Mississippi · Law checked October 19, 2026
Behind on property taxes in Mississippi? Your house can be sold at a tax sale — here's how much time you have to stop it. Your house was sold at a tax sale in Mississippi? The extra money from the sale may be yours to claim — and there's a deadline. Both answers are on this page, from the statute.
How Mississippi sells
Your window: 2 years after the day of the sale, counted from the sale date. Statute-verified
What it costs to redeem: All taxes the land was sold for + sale costs + 5% damages on the taxes + interest at 1.5% per month from the sale date + costs accrued since at the same rate — paid to the chancery clerk, regardless of what the buyer bid.
Source: Miss. Code §27-45-3
Payment plans: No state payment-plan right found — collector/county discretion.
Deferrals (senior / veteran / disability): None found.
Who holds the money: the County treasury (claim certified by the Chancery Clerk; the Board of Supervisors orders payment).
Your claim window: If the property is NOT redeemed, the owner must request the excess within 2 years after the redemption period expires — so the outside date is about 4 years after the sale. The tax collector reports the excess to the chancery clerk, who certifies the claim. Statute-verified
If nobody claims it: Excess not requested in time is retained by the county (general funds). Note the trap: if the land IS redeemed, or the buyer's title fails, the county also keeps the overbid under §27-41-77.
Source: Miss. Code §27-41-77
The county figure rule. This page gives you the law — the window, the formula, the office. The exact payoff or surplus figure lives in the Tax collector (sheriff); Chancery Clerk (redemption & claims)'s books and changes as interest runs. Ask that office for the figure, in writing, and keep the letter.
Get the TaxSaleDecoded Kit — $49
One payment of $49. No subscription. The kit is a web page you can return to and print — the claim pack, the redemption playbook, the heirs page, and the scam shield.
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