Which Mississippi Laws Actually Govern Your HOA or Condo?

Before you can hold a Mississippi association to the law, it helps to know which law applies — and in Mississippi the first sentence is unusual: there is no comprehensive statute governing planned-community homeowners' associations. Your rights come from a stack of other laws working together, and which combination matters most depends on whether you live in a condominium or another kind of HOA. For your specific situation, a licensed Mississippi attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.

Does Mississippi have an HOA law?

Only a narrow one. Mississippi has no general HOA statute; planned-community HOAs run mostly on their recorded declaration and bylaws plus general law. The one HOA-specific article, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 79-11-751 through 79-11-761, reaches only HOAs organized as tax-exempt nonprofit corporations and deals with managing agents, money and meetings, not fines, liens, or architectural rules.

Mississippi leaves planned-community HOAs mostly to the recorded declaration and bylaws plus general state and federal law. The one set of HOA-specific sections in the code, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 79-11-751 through 79-11-761 (enacted in 2021 and amended in 2022), sits inside the nonprofit corporation chapter under the heading Regulation of Homeowners Associations Managing Agents and the Management of Association Assets. It deals with money and meetings, not with fines, liens, or architectural rules:

• Who it reaches. In §§ 79-11-751 through 79-11-759, "association" means "a homeowners association duly organized as a nonprofit corporation organized under the Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act, Section 79-11-101 et seq., and which is exempt from taxation under the federal Income Tax Code" (§ 79-11-751(7)).
• Managing agents. A managing agent "shall not commingle the funds of the association with the managing agent's own money" (§ 79-11-751(5)), and § 79-11-761(1) makes the managing agent "solely responsible for ensuring compliance" with these sections.
• Board review of the accounts. "Unless the governing documents of the homeowners association impose more stringent standards at all regularly scheduled meetings, the board of a homeowners association shall review the latest account statements prepared by the financial institutions where the association has its operating and reserve accounts" (§ 79-11-753(1)).
• Remote meetings. "Unless prohibited by the governing documents of the homeowners association, the board may hold any special or regularly scheduled meeting, or any special or regularly scheduled member meeting, by electronic transmission or other means of remote communication, or by a combination thereof" (§ 79-11-753(2)).
• Large transfers. Transfers "of greater than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) of a homeowners association's total combined reserve and operating account deposits shall not be authorized from the association's reserve or operating accounts without prior board approval" (§ 79-11-757).
• Fidelity coverage. The association must carry fidelity bond or comparable coverage for directors, officers, and employees under § 79-11-759(1), but under § 79-11-759(2) that requirement does not apply "if a majority of the board of a homeowners association at a regular or special meeting of the association vote not to maintain fidelity bond coverage."

Because the article reaches only HOAs that are nonprofit corporations with federal tax exemption, the threshold questions — what type of community you live in, and how the association is organized — matter even more than usual.

The Mississippi stack

A Mississippi homeowner's rights typically come from several layers at once:

• The recorded governing documents — the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs), bylaws, and rules. With no general HOA statute, the documents do most of the work and bind both owners and the association.
• Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act, Miss. Code Ann. § 79-11-101 et seq. — the entity law for an HOA organized as a nonprofit corporation. Section 79-11-101 provides that it "shall be known and may be cited as the 'Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act.'" It includes members' records rights (§ 79-11-285) and director standards (§ 79-11-267).
• Mississippi Condominium Law, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-9-1 through 89-9-37 — applies only to condominiums. Sets out the declaration of restrictions (§ 89-9-17), the assessment-lien framework (§ 89-9-21), and other condominium-specific rules.
• Mississippi real-property statutes — including § 89-1-55 (power of sale in mortgages and deeds of trust), which the Condominium Law points to for assessment-lien enforcement.
• Federal law — Fair Housing Act, ADA, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, OTARD, Freedom to Display the American Flag Act.

Do Mississippi condos follow a different law than HOAs?

Yes. Condominiums fall under the Mississippi Condominium Law, Miss. Code Ann. §§ 89-9-1 through 89-9-37. Mississippi has no general HOA statute, and no comparable property statute applies to non-condo HOAs; they run on the declaration, the Nonprofit Corporation Act if the association is a nonprofit corporation, §§ 79-11-751 through 79-11-761 if it is also tax-exempt, and general Mississippi law.

The first split is whether you live in a condominium or a planned community / subdivision HOA.

Condominiums: the Mississippi Condominium Law (§ 89-9)

Section 89-9-1 provides that chapter 9 "shall be known and may be cited as the 'Mississippi Condominium Law.'" Its stated purpose, under § 89-9-3, "is to give statutory recognition to the condominium form of ownership of real property."

Much of the condominium framework runs through the recorded declaration of restrictions. Under § 89-9-17, the owner of a project must, "prior to the conveyance of any condominium therein, record a declaration of restrictions relating to such project, which restrictions shall be enforceable equitable servitudes where reasonable, and shall inure to and bind all owners of condominiums in the project." That declaration may provide for the management body and "for voting majorities; quorums, notices, meeting dates and other rules governing such body or bodies" (§ 89-9-17(1)), and for amendments that, "if reasonable and made upon vote or consent of not less than a majority in interest of the owners of the project given after reasonable notice, shall be binding upon every owner" (§ 89-9-17(3)).

For assessments, § 89-9-21 provides that a reasonable assessment made under a recorded declaration of restrictions "shall be a debt of the owner thereof at the time the assessment is made." The lien attaches when the management body records a notice of assessment with the chancery clerk, and it "shall expire and be of no further force or effect one year from the date of recordation of said notice of assessment," unless satisfied or enforced, with one extension of up to one additional year by recorded writing. Enforcement may be by sale "conducted in accordance with the provisions of Section 89-1-55, applicable to the exercise of powers of sale in mortgages and deeds of trust, or in any other manner permitted by law." For more, see Can a Mississippi Condo Association Foreclose Without Going to Court?.

Non-condominium HOAs

No property statute comparable to the Condominium Law applies. Your rights run through the declaration, the Nonprofit Corporation Act if the association is a nonprofit corporation, §§ 79-11-751 through 79-11-761 if it is also tax-exempt, and general Mississippi law.

The recorded declaration usually states whether the community is a condominium.

Does Mississippi nonprofit law apply to my HOA?

Yes, if the HOA is a nonprofit corporation. With no general HOA statute in Mississippi, the Nonprofit Corporation Act, Miss. Code Ann. § 79-11-101 et seq., sets director standards (§ 79-11-267) and lets members inspect and copy listed records on five business days' written notice, with accounting records and the membership list also needing a good-faith, proper-purpose demand (§ 79-11-285).

Because Mississippi has no general HOA statute, the Nonprofit Corporation Act supplies many of the internal-governance rules for an HOA organized as a nonprofit corporation:

• Director standards. Under § 79-11-267(1), "A director shall discharge his duties as a director, including his duties as a member of a committee, in accordance with his good faith belief that he is acting in the best interests of the corporation." Under § 79-11-267(4), "A person alleging a violation of this section has the burden of proving the violation."
• Records. Under § 79-11-285(1), a member may inspect and copy the records listed in § 79-11-283(5) "if the member gives the corporation written notice of his demand at least five (5) business days before the date on which the member wishes to inspect and copy." Accounting records and the membership list require more: the demand must be "made in good faith and for a proper purpose" (§ 79-11-285(3)(a)).

The full Mississippi stack

Putting it together, a Mississippi homeowner's rights generally come from:

1. The governing documents — the recorded declaration, bylaws, and rules. For condominiums, the declaration of restrictions binds every owner under § 89-9-17; for HOAs covered by § 79-11-753, the documents can set "more stringent standards" for the board's account review.
2. The entity law — the Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act (§ 79-11) for an HOA organized as a nonprofit corporation, plus §§ 79-11-751 through 79-11-761 for one that is also tax-exempt.
3. The property statute — the Mississippi Condominium Law (§ 89-9) for condos; nothing comparable for non-condo HOAs.
4. Real-property statutes — including § 89-1-55 (power of sale), which matters for condo assessment-lien enforcement.
5. Federal law — FHA, ADA, SCRA, OTARD, Flag Act.

Because the right combination depends on the documents and the community type, a licensed Mississippi attorney is the right resource for any specific question — from records to fines to the condo assessment lien.

Sources

• Mississippi Code — official public access (Regulation of homeowners associations managing agents and association assets, §§ 79-11-751 to 79-11-761)
• Mississippi Code — official public access (Mississippi Nonprofit Corporation Act, §§ 79-11-101, 79-11-267, 79-11-285)
• Mississippi Code — official public access (Mississippi Condominium Law, §§ 89-9-1, 89-9-3, 89-9-17, 89-9-21)