industrial-development land, is the deed transferring that land "null and void"?

The AG's answer: no, not literally. The statute says something narrower: land held or acquired contrary to the statute "shall escheat to the state." Compare § 89-1-23 (the answer is escheat) with § 29-1-75(1) (which says "[e]very patent issued in contravention hereof shall be void"). The legislature knows how to write a "null and void" rule when it wants one. It chose escheat for § 89-1-23.

Practical implications:

• The deed is effective when made. Title transfers, however briefly.
• The State, through proper escheat proceedings, can take the land. The State has not committed to a specific procedural path here, but escheat is the statutorily named remedy.
• The 320-acre cap does not apply to corporations whose stock is partially or wholly owned by nonresident aliens. In other words, foreign individuals can own a corporation that holds Mississippi land, and the corporate-ownership structure removes the cap. This is a major loophole built into the statute itself.
• Federal treaty obligations override the statute. De Tenorio v. McGowan held that the statute "yields, of course, to any applicable provision of any valid Treaty of the United States with a foreign country."

The AG declined to opine on whether any specific contract or deed in question was lawful. That is a fact-and-contract analysis, outside the AG's official-opinion remit.

What this means for you

If you're a foreign individual considering a Mississippi land purchase

The 320-acre industrial-development cap is real, but understand its scope:

• It applies to nonresident aliens holding land as individuals. The statute reads as targeting individual ownership.
• The cap does not apply if you hold land through a corporation in which you (and others) own stock. That is an explicit statutory exception in § 89-1-23.
• A separate 5-acre residential cap applies to nonresident aliens for personal residence purposes.
• Treaty rights of your home country may exempt you entirely from the statute. Consult both a Mississippi real estate attorney and an international law specialist.
• Even if the deed transfers title, you have escheat exposure if you exceed the cap. The State can take the land in an escheat proceeding.

If you're a Mississippi real estate attorney or title company

When examining title for or against a nonresident alien:

• Check whether the buyer is an individual or a corporation. Corporate ownership avoids the 320-acre cap.
• Confirm the residency status. "Nonresident alien" typically means non-U.S.-citizen physically residing outside the U.S.
• Verify that any acquisition for industrial development stays at or under 320 acres. Tracking this across multiple parcels and transactions is the hard part.
• For residential purchases by nonresident aliens, watch the 5-acre cap.
• Search treaty obligations relevant to the buyer's nationality. De Tenorio establishes that valid treaties preempt § 89-1-23.
• For agricultural or non-industrial use by nonresident aliens, the general prohibition still applies, with no acreage exception. Look for the corporation route or treaty-based exemption.

If you're a Mississippi state agriculture or lands officer

This opinion confirms the remedy is escheat, not automatic voidance. To enforce:

• The State must initiate proper escheat proceedings.
• The State should document the alien's status, the acreage, and the absence of any treaty-based or corporate-form exception.
• Section 7-5-25 limits the AG to legal opinions; bringing escheat actions is part of the AG's litigation function in coordination with the Attorney General's office of the State Lands Division and Department of Revenue.

If you're a Mississippi legislator concerned about foreign land ownership

The corporate-ownership exception is a large gap. If the policy goal is restricting foreign control of Mississippi farmland, § 89-1-23's exception for "corporations in which the stock thereof is partially or wholly owned by nonresident aliens" makes the individual-ownership prohibition mostly cosmetic. A foreign investor who wants to hold thousands of acres simply forms a Mississippi corporation. Other states have begun closing similar loopholes.

This is also a reminder that the remedy of escheat may be inadequate. Once land is in foreign hands, recovery requires litigation. A "null and void" rule (like § 29-1-75(1) for state patents) would prevent transfer at the title-search stage, which would be much easier to enforce.

If you're a journalist or researcher tracking foreign land ownership

Section 89-1-23 plus the corporate exception means publicly available data on foreign land ownership probably understates actual foreign control. Records show who holds title; they do not show the equity composition of corporate landowners. Tracking actual foreign ownership requires looking through corporate structures.

Common questions

Q: What does "nonresident alien" mean?
A: The statute does not define the term. The opinion notes the statute's language "implies that the term only applies to individuals." Practically, "nonresident alien" generally means a non-U.S.-citizen who is not a U.S. resident. Tax law uses a similar definition, though the Mississippi statute predates modern tax-law usage.

Q: How does the 320-acre cap interact with residential land?
A: The 320 acres is for industrial development. A separate 5-acre cap applies to nonresident aliens for residential purposes. Both can be held together, in theory.

Q: What happens if the land is "acquired for industrial development" but stops being used for industrial development?
A: The statute says the land "shall escheat to the state." The remedy is the same as for over-the-cap acquisition.

Q: Can a nonresident alien who marries a U.S. citizen still hold land?
A: Section 89-1-23 has an exception protecting people who "became or becomes an alien by reason of marriage to a citizen of a foreign country." Such individuals may inherit, hold, transmit by descent, or transfer land free from escheat, provided no escheat has already occurred by court order.

Q: What about foreign-owned corporations specifically?
A: The statute is explicit: "[t]he limitation set forth in this paragraph shall not apply to corporations in which the stock thereof is partially or wholly owned by nonresident aliens." This means corporate ownership avoids the 320-acre cap entirely.

Q: How does treaty law affect this?
A: De Tenorio v. McGowan, 510 F.2d 92 (5th Cir. 1975), held the statute "yields, of course, to any applicable provision of any valid Treaty of the United States with a foreign country, constituting a part of the Supreme Law of the Land." Many bilateral treaties on commerce and navigation include reciprocal land-ownership protections. Whether a particular nonresident alien's home country has such a treaty is a research question.

Q: Are there special rules for citizens of Syria or Lebanon?
A: Yes. Section 89-1-23 contains a specific provision: "Nonresident aliens who are citizens of Syria or the Lebanese Republic may inherit property from citizens or residents of the State of Mississippi." This is a historical anomaly reflecting Mississippi's mid-20th-century relationship with Syrian-American and Lebanese-American immigrant communities.

Background and statutory framework

Mississippi's foreign-land-ownership statute traces back to the late nineteenth century. Originally a much stricter prohibition, it has been amended repeatedly to add exceptions:

• Liens and post-foreclosure ownership for up to 20 years (or until citizenship).
• Marriage-based exception for U.S. citizens who became alien by marriage to a foreigner.
• Inheritance exception for Syrian and Lebanese citizens.
• 320-acre industrial development cap for nonresident aliens.
• 5-acre residential cap.
• Corporate-form exception for any corporation with foreign-owned stock.
• Treaty preemption (court-imposed under the Supremacy Clause).

The legislative history shows a tension between agricultural-protectionist instincts and pro-investment economic-development pressure. The 320-acre industrial cap was meant to allow foreign investment in manufacturing while protecting Mississippi farmland. But the corporate-form exception eats much of the policy. Most foreign investors structure ownership through corporations as a matter of standard tax and liability planning, which incidentally avoids the 320-acre cap.

The remedy chosen by the legislature, escheat to the state, makes enforcement hard. Compare to § 29-1-75(1) for state-patent issues, where deeds in contravention are simply "void." That latter framing prevents transfer at the title-search stage. Escheat requires affirmative state action.

Citations and references

Statutes:
- Miss. Code Ann. § 7-5-25 (AG opinion authority)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 29-1-75(1) (state patent voidness comparison)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 89-1-23 (nonresident alien land ownership; escheat remedy)

Case:
- De Tenorio v. McGowan, 510 F.2d 92, 95 (5th Cir. 1975), § 89-1-23 yields to valid U.S. treaties

Source

• Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
• Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/A.Gipson-May-9-2023-Nonresident-Aliens-Owning-Over-320-Acres-of-Land-in-Mississippi.pdf

Original opinion text

May 9, 2023

Andy Gipson, Commissioner
Mississippi Department of Agriculture & Commerce
Post Office Box 1609
Jackson, Mississippi 39215-1609

Re: Nonresident Aliens Owning Over 320 Acres of Land in Mississippi

Dear Commissioner Gipson:

The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.

Question Presented

Based on the restrictions imposed in Mississippi Code Annotated Section 89-1-23, is the transfer of title in land to any single foreign investor in excess of 320 acres null and void?

Brief Response

Section 89-1-23 places restrictions on nonresident aliens acquiring or holding land in Mississippi, including the 320-acre industrial development limitation you reference. However, regarding the consequence of violating Section 89-1-23, the statute only states that "[a]ll land held or acquired contrary to this section shall escheat to the state."

Applicable Law and Discussion

Section 89-1-23 provides, in part:

Except as otherwise provided in this section, nonresident aliens shall not hereafter acquire or hold land, but a nonresident alien may have or take a lien on land to secure a debt, and at any sale thereof to enforce payment of the debt may purchase the same, and thereafter hold it, not longer than twenty (20) years, with full power during said time to sell the land, in fee, to a citizen; or he may retain it by becoming a citizen within that time. All land held or acquired contrary to this section shall escheat to the state; but a title to real estate in the name of a citizen of the United States, or a person who has declared his intention of becoming a citizen, whether resident or nonresident, if he be a purchaser or holder, shall not be forfeited or escheated by reason of the alienage of any former owner or other person.

Any person who was or is a citizen of the United States and became or becomes an alien by reason of marriage to a citizen of a foreign country, may hereafter inherit, or if he or she heretofore inherited or acquired or hereafter inherits, may hold, own, transmit by descent or transfer land free from any escheat to the State of Mississippi, if said land has not heretofore escheated by final valid order or decree of a court of competent jurisdiction.

Nonresident aliens who are citizens of Syria or the Lebanese Republic may inherit property from citizens or residents of the State of Mississippi.

Nonresident aliens may acquire and hold not to exceed three hundred twenty (320) acres of land in this state for the purpose of industrial development thereon. In addition, any nonresident alien may acquire and hold not to exceed five (5) acres of land for residential purposes. The nonresident alien may dispose of any such land, but if any land acquired for industrial development ceases to be used for industrial development while owned by a nonresident alien, it shall escheat to the state. The limitation set forth in this paragraph shall not apply to corporations in which the stock thereof is partially or wholly owned by nonresident aliens.

(Emphasis added).

As shown, Section 89-1-23 contains certain exceptions to the general prohibition of nonresident aliens acquiring or holding land in Mississippi, including the 320-acre industrial development limitation referenced in your request. Land acquired pursuant to national treaties is also exempt from this prohibition. See De Tenorio v. McGowan, 510 F.2d 92, 95 (5th Cir. 1975) ("This statutory provision yields, of course, to any applicable provision of any valid Treaty of the United States with a foreign country, constituting a part of the Supreme Law of the Land . . . .").

We note that although nonresident alien is not defined by statute, the language of Section 89-1-23 implies that the term only applies to individuals. Further, the statute explicitly provides that the 320-acre industrial development limitation "shall not apply to corporations in which the stock thereof is partially or wholly owned by nonresident aliens." Miss. Code Ann. § 89-1-23.

Regarding the consequence of violating Section 89-1-23, the statute does not provide that any transfers in title made contrary to the limitations therein shall be null and void. Compare Miss. Code Ann. § 89-1-23, with Miss. Code Ann. § 29-1-75(1) ("[Every patent issued in contravention hereof shall be void."). Rather, Section 89-1-23 only states that "[a]ll land held or acquired contrary to this section shall escheat to the state."

Beyond this, we cannot by official opinion address whether the terms or provisions of a specific contract would be unlawful and therefore null and void. Pursuant to Section 7-5-25, this office is authorized to issue official opinions upon questions of state law only.

If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL

By: /s/ Maggie Kate Bobo
Maggie Kate Bobo
Special Assistant Attorney General