Arkansas Landlord-Tenant Law for DIY Landlords (2026)

Security deposits, the 60-day refund deadline, the 2021 quality standards, notice periods and the eviction timeline in Arkansas, in plain English for landlords who manage their own rentals.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Arkansas gives landlords more room than almost any other state. There is no statutory late-fee cap, no statutory entry notice, and no general anti-retaliation statute in the residential code.

That changed a little in 2021. Arkansas added a set of minimum quality standards that apply to leases entered into or renewed after November 1, 2021. If your lease template predates that, it needs a look.

Here is what a small Arkansas landlord has to get right, with the code section behind each rule.

Security deposits

The cap is two months' rent. You cannot demand or receive a deposit, whatever you call it, worth more than two months' periodic rent (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-304).

You have 60 days to return it. Within 60 days of the tenancy ending, the deposit goes back to the tenant. If you keep part of it for unpaid rent or damage, send a written notice listing what you kept and why, together with the remainder, inside that same 60 days (§ 18-16-305).

First-class mail to the last known address counts. Mailing the notice and the money that way satisfies the statute. If the mail comes back and you cannot find the tenant after reasonable effort, the money becomes yours after 180 days (§ 18-16-305).

The penalty is double. A tenant who has to sue can recover the money owed, damages of twice the amount wrongfully withheld, court costs and reasonable attorney's fees (§ 18-16-306).

Good faith cuts the damages. If you show by a preponderance of the evidence that the problem was a procedural error made in spite of reasonable safeguards, or a genuine disagreement over the amount owed, you owe the actual amount and costs rather than double (§ 18-16-306).

No escrow account is required. Arkansas does not make you hold deposits in a separate trust account or tell the tenant where the money sits. Keeping them in their own account anyway makes the 60-day accounting far easier to prove.

The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 does not set its own deposit rules. It points straight back to these sections (§ 18-17-501).

The five-unit exemption, and the catch

The deposit subchapter does not apply to a dwelling unit owned by an individual who, counting a spouse, minor children and related business entities under their control, owns five or fewer dwelling units (§ 18-16-303).

The catch is that the exemption drops away for any unit a third party manages or collects rent on for pay. Hire a manager and the deposit rules come back.

Late fees

Arkansas sets no late-fee cap and no grace period for residential rent. The rental agreement controls the terms, including rent and the rest of the parties' rights and obligations (§ 18-17-401).

Put the fee in the lease and keep it reasonable. Rent that is not otherwise agreed in writing is payable at the dwelling unit, in equal monthly installments at the beginning of each month (§ 18-17-401).

Rent increases and rent control

There is no state cap on rent increases and no local rent control anywhere in Arkansas. Counties cannot enact or enforce an ordinance controlling rent, application fees or security deposits (§ 14-16-601), and cities cannot control rent either (§ 14-54-1409).

So the limit on an increase is your lease. Raise rent at renewal, or on a month-to-month tenancy with the same 30 days' written notice used to end one.

Entering the unit

Arkansas has no statutory notice period for landlord entry. The code runs the other direction. A tenant cannot unreasonably refuse you entry to inspect, make repairs or improvements, investigate a violation or criminal activity, or show the unit to a prospective buyer or tenant, and cannot change the locks without your permission (§ 18-17-602).

Write your own notice rule into the lease. Twenty-four hours in writing for anything that is not an emergency keeps tenants on your side and keeps the record clean.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Either side ends a month-to-month tenancy with 30 days' written notice before the termination date. A week-to-week tenancy takes 7 days (§ 18-17-704).

A tenant who holds over without your consent can be sued for possession. If the holdover is a willful breach, you can recover up to three months' rent or twice your actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees (§ 18-17-704).

When rent isn't paid

Five days past due is the trigger. If the tenant does not pay within five days of the due date, you may terminate the rental agreement, and that failure counts as notice to the tenant that eviction may begin (§ 18-17-701, § 18-17-901).

Other lease violations get 14 days. For noncompliance that is not rent, give written notice that the agreement ends on a date not less than 14 days out if the problem is not fixed inside those 14 days (§ 18-17-701).

The unlawful detainer route needs 3 days. If you file under the older unlawful detainer statute instead, the ground for nonpayment requires three days' written notice to quit and demand for possession (§ 18-60-304).

Arkansas still has a criminal failure-to-vacate statute. A tenant who willfully refuses to leave after 10 days' written notice commits a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of one to twenty-five dollars per day (§ 18-16-101). Stick to the civil process. It gets you possession, which the criminal route does not.

The eviction timeline, step by step

The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act route runs in district court.

File. File a complaint with a sworn affidavit setting out the grounds, signed by someone with personal knowledge (§ 18-17-902).
Order to show cause. The court orders the tenant to vacate or show cause why they should not be evicted within 10 calendar days after service (§ 18-17-902).
Service. The order goes out by posting and mailing under the statute (§ 18-17-903).
No appearance. If the tenant does not appear and show cause inside those 10 days, the court enters judgment for you and directs the clerk to issue a writ of possession (§ 18-17-904).
Contested. If the tenant appears, the court tries the issue (§ 18-17-905).
Writ executed. The sheriff carries out the writ following § 18-60-310 (§ 18-17-913).

The unlawful detainer route in circuit court works differently. After service of the summons, complaint and notice, the tenant has 5 days, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, to file a written objection. No objection means the clerk issues a writ of possession. An objection gets a hearing where you have to make a prima facie case and show you are likely to succeed on the merits. A tenant can keep possession by posting security within five days of the writ covering delinquent rent and rent accruing (§ 18-60-307).

Repairs and habitability

For any lease entered into or renewed after November 1, 2021, every Arkansas rental carries implied quality standards. The unit needs an available source of hot and cold running water, an available source of electricity, a source of potable drinking water, plumbing and sewer that meet applicable code, a functioning roof and building envelope, and working heat or air conditioning if you provided it (§ 18-17-502).

If a tenant gives written notice and you do not fix the problem within 30 days, the tenant may terminate the lease without penalty and get the deposit back. The tenant cannot withhold rent or offset it against a violation. Acts of God, utility failures and other force majeure events are carved out, and a city or county may set stricter housing standards (§ 18-17-502).

The short version

Deposit cap of 2 months, returned within 60 days with a written statement of deductions
Double damages plus fees for wrongful withholding, cut to actual damages for a good-faith error
Owners of 5 or fewer units are exempt from the deposit rules, until a paid manager steps in
No late-fee cap, no grace period, no statutory entry notice, no rent control
30 days' written notice to end a month-to-month, 7 for week-to-week
Rent 5 days late is the trigger, then 10 calendar days to vacate or show cause in district court
Quality standards since November 1, 2021, with 30 days to cure after written notice

Let Taz handle the paperwork

Taz is an AI property manager for landlords who would rather not live in the code books. It tracks the 60-day deposit clock, sends rent reminders, takes maintenance requests day and night, and keeps the records an Arkansas judge would ask for. See how Taz works.

Where this guide says a state has no rule on something, that means we found no statute setting one, which is not the same as none existing. Local ordinances and court practice can add requirements. Confirm anything you plan to rely on.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and your city or county may add rules. Talk to an Arkansas attorney before acting on a specific situation. Last checked September 2026.