How to Fire Your Property Manager in Arkansas

A step-by-step guide for Arkansas landlords switching property managers, covering broker trust accounts, AREC rules, tenant deposits and what to collect before you cut ties.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Missed repairs, slow replies, a statement that never adds up. Most landlords wait too long to make the call.

Arkansas does not give you a hard statutory deadline for the handover the way some states do. What it gives you is a licensed broker holding your money in a regulated trust account, and a commission that can act when the accounting does not come.

Here is how to make the switch without losing a deposit, a tenant or a month of rent.

Step 1. Read your management agreement

Arkansas requires the agreement to exist in writing, so you have something to read. A principal broker or designated executive broker cannot manage residential rental property without a written, current property management agreement with the owner (AREC Reg. 10.19).

That agreement has to name you and your contact information, identify the property, set out the duties and responsibilities of both sides, and state the authority you gave the manager (AREC Reg. 10.19).

Look for four things.

Notice period. Thirty days' written notice is common.
Termination fee. Some charge one, some do not.
Leasing fee clawbacks. Check what you owe for tenants the manager placed.
Who "owns" the tenant relationship. Some agreements try to charge a fee if you keep a tenant they found.

If the manager broke the agreement, by ignoring repairs or mishandling money, you may be able to end it sooner. That is a question for an Arkansas attorney.

Step 2. Send written notice

Put it in writing, by email and by any method your agreement names. State the end date, ask for a full handover by that date, and list what you expect back (see Step 4).

Keep the tone flat and factual. You want your records, not an argument.

Step 3. Know how the trust account works

Your rent and your tenants' deposits are not sitting in the manager's business account. A principal broker cannot commingle trust funds with personal or other non-trust funds, and has to keep a separate trust account or use an escrow agent for those funds (AREC Reg. 10.8).

Security deposits taken under a rental or lease agreement go into the principal broker's trust account (AREC Reg. 10.8). Trust account bank statements get reconciled in writing at least monthly and balanced against the trust funds that have not been disbursed (AREC Reg. 10.8). Records are kept for three years or longer if other law requires it (AREC Reg. 10.7).

The lever you have is the license law. Failing within a reasonable time to account for or to remit any money coming into their possession that belongs to others is a violation a licensee can be disciplined for (Ark. Code Ann. § 17-42-311(a)(6)).

There is no fixed number of days in the statute. "Reasonable time" is the test, so set your own date in the notice and keep every unanswered request. If the money or the ledger does not come, file a complaint with the Arkansas Real Estate Commission, which investigates complaints and can issue citations and penalties (§ 17-42-312).

Step 4. Collect everything

Ask for all of this before the end date.

Security deposits for every tenant, with the amount held for each one
The trust account ledger showing rents collected, fees taken and what is still owed to you
Signed leases, renewals and any addenda
Move-in condition reports and photos
Tenant contact details and payment history
Open maintenance requests, vendor contacts, invoices and warranties
Keys, fobs, garage remotes and codes
Year-to-date income and expense reports for your taxes
Any written notice already served on a tenant, with proof of delivery

Step 5. Move the security deposits

Once the deposits are back in your hands, Arkansas deposit law runs on you.

The cap is two months' periodic rent (§ 18-16-304). At the end of a tenancy you have 60 days to return the deposit, or to send a written notice of what you kept for unpaid rent or damage along with the remainder (§ 18-16-305). Get it wrong and a tenant can recover twice the amount wrongfully withheld plus court costs and reasonable attorney's fees (§ 18-16-306).

There is one wrinkle worth knowing. An individual who owns five or fewer dwelling units, counting a spouse, minor children and related entities under their control, is exempt from that subchapter. The exemption does not reach a unit a third party manages or collects rent on for pay (§ 18-16-303).

So the deposit rules applied to your units the whole time the manager held them. They may stop applying the day you take over. Read § 18-16-303 against your own portfolio before you decide to rely on it, and keep deposits in their own account either way. Arkansas does not require a landlord escrow account, and a separate one still makes the 60-day accounting easy to prove.

Step 6. Tell your tenants

Tenants care about three things. Where to pay rent, who to call for repairs, and whether their deposit is safe. Send one clear message covering all three, dated, with the day the change takes effect.

Confirm in writing that you now hold their deposit and state the amount.

Step 7. Take over the day-to-day

Line up your vendors, set up rent collection, and get a maintenance line that picks up at 2am. Arkansas leases entered into or renewed after November 1, 2021 carry implied quality standards covering water, electricity, plumbing and sewer, the roof and building envelope, and heat or air conditioning you supplied. A tenant who gives written notice and waits 30 days without a fix can terminate the lease and take the deposit with them (§ 18-17-502).

Repair response is no longer just good service. It is the deal.

Who can manage property for pay in Arkansas

Renting or leasing real estate for another for compensation, and collecting or agreeing to collect rent for the use of real estate, falls inside the definition of a principal broker (§ 17-42-103). Acting in that capacity without a license is barred (§ 17-42-301), and unlicensed real estate activity carries civil penalties (§ 17-42-109) on top of criminal sanctions (§ 17-42-105).

Owners are exempt. The license requirement does not reach an individual owner, or an officer or manager of an entity with authority to make management decisions, acting on their own or the entity's own interest rather than for a commission (§ 17-42-104(a)(1)). A resident manager who lives on the premises and leases the property as part of that employment is exempt too (§ 17-42-104(a)(5)).

Managing your own rentals needs no license. Paying someone else to do it means paying a licensee. Check any new manager's license on the Arkansas Real Estate Commission site first.

Your switching checklist

Read the written management agreement for notice, fees and clawbacks
Send written notice with an end date
Demand the trust account ledger and the deposits, and set your own deadline
File an AREC complaint if the accounting does not arrive
Collect deposits, ledgers, leases, condition reports and keys
Move deposits into their own account and confirm the amount to each tenant in writing
Tell tenants where to pay and who to call

Switch to Taz

Taz is an AI property manager built for landlords who have been let down before. It answers tenants day and night, routes repairs to vendors, sends rent reminders and keeps every record in one place, for a flat monthly price per door instead of a cut of your rent. 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. Your management agreement and your specific facts matter. Talk to an Arkansas attorney before ending a contract. Last checked September 2026.