Can You Evict Someone in Arkansas With No Lease?

You can evict someone in Arkansas with no lease, but you have to go through the courts, and you have to start with written notice. A spoken rental arrangement is treated as a periodic tenancy under state law, and the notice you owe is set by how often rent is paid: 30 days for a month-to-month arrangement, 7 days for week-to-week. Skip the paper, shortcut the timeline, or try to force the tenant out yourself, and the case falls apart.

How Much Notice You Owe Without a Lease

Arkansas Code 18-17-704 sets the notice periods for periodic tenancies, which is what the law calls an oral rental arrangement:¹

Month-to-month: at least 30 days’ written notice before the termination date in the notice.
Week-to-week: at least 7 days’ written notice before the termination date in the notice.

The Arkansas Attorney General’s office states the same rule in plainer terms: for an oral lease, you owe one full rental period’s notice.

The notice has to be in writing, even if everything about the tenancy up to now was spoken. A phone call, a text that doesn’t spell out a termination date, or a conversation at the door does not satisfy the statute. The notice should name the exact date the tenant must be out. If a judge later finds the notice was too short or informal, the case gets dismissed and you start over.

Delivering the Notice So It Holds Up

Arkansas recognizes three ways to deliver a notice to quit. You can hand it to the tenant directly. You can leave it with an adult member of the tenant’s household at the property. Or, if neither works, you can post it on the front door or the most visible part of the property.¹

When you post, send a copy by certified mail with return receipt requested too. You need proof. If the tenant later claims the notice never arrived, a signed acknowledgment, a witness to the posting, or a certified mail receipt is what keeps the case alive. Weak service is one of the easiest ways for a tenant to get an eviction thrown out.

Filing the Unlawful Detainer Case

If the notice period runs out and the tenant is still there, your next step is an Unlawful Detainer Complaint filed in the circuit court for the county where the property sits. Filing fees in Arkansas circuit courts start around $165 and vary a bit by county. The court issues a summons, and a sheriff or licensed process server delivers it to the tenant. The statutory sheriff’s fee for serving a summons is $30.²³

The summons comes with a notice telling the tenant the court intends to issue a writ of possession. The tenant then has five days, not counting Sundays or legal holidays, to file a written objection. If they do nothing, the writ issues by default. Once the writ is posted at the property, the tenant generally has 24 hours to leave before the sheriff can physically remove them and return the property to you.

If the tenant files an objection, the case goes to a hearing. Both sides present evidence, and the judge decides who gets possession. That is where your documentation of the oral arrangement matters most.

Proving the Tenancy Existed

The hard part of a no-lease eviction is proving the basic facts of the rental relationship. You need the full legal names of every adult living in the property, the street address, and records showing rent was paid and accepted. Dated rent receipts, bank deposit records, Venmo or Cash App history, text messages discussing rent, and a written ledger all help establish what the parties agreed to and when payments were due.

You also need a copy of the written notice to quit and proof of how and when it was delivered. These feed directly into the complaint, which under Arkansas Code 18-60-307 includes an affidavit swearing you are entitled to possession and that proper demand was made.²

The 10-Day Notice for Unpaid Rent

If the reason you want the tenant out is nonpayment, Arkansas gives you a second route that runs alongside the civil case. Under Arkansas Code 18-16-101, when rent is past due you can deliver a separate 10-day written notice to vacate. If the tenant stays after those 10 days, they can be charged with a misdemeanor. A court can impose a fine of up to $25 for each day they remain, with each day treated as a separate offense.⁴

This criminal path is separate from the unlawful detainer action and requires the involvement of local law enforcement or the county prosecutor’s office. You can pursue both at the same time. It only applies to nonpayment, not to general terminations where you simply want the tenant gone.

What You Can Collect If the Tenant Holds Over

A tenant who stays past the notice period without your consent is on the hook for more than just back rent. Under Arkansas Code 18-17-704, you can recover reasonable attorney’s fees from a tenant who holds over. If the holdover was willful, you can also recover up to three months’ rent or double the actual damages caused, whichever is greater, plus attorney’s fees on top.¹

On a $900-a-month rental, a willful holdover can mean $2,700 in statutory damages plus your legal bills. The statute distinguishes between a tenant who misunderstood the notice and one who deliberately ignored it.

Lockouts and Utility Shutoffs Are Illegal

The absence of a written lease does not give you any extra authority to clear the property yourself. Changing locks, removing doors or windows, shutting off utilities, or putting a tenant’s belongings on the curb without a court order are all illegal. A tenant who gets locked out or loses utilities through a self-help eviction can sue for forcible entry. The court can order the tenant restored to the property and award damages, costs, and attorney’s fees.

The one exception is when the tenant has clearly moved out or you reasonably believe the property has been abandoned. Short of that, the courthouse is the only legal path.

After the Tenant Is Out

Once a tenant has been legally removed or leaves after a court order, anything left behind is considered abandoned under Arkansas Code 18-16-108. You can dispose of, sell, or otherwise deal with the property as you see fit. Arkansas does not require a waiting period or advance notice to the former tenant before clearing the unit.⁵

This is one of the more landlord-friendly rules on the books and often surprises former tenants who assumed they could come back for their things.

Federal Limits That Still Apply

Two federal rules sit on top of the state process whether or not a lease was ever written down.

The Fair Housing Act prohibits terminating a tenancy based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin. You can end an oral tenancy for any lawful reason, but if the real motive is one of those protected characteristics, the eviction violates federal law.⁶

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act gives active-duty military tenants additional protection. You cannot evict a servicemember from a primary residence during their military service without a court order, even in a no-lease situation, and the court can stay the proceedings for at least 90 days if military duties prevent the tenant from appearing. The protection applies when the monthly rent falls below an annually adjusted threshold set by the statute.⁷

1
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 18-17-704 – Periodic Tenancy – Holdover Remedies
2
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 18-60-307 – Proceedings in Court
3
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 21-6-307 – Sheriffs
4
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 18-16-101 – Failure to Pay Rent – Refusal to Vacate Upon Notice – Penalty
5
Justia Law. Arkansas Code 18-16-108 – Property Left on Premises After Termination of Lease
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S. Code 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress