We buy houses in Jackson County, MS.

Jackson County has a single Chancery Clerk, in Pascagoula, so there is no district question to answer first. Land Records and Land Redemption is 228-769-3131. Ask for the redemption payoff good through the end of this month, ask what it becomes next month, and ask for the exact date the redemption period ends. All three answers are public record and cost nothing.

Mississippi Code 27-41-59 puts unpaid land at a tax sale on the last Monday in August, and permits a county to hold one on the first Monday in April as well, so ask the clerk which day your parcel sold, and the county sells the lien rather than the house. On family property that matters twice over, because each unpaid year can go to its own sale. A house that has sat since a funeral often carries several certificates from several Augusts, each with its own two year clock. Paying one year does not clear the parcel. Ask the clerk for every open year.

Redemption under Mississippi Code 27-45-3 runs two years from the sale date and costs the taxes the land sold for, the costs of the sale, five percent damages on those taxes, and one and one half percent per month interest, with a part month counting as a full one. The statute lets any person interested in the land redeem, which on heir property can mean redeeming an undivided share rather than the whole. Whether that fits your family is a question for the Chancery Clerk and the title attorney.

Mississippi foreclosure is non-judicial. A trustee sells under the power of sale in the deed of trust after published notice, without a lawsuit, and once the sale is concluded there is no statutory right to redeem afterward. That is a real difference from Alabama, one state line to the east, where a year afterward is the general rule. If you are behind on a mortgage and on Jackson County taxes at once, the mortgage is the shorter clock.

Every Mississippi closing here goes through a licensed title attorney. On an heir sale the attorney runs the search, reads the will if there is one, and tells you exactly whose signature is required, which is usually the slow part rather than the price. Heirs out of state sign in front of a notary where they live. He pays the county and any liens from the proceeds before anyone is paid.