Mississippi tenant screening laws

The Act does not regulate application or screening fees. A payment made to secure the execution of a rental agreement, such as a holding payment or an advance payment of rent, falls outside the Act's deposit rules (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-8-21(1) (reprinted in 2024 HB 1580, not enacted)).

• Application criteria and advertising must respect the federal fair-housing protections that cover the property. A fee rule does not resolve discrimination or a disability-accommodation request; review the fair-housing section before applying screening criteria (42 U.S.C. 3603 and 3604).See Fair housing on the Mississippi page

For housing covered by the federal Fair Housing Act, do not deny housing, change rental terms or publish discriminatory advertising because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability. Only the selected federal sections cited here were read; Mississippi-specific and local protections remain unchecked (42 U.S.C. 3604).

• Covered housing must allow necessary reasonable disability accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services, and reasonable modifications at the resident's expense. When reasonable, a modification may require an agreement to restore the interior, except for reasonable wear and tear. The statute also preserves limits for a direct threat to others' health or safety or substantial physical damage to others' property (42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(1) to (3), (9)).
• Check coverage before relying on an exemption. Section 3603(b) limits certain owner-rented single-family homes and owner-occupied buildings of up to four families, with specific ownership and brokerage conditions; its exemption retains the advertising prohibition. Section 3607 has limited religious, private-club and qualifying older-person housing provisions. A label alone does not establish eligibility (42 U.S.C. 3603(b), (c); 42 U.S.C. 3607).