Arkansas Lease Laws: Deposits, Entry, and Eviction Rules

Arkansas lease laws favor landlords more than most states’ rules do, but both sides still have enforceable rights under the state’s Residential Landlord-Tenant Act and several older property statutes. Those rules set the ceiling on security deposits, the notice required to end a tenancy, the minimum standards a rental has to meet, and the court process a landlord must follow to remove a tenant. Arkansas also carries something almost no other state does: a criminal statute that turns unpaid rent plus refusal to leave into a misdemeanor.

When a Lease Has to Be in Writing

Oral leases are valid in Arkansas if the rental term runs one year or less, but they’re treated as tenancies at will and give both sides little protection. Any lease longer than one year has to be in writing and signed to be enforceable, under the state’s Statute of Frauds.¹

Even when writing isn’t strictly required, a signed lease is worth having. Courts consistently give more weight to written terms than to someone’s recollection of what was agreed. Lease clauses that are unconscionable or that violate public policy — a waiver of basic habitability, for example — won’t be enforced.

On disclosures, Arkansas requires very little. The one that matters comes from federal law: for any rental built before 1978, the landlord has to disclose known lead-based paint hazards, provide the EPA’s lead pamphlet, and include a lead warning in the lease itself.²³ The state itself imposes no general duty to disclose mold history, flooding, or pests.

Habitability Standards

Before 2021, Arkansas landlords had essentially no legal obligation to keep rentals livable. That changed for leases entered into or renewed after November 1, 2021, which now carry implied residential quality standards. The rental must have the following at move-in and throughout the term:

Hot and cold running water
Electricity
Potable drinking water
Plumbing and sewer systems meeting the building codes in effect when they were installed
A functioning roof and building envelope
Working heating and air conditioning, to the extent those systems existed when the lease was signed

The standards don’t apply to lease-to-purchase agreements. A landlord who provides a written checklist at move-in is treated as compliant if the tenant signs without noting defects or doesn’t return the checklist within two business days. Problems caused by the tenant, the tenant’s guests, or events outside the landlord’s control aren’t the landlord’s responsibility.⁴

What a Tenant Can Actually Do

If the rental falls out of compliance, you have to send written notice by certified mail (or by whatever method the lease specifies) describing the problem. The landlord then has 30 calendar days to fix it. If the problem isn’t resolved, your only statutory remedy is to terminate the lease without penalty and recover your security deposit.⁴

This is the sharp break from most states: you cannot withhold rent or subtract repair costs from your payment. The statute says so directly. Doing it anyway gives the landlord grounds to evict. A written lease can, however, contain repair promises that go beyond the statute, and those specific promises are enforceable. Oral promises to repair generally are not.

Security Deposits

A landlord cannot collect more than two months’ rent as a security deposit.⁵ The state does not require the deposit to sit in a separate account and does not require the landlord to pay interest on it.

After you move out, the landlord has 60 days to either return the full deposit or send you a written itemized statement of any deductions.⁶ Legitimate deductions cover unpaid rent and damage beyond normal wear and tear. Scuffed baseboards, minor carpet wear, and faded paint from ordinary use don’t qualify.

If a landlord wrongfully withholds a deposit, you can recover double the amount wrongfully kept plus court costs and attorney’s fees. That penalty gives tenants real leverage when a deduction list looks padded.

Rent, Late Fees, and Increases

Arkansas prohibits local governments from adopting rent control, so rates are set by the market and the lease.⁷ Rent is due when the lease says it’s due. There is no statutory grace period; if the lease sets the first, paying on the second is late unless the lease says otherwise.

Late fees are not capped by statute. Whatever the lease specifies applies, though a court could refuse to enforce an extreme fee. If the lease says nothing about late fees, the landlord can’t invent one after the fact.

To raise rent, the landlord has to give at least one full rental period of advance written notice. On a month-to-month tenancy, that’s at least a month’s notice, and the rule applies whether the lease is written or oral.⁶ During a fixed-term lease, rent generally can’t go up until the term ends unless the lease itself allows a mid-term increase.

Landlord Entry

Arkansas has no statute setting notice requirements for a landlord entering an occupied unit, so the lease is the controlling document. A well-drafted lease will list the circumstances that allow entry — repairs, inspections, showings, emergencies — and require reasonable advance notice.

Even without a statute, tenants have a common-law right to quiet enjoyment. A landlord who repeatedly enters without notice or a legitimate reason can face a claim for interfering with that right. The customary practice is 24 hours’ notice for non-emergency visits, though that comes from convention rather than any specific code section. In a real emergency such as a burst pipe or gas leak, the landlord can enter immediately. Tenants who unreasonably block access for legitimate repairs risk giving the landlord grounds for lease enforcement.

Ending the Lease

How you end an Arkansas tenancy depends on the type of lease.

Fixed-term lease: it expires on the date stated in the agreement, and neither side has to give notice for it to end.
Month-to-month lease: either party may terminate with at least 30 days’ written notice before the termination date.⁸
Week-to-week lease: either party may terminate with at least seven days’ written notice.⁸

Staying past the end date matters. If a tenant holds over without the landlord’s consent, the landlord can file for possession and recover up to three months’ rent or double actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney’s fees.⁸ Forgetting to move out gets expensive quickly.

Active-duty service members have a separate right to break a lease early under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act when they receive deployment or permanent change of station orders. The service member delivers written notice with a copy of the orders, either in person or through a delivery service with return receipt, and the lease terminates 30 days after the next rent payment is due.

Eviction

Arkansas landlords have two separate routes to remove a tenant for nonpayment. The consequences for the tenant differ sharply between them.

Civil Eviction

Eviction proceedings can begin once rent has been unpaid for five days past the due date. At that point, the nonpayment itself acts as notice.⁹ For an unlawful detainer action, the Attorney General’s office states that landlords must give the tenant at least three days’ written notice to vacate before filing.⁶

The landlord files a complaint and supporting affidavit in district court. The court then issues an order giving the tenant 10 calendar days to leave or appear and contest the action.¹⁰ If the landlord prevails, the court issues a writ of possession, and the sheriff carries it out. A landlord can also file when the lease term has ended and the tenant won’t leave, or when the tenant has violated other lease terms.⁹

Criminal Failure to Vacate

Arkansas is one of the few states that criminalizes staying in a rental after nonpayment. Under an older, separate statute, a landlord can give a tenant behind on rent 10 days’ written notice to leave. If the tenant is still there after the 10 days, each additional day is a separate misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $1 to $25 per day.¹¹ The fines are small because the statute is old. The misdemeanor charge is what makes the provision serious, and it’s what has drawn criticism and legal challenges from housing advocates. It’s still on the books.

Self-Help Lockouts Are Illegal

The only lawful way to remove a tenant is a court-issued writ of possession executed by the sheriff. Changing the locks, removing doors or windows, shutting off utilities, or hauling a tenant’s belongings out to the curb is not allowed, regardless of how far behind the tenant is.

A tenant subjected to an illegal lockout or utility shutoff can sue for forcible entry. If the tenant wins, the court can restore access, award damages, and order the landlord to pay court costs and attorney’s fees. If the landlord has cut your utilities, you may also be able to contact the utility company directly and put the account in your own name, and local code enforcement can sometimes act against a landlord using shutoffs as harassment.

Property Left Behind

Once a lease ends in Arkansas, whether by voluntary move-out or eviction, anything left in or around the rental is legally considered abandoned. The landlord can dispose of it however they choose, with no duty to store it, notify you, or try to return it. The landlord also holds a lien on any property the tenant placed on the premises for any unpaid amounts owed under the lease.¹² When you leave, take everything. If you’re being evicted, get your valuables out before the writ is executed.

1
Justia. Arkansas Code 4-59-101 – Contracts, Agreements, or Promises Required to Be in Writing
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 4852d – Disclosure of Information Concerning Lead Upon Transfer of Residential Property
3
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule
4
Justia. Arkansas Code 18-17-502 – Implied Residential Quality Standards
5
Justia. Arkansas Code 18-16-304 – Maximum Amount
6
Arkansas Attorney General. Landlord and Tenant Rights
7
Justia. Arkansas Code 14-16-601 – Rent Control Preemption
8
Justia. Arkansas Code 18-17-704 – Periodic Tenancy – Holdover Remedies
9
Justia. Arkansas Code 18-17-901 – Grounds for Eviction of Tenant
10
FindLaw. Arkansas Code Title 18 Property 18-17-902 – Eviction Proceeding
11
FindLaw. Arkansas Code Title 18 Property 18-16-101 – Failure to Pay Rent – Refusal to Vacate Upon Notice – Penalty
12
FindLaw. Arkansas Code Title 18 Property 18-16-108 – Abandonment of Property