Foreclosure process in Mississippi: steps, notice, timeline

Judicial or non-judicial?

Both exist. A 2015 Court of Appeals opinion lists § 11-5-93 for judicial foreclosure and § 89-1-55 for non-judicial foreclosure. Most readers will meet the second: the Court of Appeals says “nonjudicial foreclosures in Mississippi are governed by the notice requirements in” § 89-1-55 (Dorman v. Trustmark). Which route applies depends on your loan documents, so check whether your deed of trust gives the trustee a power of sale.

Timeline step by step

The statute is strict about advertising: “No sale of lands under a deed of trust or mortgage, shall be valid unless such sale shall have been advertised as herein provided for, regardless of any contract to the contrary” (§ 89-1-55, quoted in Dorman). A notice that left the property out of its legal description led the court to hold there was no valid sale of that property.

The court also holds that the note and deed of trust may require more notice than the statute. In Harris, the deed of trust required four weeks of publication and the lender gave three. The court affirmed anyway because the borrower waited more than two years to object and so waived the defect. Read your own deed of trust and act quickly.

I read no statute that requires personal notice to the borrower from the trustee. Courts say “Mississippi law does not require the mortgagee to directly notify the mortgagor” under § 89-1-55 (Blanchard). The 45-day mailed notice comes from the separate mortgage-servicing law. That law, the S.A.F.E. Mortgage Act, was reenacted in 2016 with a 2020 sunset date; the Department of Banking and Consumer Finance still administers it, but I could not open the current codified text, so confirm § 81-18-55 with an attorney.

Can you stop the sale?

Yes, before it happens. The Court of Appeals cites § 89-1-59 as the reinstatement statute for accelerated debt; ask an attorney what it requires for your loan. The servicing law also bars a lender from refusing to reinstate a delinquent loan when you tender enough to cover all past-due amounts and charges, but only twice in any 24-month period (§ 81-18-55(1)(e)). Until the sale, the owner keeps an “equity of redemption” (Hinton v. Rolison).

Right of redemption after the sale

I found no Mississippi statute in the sources I read that gives a former owner a set period to buy the home back after a trustee’s sale. What the Supreme Court describes is the right to redeem before the sale and the right to any surplus from the sale. Do not assume you have a second chance after the auction. See real estate attorney in Mississippi.

Deficiency judgments

A lender may seek money from the borrower when the sale does not cover the debt. In a judicial foreclosure, the creditor has one year after the sale to get a deficiency judgment (Wansley, cited in the 2015 opinion; § 11-5-111). The state Supreme Court has also held that a creditor has no right to a deficiency judgment “until [it] satisfies the court that it would be equitable, in the light of the sale price, to authorize a deficiency judgment” (Hartman v. McInnis, quoted in Dorman). I did not find a Mississippi statute that bars deficiencies after a trustee’s sale.

Help for homeowners in default

• Talk to your servicer. If you submit a complete loss mitigation application after the first notice or filing but more than 37 days before the sale, the servicer may not move for a foreclosure judgment or order of sale (12 CFR § 1024.41(g)). With a complete application 90 days or more before the sale, you also get appeal rights under § 1024.41(h).
• Call a HUD-approved housing counselor at (800) 569-4287. HUD funds free or very low-cost counseling and warns against firms that promise to stop foreclosure immediately and ask you to sign over authority.
• Complain to the state. The Department of Banking and Consumer Finance has a consumer complaint section, which the 45-day notice must name; the Department’s phone is 601-321-6901.
• I found no Mississippi Home Corporation foreclosure program to list as current.

If you buy at a foreclosure sale

Foreclosure sales are excluded from the state seller-disclosure law (§ 89-1-501(2)), so expect no condition form. Order a title search and talk to a lawyer; see title insurance explained and seller disclosure. For local context, see Jackson.