Mississippi HOA Short-Term Rentals

Quick-Reference Table

Last verified: July 18, 2026

Section 1 — Overview: Can an HOA restrict short-term rentals in Mississippi?

Yes. A Mississippi condominium association restricts short-term rentals through its recorded declaration of restrictions under the Mississippi Condominium Law, and a planned community does so through its recorded covenants. The Mississippi Condominium Law, Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-1 et seq., authorizes a condominium declaration to impose covenants and restrictions concerning the use, occupancy, and leasing of units,¹ while planned communities (non-condominium homeowners associations) operate in a CC&R-primary framework with no comprehensive statute, governed by their recorded covenants, the Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act for corporate governance, and common law.² The Condominium Law is a traditional, condominium-only statute enacted by Laws 1964, chapter 270 that predates the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act and contains no UCIOA-style provision shielding existing rental owners from later restrictions.¹⁰ Mississippi does not appear to preempt local short-term-rental regulation, and STR regulation is primarily local, concentrated on the Gulf Coast (Biloxi, Gulfport, Ocean Springs) and in Oxford, where Ole Miss football weekends drive seasonal demand.³ Mississippi divides trial jurisdiction between Chancery Courts (equity) and Circuit Courts (law), and covenant enforcement, which typically seeks an injunction or declaratory judgment, is usually a Chancery matter.⁹ The sections below detail the framework, the amendment and grandfathering questions, the tax and local layer, enforcement mechanics, and recent activity.

Section 2 — The legal framework for HOA short-term rental restrictions

2A. The Condominium Law and the CC&R-primary planned-community framework

Mississippi is a CC&R-primary state. Its condominium statute, the Mississippi Condominium Law (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-1 et seq.), traces to Laws 1964, chapter 270, making it a traditional statute that predates the modern Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act.¹⁰ It is condominium-only and contains no UCIOA-style rental owner-protection provision. Under § 89-9-17, the owner of a condominium project records a declaration of restrictions that operates as enforceable equitable servitudes where reasonable, and that declaration may provide for covenants and restrictions concerning the use, occupancy, and transfer of units as permitted by law.¹ Section 89-9-19 confirms that the restrictions authorized by § 89-9-17 may prescribe regulations concerning sales or leases of units, and that such restrictions are valid.⁴

Planned communities that are not condominiums have no comprehensive governing statute. Mississippi has not enacted a planned-community act comparable to statutes in UCIOA states. These associations are governed by their recorded covenants, conditions, and restrictions; by the Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act, Miss. Code Ann. § 79-11-101 et seq., for corporate structure and procedure when the association is incorporated as a nonprofit; and by Mississippi common law on restrictive covenants.² That common law treats covenants as contracts that run with the land, strictly construed in favor of the free use of property.

For both community types, the source of authority to restrict rentals is the governing document, not a statutory grant of rental-control power. A distinction matters throughout: authority over long-term leasing (for example, a minimum lease term or a cap on leased units) is analytically separate from authority over short-term or transient rentals. Mississippi courts have treated the two questions under the same covenant-interpretation framework, asking what the recorded document actually says rather than presuming a default rule.

2B. Restricting rentals, amendments, and grandfathering

A condominium adopts or strengthens a rental restriction by amending its declaration. Under Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-17, amendments to the declaration's restrictions, if reasonable and made upon the vote or consent of not less than a majority in interest of the owners after reasonable notice, bind every owner and every condominium whether the burdens are increased or decreased and whether the individual owner consents or not.¹ That majority-in-interest threshold is a statutory floor; a declaration may set a higher bar, and many do. A planned community amends its covenants according to the amendment provision in its own recorded documents, and Mississippi appellate courts enforce those provisions strictly.

Because the Condominium Law predates UCIOA and contains no owner-protection provision addressing rental amendments, Mississippi does not provide a Florida-style or California-style statutory grandfathering shield for owners who bought before a rental restriction was adopted. Whether a later restriction binds an existing owner turns on the governing documents and Mississippi common law. The controlling authority is Kephart v. Northbay Property Owners Association, 134 So. 3d 784 (Miss. Ct. App. 2013), where the Court of Appeals held that a board resolution banning leasing was a constructive amendment of the covenants, and because the power to amend was reserved to the members, the board resolution was void.⁵ The Mississippi Supreme Court adopted Kephart's reasoning in Lake Serene Property Owners Association Inc. v. Esplin, 334 So. 3d 1139 (Miss. 2022).¹¹ The lesson for associations is procedural: a rental restriction must be adopted through the amendment mechanism the documents require, not through a board rule that avoids an owner vote.

No Mississippi statute limits an association's authority to restrict rentals. Unlike California (Civil Code § 4741) and Arizona (A.R.S. § 33-1806.01), Mississippi has not enacted a statute that caps rental restrictions or protects owners' rental rights against association action. Authority is left to the governing documents.

2C. State law, tax, and the local layer

Mississippi does not appear to preempt local short-term-rental regulation, and no statewide statute establishes uniform STR licensing or operational standards. The only statewide preemption attempt located, Senate Bill 2693 in the 2019 Regular Session, did not pass.³ Regulation is decentralized. On the Gulf Coast, Biloxi permits short-term rentals as a permitted use in its Community Business, Regional Business, Downtown, and Waterfront zones, allows them as a conditional use in its RM-20 and RM-30 multi-family residential zones, and prohibits them in single-family zones, requiring a Certificate of Occupancy, Certificate of Zoning Compliance, and Privilege Tax License, with a $100 application fee, a $50 inspection fee, and annual fire inspections.⁶ Ocean Springs caps residential short-term-rental permits at 115 citywide, and adopted a moratorium on new residential permits in August 2025 pending Planning Commission review.¹²

Short-term lodging is taxed. Mississippi imposes its 7% state sales tax on the gross income of transient lodging, and local tourism and economic development taxes (commonly 1% to 3%) apply in many jurisdictions under local-and-private laws.⁷ Mississippi jurisdictions commonly define a short-term rental as a stay of less than 30 consecutive days; Biloxi's ordinance materials describe short-term rental as offering a residence for rental periods of less than 30 days.¹³ Marketplaces such as Airbnb and Vrbo that exceed the statutory sales threshold register with the Department of Revenue and collect tax on bookings.⁷

The critical point for associations is that local regulation and the lodging tax govern the owner-to-government relationship. They neither grant nor remove association authority. Biloxi's own short-term-rental application makes the separation explicit, stating that nothing in the ordinance confers a right to offer a short-term rental where the use is prohibited by a homeowners association agreement or other restrictive covenant.¹⁴ An owner who obtains a Biloxi conditional use permit, passes a fire inspection, and remits the lodging tax may still violate a condominium declaration or a subdivision covenant, and the association may enforce its documents regardless of the owner's local compliance. Conversely, an owner who satisfies the governing documents must still meet local permit and tax obligations. The two systems operate independently.

Section 3 — Operational mechanics and enforcement

A. Adopting a valid restriction (the tools)

The most common private mechanism for limiting short-term rentals is a minimum-lease-term restriction, such as a covenant requiring that no dwelling be leased for a term shorter than a stated number of months. Mississippi has no statewide statutory minimum lease term for associations, so any day-count or month-count comes from the governing documents. Lake Serene v. Esplin illustrates the drafting stakes: because the Lake Serene covenants restricted use to residential purposes but did not define a minimum rental period, the Supreme Court held that short-term rental (there, stays ranging from one day to thirty days) was still a residential use, reasoning that "the salient point is whether or not the property itself is being used in a manner that a place of abode would be used, not how long the property is being used as a place of abode."¹¹ Associations that want to prohibit transient rental generally must say so expressly.

Rental caps (limiting the percentage of units that may be leased) are permitted where the declaration or covenants authorize them. The Condominium Law does not set a statutory cap; § 89-9-17 and § 89-9-19 leave the content of leasing restrictions to the declaration.¹ Associations may also impose internal registration, owner-information, and lease-filing requirements as reasonable rules where the documents grant rulemaking power, but a rule that effectively bans or newly restricts leasing may be treated as a constructive amendment requiring an owner vote under Kephart.⁵

B. Enforcement and the bifurcated trial courts

Before imposing a fine for a short-term-rental violation, an association should follow the notice and opportunity-to-be-heard procedures in its declaration and bylaws. The Condominium Law does not prescribe a statutory notice-and-hearing procedure for fines, so the governing documents control, and an association that fines without following its own documented process risks having the fine invalidated.

The forum question is the central Mississippi trap. Mississippi divides trial jurisdiction between Chancery Courts, which are courts of equity, and Circuit Courts, which are courts of law.⁹ An action to enjoin a short-term-rental violation, or a declaratory judgment on the enforceability of a covenant or condominium restriction, generally proceeds in Chancery Court, because covenants are enforced as equitable servitudes and the relief sought is injunctive or declaratory. A pure money-damages claim may proceed in Circuit Court. The reported short-term-rental and covenant cases confirm the pattern: Lake Serene v. Esplin and 1st Step Sober Living LLC v. Cleveland both originated in chancery court.¹¹¹⁵ Civil appeals from both trial courts go to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which may assign cases to the Mississippi Court of Appeals.⁹

Available remedies track the forum. In Chancery Court, an association may obtain injunctive relief compelling an owner to stop renting in violation of the documents. The Condominium Law provides an assessment lien enforceable by sale under § 89-9-21.⁸ Fines are available where the governing documents authorize them. A money judgment for damages is a Circuit Court remedy. Association enforcement runs in parallel with, and independently of, local-government enforcement of permit and zoning rules, so an owner may face both an association injunction and a municipal citation for the same rental.

Section 4 — Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

No bill in the 2025 or 2026 Regular Sessions was found that would preempt local short-term-rental regulation, amend the Mississippi Condominium Law (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-1 et seq.), or expand or limit an association's authority to restrict rentals.

B. Recent appellate rulings

C. Active legislative or local debates

Gulf Coast governments continue to revise short-term-rental ordinances, with Biloxi amending the short-term-rental provisions of its Land Development Ordinance and Ocean Springs adopting a moratorium on new residential permits in August 2025.¹² These local actions affect the owner-to-government relationship and do not change association authority.

Section 5 — National positioning and related coverage

Mississippi sits among the CC&R-primary states, alongside Alabama and Arkansas, that leave rental authority to the governing documents rather than to a controlling statute. It has a traditional, non-UCIOA condominium statute (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-1 et seq.) and no comprehensive planned-community statute, so association authority to restrict short-term rentals comes from the declaration or covenants. Mississippi does not appear to preempt local short-term-rental bans (unlike the preemption models seen in Florida and Arizona), and it does not limit HOA rental authority by statute (unlike California and Arizona). Local ordinances and the state and local lodging taxes restrain local governments and owners, not associations. For a multi-state operator entering Mississippi, the practical implication is that authority is document-driven, and enforcement runs through a bifurcated trial-court system in which covenant and short-term-rental enforcement is typically a Chancery (equity) matter.

HOA Weekly's Mississippi Short-Term Rentals coverage updates quarterly as the Legislature, the Mississippi Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, and local governments act. Federal frameworks (FHA, ADA, FDCPA, SCRA, and OTARD) also apply to Mississippi associations regardless of the state framework.

1. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-17 (recording, enforcement, and provisions of declaration of restrictions; declaration operates as enforceable equitable servitudes; covenants and restrictions concerning use, occupancy, and transfer; amendments upon a majority in interest of owners). Statutory text (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-17). ↩
2. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-19 (restrictions authorized by § 89-9-17 may prescribe regulations concerning sales or leases of units, and such restrictions are valid). Statutory text (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-19). ↩
3. Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-21 (liability of owner for assessment; lien on the condominium; recording, priority, and enforcement of the lien by sale). Statutory text (Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-21). ↩
4. Mississippi Department of Revenue, Tourism and Economic Development Taxes (local lodging taxes levied under local-and-private laws in addition to the 7% state sales tax on lodging). dor.ms.gov, Tourism and Economic Development Taxes; see also dor.ms.gov local tourism tax listings. ↩
5. State of Mississippi Judiciary, About the Courts (Chancery Courts hear equity, real-property title, and injunctive matters; Circuit Courts hear civil lawsuits at law; appeals go to the Supreme Court, which may assign cases to the Court of Appeals). courts.ms.gov, About the Courts; courts.ms.gov, Trial Courts. ↩
6. Miss. Code Ann. § 79-11-101 et seq. (Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act, governing corporate structure and procedure of nonprofit corporations, including homeowners associations organized as nonprofits). Statutory text (Miss. Code Ann. § 79-11-101 et seq.). ↩
7. Mississippi Condominium Law, Miss. Code Ann. § 89-9-1 et seq., source note "Laws, 1964, ch. 270" (traditional condominium-only statute predating the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act). Statutory text with 1964 source note. ↩
8. Kephart v. Northbay Property Owners Association, 134 So. 3d 784 (Miss. Ct. App. 2013) (board resolution banning leasing was a constructive amendment; because amendment power was reserved to members, the resolution was void). Kephart v. Northbay Property Owners Ass'n, No. 2012-CA-01691-COA. ↩
9. Lake Serene Property Owners Association Inc. v. Esplin, 334 So. 3d 1139 (Miss. 2022) (short-term rental was a residential use not violating a residential-purpose covenant; amended bylaws restricting rentals were invalid; case originated in Lamar County Chancery Court). Lake Serene Prop. Owners Ass'n v. Esplin, No. 2020-CA-00689-SCT. ↩
10. Senate Bill 2805, 2025 Regular Session, as sent to the Governor (amending Miss. Code Ann. § 27-65-23.1 to include third-party facilitators in the definition of hotel/motel for local-and-private lodging taxes and conforming § 41-49-3; effective July 1, 2025). billstatus.ls.state.ms.us, SB2805 (As Sent to Governor). ↩
11. Mississippi Department of Revenue, "Third-Party Booking Companies and Collection of Sales Tax on Hotel Accommodations" (SB2805 revised the term "hotel" to include entities facilitating, arranging, or brokering transient guest transactions). dor.ms.gov guidance on SB2805. ↩
12. Senate Bill 2693, 2019 Regular Session (an act to expressly preempt to the state the regulation of vacation rentals; did not pass), the only located statewide STR-preemption measure, confirming the absence of statewide preemption. billstatus.ls.state.ms.us, SB2693 (2019, As Introduced). ↩
13. City of Biloxi, Short-Term Rental Regulations (permitted use in CB, RB, DT, and WF zones; conditional use in RM-20 and RM-30; prohibited in single-family zones; Certificate of Occupancy, Certificate of Zoning Compliance, and Privilege Tax License required; $100 application fee, $50 inspection fee, annual fire inspection). biloxi.ms.us, Short-Term Rental Regulations. ↩
14. City of Biloxi, Short-Term Rental Certificate of Occupancy Application ("Nothing in this section shall confer a right to offer a Short-Term Rental where such use is prohibited by a homeowners' association agreement, by a rental agreement or any other restrictions, covenants, requirements or enforceable agreements"). biloxi.ms.us, STR Certificate of Occupancy Application. ↩
15. 1st Step Sober Living LLC v. Cleveland, No. 2023-CA-00665-COA (Miss. Ct. App. 2025) (affirming Lee County Chancery Court injunction that proposed commercial use violated residential-purpose covenants). courts.ms.gov, 1st Step Sober Living LLC v. Cleveland (opinion). ↩
16. Scioto Properties SP-16 LLC v. Graf, 349 So. 3d 172 (Miss. 2022) (commercial endeavor prohibited by restrictive covenants limiting use to residential purposes), as applied in 1st Step Sober Living LLC v. Cleveland. courts.ms.gov, 1st Step Sober Living LLC v. Cleveland (discussing Scioto v. Graf). ↩
17. City of Ocean Springs, Code of Ordinances (short-term rental permitting and residential permit provisions). library.municode.com, City of Ocean Springs Code of Ordinances. ↩
18. House Bill 919, 2025 Regular Session (companion measure to SB2805; passed the House but was not enacted). billstatus.ls.state.ms.us, HB919 (As Passed the House). ↩
19. City of Biloxi, City Council agenda materials describing short-term rental as offering a residence "for rental periods of less than 30 days." biloxi.ms.us, City Council agenda (short-term rental definition). ↩