Residential Lease Execution Formalities in Mississippi

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Writing threshold

Mississippi uses two different timing rules. Section 89-1-3 requires a writing for a land estate whose term is more than one year. Section 15-3-1 separately bars an action on an agreement that cannot be performed within fifteen months after it is made unless there is a signed writing.

An exactly one-year lease is below the land-estate line. A delayed start, renewal commitment, or other timing term can still cross the separate fifteen-month test. Current § 89-8-7 confirms that residential rental agreements may otherwise be written or oral.

Required signatures and authority

Section 89-1-3 says the longer land estate is declared by a writing that is signed and delivered. Section 15-3-1 supplies the litigation rule: the writing or memorandum is signed by the party to be charged or by someone that party has lawfully authorized in writing.

Neither provision says that every short residential agreement must carry both signatures. The answer depends on which person is being charged and whether the agreement creates the longer land estate.

Witness, acknowledgment, and notary

The formation provisions state no witness, acknowledgment, notarization, or seal requirement for validity between the original landlord and tenant. They require a writing, signature, and—under § 89-1-3—delivery when the term exceeds one year.

Acknowledgment or proof becomes relevant to recording. Sections 89-5-3 and 89-5-7 use those formalities for a conveyance or written land contract placed in the chancery records.

Electronic execution

Mississippi UETA applies to an ordinary lease transaction, but only if each party agrees to conduct it electronically. Section 75-12-13 lets an electronic record and signature satisfy writing and signature requirements.

When another law requires written information to be delivered, § 75-12-15 requires an electronic record the recipient can retain when it arrives. A sender who blocks printing or storage cannot enforce the record against the recipient. UETA does not authorize electronic delivery of later default, acceleration, foreclosure, eviction, or cure notices under a rental agreement for an individual's primary residence.

Required copy or written statement

Chapter 89-8 states no general duty to deliver a signed or fully executed lease copy to the tenant. It also states no general basic-information statement that must be supplied merely because the tenancy is oral.

The current definition in § 89-8-7(1)(l) expressly includes “all written or oral agreements” for covered dwelling units. That recognition does not erase the separate writing rules for a longer term or an agreement outside the fifteen-month performance line.

Renewal, modification, and term form

Mississippi has no separate signing form for every renewal or modification. The general tests apply to the later promise. A writing is needed if it creates a term longer than one year or cannot be performed within fifteen months from the date the later agreement is made.

For the longer land estate, § 89-1-3 also requires that the written conveyance be signed and delivered. The cited statutes state no separate residential memorandum form for routine amendments.

Recording and third-party effect

Section 89-5-3 directly separates original-party validity from third-party priority. An unrecorded term-of-years conveyance remains valid and binding between the parties and their heirs. Without acknowledgment or proof and filing, however, it is void against protected creditors and later purchasers for value without notice.

Section 89-5-7 also lets a written contract relating to land be acknowledged or proved and recorded. Proper delivery to the chancery clerk then gives notice to later purchasers. The statute does not prescribe a lease-term threshold or a lease-specific memorandum form for recording.

Effect of noncompliance

Section 15-3-1 says an action may not be brought on a covered lease or agreement without the required signed writing or memorandum. Section 89-1-3 says an estate for more than one year is not conveyed unless declared by a writing signed and delivered.

Nonrecording has a different effect. Section 89-5-3 preserves the instrument between the parties and their heirs, but makes it void against the protected creditors and later value purchasers without notice named in the statute.

What trips people up

The performance test is fifteen months, not one year. Mississippi's lease-term rule uses more than one year, while its separate general performance rule measures fifteen months from the date the agreement is made.

“Signed and delivered” is distinct from a tenant-copy duty. Section 89-1-3 uses delivery as part of conveying the longer land estate. Chapter 89-8 does not separately require the landlord to hand the tenant a fully executed copy.

Electronic signing does not make every later notice electronic. UETA supports the lease record and signature by consent, but expressly excludes primary-residence default, foreclosure, eviction, and cure notices.

Acknowledgment is a recording formality. The formation provisions do not make a notary or witness a general condition for validity between the original landlord and tenant.

Common questions

Can a Mississippi residential lease be oral? Yes, below the applicable writing lines. Section 89-8-7 recognizes written and oral agreements, while §§ 15-3-1 and 89-1-3 govern longer arrangements.

Does an exactly one-year lease need writing? Not under the more-than-one- year land-estate rule alone. The separate fifteen-month-from-making test can still apply to a delayed start or another longer timing promise.

Whose signature is required? For an action under § 15-3-1, the writing is signed by the party to be charged or that party's agent lawfully authorized in writing. A land estate longer than one year must also be declared by a writing signed and delivered under § 89-1-3.

Can the lease be signed electronically? Yes, when each party agrees to transact electronically and the electronic record satisfies UETA's applicable retention rule.

Must the landlord give the tenant a signed copy? Chapter 89-8 states no general executed-copy delivery duty for an ordinary private dwelling lease.

Must the lease be recorded? Not to remain valid between its original parties. Recording protects it against the creditors and later purchasers described in § 89-5-3 and gives notice under § 89-5-7.

Statutes and sources

• Miss. Code § 15-3-1(c)–(d) and § 89-1-3 — longer-than-one-year and fifteen-month writing tests, signatures, written agent authority, and delivery. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ms/master/transforms/ms/ocms/r78/gov.ms.code.title.15.html (accessed 2026-07-30)
• Miss. Code § 89-8-7(1)(l) — current written-or-oral residential rental- agreement definition. http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2025/pdf/HB/1200-1299/HB1200SG.pdf (accessed 2026-07-30)
• Miss. Code §§ 75-12-5(a), (b), § 75-12-9, § 75-12-13, and § 75-12-15(a), (c) — UETA scope, agreement, electronic equivalence, retention, and excluded primary-residence notices. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ms/master/transforms/ms/ocms/r78/gov.ms.code.title.75.html (accessed 2026-07-30)
• Miss. Code § 89-5-3 and § 89-5-7 — acknowledgment or proof, validity between parties, protected creditors and purchasers, and record notice. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/unicourt/cic-code-ms/master/transforms/ms/ocms/r78/gov.ms.code.title.89.html (accessed 2026-07-30)