Arkansas Eviction Notice Laws: The Landlord and Tenant Guide
Two Parallel Tracks · 3-Day Civil Unlawful Detainer · 10-Day Criminal Statute · 5-Day and 14-Day 2007 Act · 30-Day Termination
Arkansas is the most landlord-friendly state in the country, and its eviction law is unlike any other. Where most states funnel every eviction through a single civil process, Arkansas gives a landlord two parallel tracks: a civil unlawful detainer that begins with a three-day notice to quit under Arkansas Code section 18-60-304, and a genuinely unusual criminal failure-to-vacate statute, Arkansas Code section 18-16-101, that after a ten-day notice can make a tenant’s refusal to leave a misdemeanor. A third, more modern route runs through the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007. This guide walks the whole framework end to end — the two tracks and the 2007 Act, how many days each notice needs, how a month-to-month tenancy is ended, why Arkansas has no general retaliation statute, and the state’s peculiar history with the warranty of habitability — in plain English, with every rule tied to a concrete action.
The stakes are practical. Arkansas courts still expect a landlord to follow the statute he chooses: use the wrong notice period, skip the written demand section 18-60-304 requires, or mix the tracks, and a tenant can defeat the case and force the landlord to start over. At the same time, tenant protections that exist almost everywhere else — a broad implied warranty of habitability, a retaliation defense, relocation assistance — are absent or sharply limited here. Because the criminal track sits under an active constitutional cloud and the day-counts and court rules have shifted in recent years, treat every figure in this guide as a starting point and verify the current statute before you serve or file anything.
Below, an overview video summarizes the Arkansas framework; the sections that follow break down each piece — the two tracks, the 2007 Act, the notice types and their day-counts, month-to-month termination, service and the court process, the retaliation and habitability peculiarities, a landlord playbook, and defensible-versus-fatal scenarios — plus an Arkansas-specific FAQ.
Arkansas Eviction Notices at a Glance
Civil Nonpayment
3-day notice to quit + written demand
Criminal Track
10-day notice; misdemeanor (contested)
2007 Act
5-day nonpayment; 14-day cure
Month-to-Month
30-day termination; no just cause
Two Parallel Tracks — and a Third Modern Path
The single most important thing to understand about Arkansas eviction law is that it is not one process but several, and choosing among them is the landlord’s first decision. Most states have exactly one civil eviction lawsuit. Arkansas has historically had two distinct statutory routes that operate side by side, plus a more modern remedy layered on top by the 2007 Act.
Track One: The Civil Unlawful Detainer
The mainstream route is the civil unlawful detainer under Arkansas Code section 18-60-304. For nonpayment, the landlord serves a three-day notice to quit and makes a written demand for possession; if the tenant does not leave, the landlord files an unlawful detainer suit, and the court, on the landlord’s affidavit of entitlement, issues a notice of intent to issue a writ of possession. This is the track most Arkansas landlords and attorneys use, because it ends in a clean civil judgment for possession and a writ the sheriff or constable executes.
Track Two: The Criminal Failure-to-Vacate Statute
The unusual route is the criminal failure-to-vacate statute, Arkansas Code section 18-16-101. After the landlord gives ten days written notice to vacate, a tenant who has failed to pay rent and willfully refuses to leave can be charged with a misdemeanor, and each day the tenant stays is treated as a separate offense. For years this made Arkansas the only state in the nation that criminalized a tenant’s failure to pay rent while remaining in the unit. As discussed below, this track has been repeatedly attacked as unconstitutional, and using it drags a prosecutor and the criminal court into what is really a rent dispute.
Track Three: The 2007 Residential Landlord-Tenant Act
Layered on top is the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007, at Arkansas Code Title 18 Chapter 17. It provides its own landlord remedies: if rent is unpaid five days after it is due, the landlord may terminate under Arkansas Code section 18-17-701; for a curable lease violation other than nonpayment, the landlord must give fourteen days to remedy. The Act’s remedies are pursued as civil actions in district or circuit court. It also supplies the thirty-day rule for ending a month-to-month tenancy.
Do not mix the tracks
Because Arkansas offers more than one route, a common error is to blend them — citing the criminal ten-day notice while filing a civil suit, or citing the 2007 Act’s five-day rule while relying on the unlawful detainer statute. Pick one track, use its notice period and its statute, and follow it through. Mismatched notice-and-statute pleadings give a tenant an easy defense.
Takeaway
Arkansas has two parallel eviction tracks plus the 2007 Act: the civil unlawful detainer (3-day notice to quit under section 18-60-304), the criminal failure-to-vacate statute (10-day notice under section 18-16-101, and constitutionally contested), and the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 (5 days for nonpayment, 14 days to cure). Choose one track and follow it exactly.
The Civil Unlawful Detainer: Arkansas Code Section 18-60-304
The civil unlawful detainer is the workhorse of Arkansas eviction practice, and Arkansas Code section 18-60-304 defines when a tenant is unlawfully detaining. The statute lists several grounds, and each one turns on a written act by the landlord.
A tenant is guilty of unlawful detainer when the tenant fails or refuses to pay rent when due, and after three days written notice to quit and a written demand for possession refuses to quit; when the tenant holds over after the lease has ended; when the tenant unlawfully refuses to vacate after a written demand for possession; when the tenant fails to keep the premises safe, healthy, or habitable where that duty applies; or when the tenant allows the premises to become a nuisance. The statute’s insistence that the demand be made in writing by the person entitled to possession, or that person’s agent or attorney, is not optional — an oral demand does not start the clock.
The Three-Day Notice to Quit
For a nonpayment unlawful detainer, the landlord’s opening move is a three-day notice to quit coupled with a written demand for possession. Unlike some states, Arkansas does not give the tenant a statutory right to cure by paying within those three days on this track; the notice to quit demands possession, and if the tenant does not leave within the three days, the landlord may file suit. Because the statute is specific about the written demand, the safest notice states the amount of rent due, demands possession, and gives the tenant three days to quit.
Filing, the Affidavit, and the Notice of Intent
Once the three days pass, the landlord files a complaint in unlawful detainer, supported by an affidavit stating that the landlord is lawfully entitled to possession and that the tenant is unlawfully detaining after a proper written demand. The court then issues a notice of intent to issue a writ of possession, which is served on the tenant along with the summons and complaint. That notice is what starts the tenant’s short window to object.
Takeaway
On the civil track, Arkansas Code section 18-60-304 requires a three-day written notice to quit and a written demand for possession before filing. There is no statutory pay-to-stay right on this track; after three days the landlord files a complaint with an affidavit, and the court issues a notice of intent to issue a writ of possession.
The Criminal Track: Arkansas Code Section 18-16-101
No other state has anything quite like Arkansas Code section 18-16-101. It makes a tenant’s refusal to vacate after nonpayment a criminal matter. Under the statute, if a landlord gives the tenant ten days written notice to vacate and the tenant willfully refuses to surrender possession, the tenant is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine, with each day the tenant unnecessarily holds over treated as a separate offense.
The criminal statute is under a constitutional cloud
Section 18-16-101 has been challenged repeatedly. In 2015, in a Pulaski County case commonly cited as State v. Artoria Smith, a circuit judge held the failure-to-vacate statute unconstitutional as a form of imprisonment for debt, and several other Arkansas circuit courts reached the same result. The legislature amended the statute in 2017 to try to address the objections, but no binding statewide appellate decision has settled its validity, and the constitutional challenge itself is a defense. Many Arkansas landlords and attorneys therefore avoid the criminal track entirely and use the civil unlawful detainer.
Practically, the criminal route also behaves differently from a civil eviction: it is prosecuted, not filed by the landlord as a civil plaintiff, and it produces a fine rather than a clean writ of possession. Because of the constitutional uncertainty and the awkwardness of routing a rent dispute through the criminal court, treat this track as a historical peculiarity to understand rather than a tool to reach for first. If it is used at all, confirm its current status in the relevant county before relying on it.
Takeaway
The criminal failure-to-vacate statute, Arkansas Code section 18-16-101, uses a ten-day notice and can make a refusal to vacate a misdemeanor with each day a separate offense — but it has been repeatedly held unconstitutional as imprisonment for debt, and the civil unlawful detainer is the safer route.
The 2007 Act: 5-Day Nonpayment and 14-Day Cure
The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007, at Arkansas Code Title 18 Chapter 17, is the state’s most modern landlord-tenant framework, and its landlord-remedy section supplies two more notice paths that a landlord may use when the Act governs the tenancy.
Nonpayment: Five Days After Rent Is Due
Under Arkansas Code section 18-17-701, if rent is unpaid when due and the tenant fails to pay within five days of the due date, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement. Unlike the ordinary lease-violation path, this five-day nonpayment remedy does not require an additional cure period beyond that window — the failure to pay within five days is itself the trigger. The landlord then pursues the eviction as a civil action in district or circuit court.
Other Lease Violations: Fourteen Days to Cure
For a tenant’s noncompliance other than nonpayment — a curable lease breach such as an unauthorized occupant or a prohibited pet — section 18-17-701 requires the landlord to deliver a written notice specifying the acts constituting the noncompliance and stating that the agreement terminates on a date not less than fourteen days after receipt if the tenant does not remedy it. If the tenant cures within the fourteen days, the tenancy continues; if not, it terminates as stated.
Attorney fees and no bond to file
The Act lets a landlord recover actual damages and obtain a judgment or eviction in circuit or district court without posting bond for the tenant’s noncompliance. Where the tenant’s willful noncompliance is something other than nonpayment, or where a nonpayment is not in good faith, the Act allows the landlord to recover reasonable attorney fees if represented by counsel. These are meaningful practical advantages of proceeding under the Act.
Takeaway
Under the 2007 Act (Arkansas Code section 18-17-701), a landlord may terminate for nonpayment when rent is unpaid five days after it is due, and must give fourteen days to cure a curable lease violation other than nonpayment. The Act allows eviction without posting bond and, in some cases, recovery of attorney fees.
Ending a Month-to-Month Tenancy: Section 18-17-704
When a landlord simply wants to end a periodic tenancy and no lease violation is involved, Arkansas Code section 18-17-704 sets the notice. Because Arkansas has no just-cause requirement, the landlord does not need to state a reason — only give the correct notice.
| Tenancy | Notice required | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Month-to-month | 30 days written notice before the termination date | Arkansas Code section 18-17-704 |
| Week-to-week | 7 days written notice before the termination date | Arkansas Code section 18-17-704 |
| Fixed-term lease | Ends at term; landlord may decline to renew, no just cause needed | Lease and general law |
Either party may terminate a month-to-month tenancy on thirty days written notice, and a week-to-week tenancy on seven days written notice, in each case given before the stated termination date. If the tenant does not leave by the termination date, the landlord’s next step is the civil unlawful detainer — the thirty-day notice ends the tenancy, but it is still a court process, not a self-help move, that recovers possession.
Federal coverage can override the short state notices
For a rental that is a covered dwelling under the federal CARES Act — broadly, properties with a federally backed mortgage or that take part in a federal housing program — the tenant generally must receive at least thirty days written notice to vacate before a nonpayment eviction, which is longer than Arkansas’s three-day or ten-day notices. Section 8 and other subsidized tenancies carry their own program rules. Before serving a short state notice, confirm whether the property is federally covered.
Takeaway
A no-fault termination of a month-to-month tenancy takes 30 days, and a week-to-week tenancy 7 days, under Arkansas Code section 18-17-704 — and Arkansas requires no just cause. Federally covered dwellings may require a 30-day notice for nonpayment under the CARES Act, so check coverage first.
How Many Days Each Notice Requires
Arkansas’s multiple tracks make the day-count table the single most useful reference on the page. Match the ground to the track, and use the correct number of days for that track.
| Situation | Days required | Track and statute |
|---|---|---|
| Nonpayment (civil unlawful detainer) | 3 days notice to quit + written demand | Civil — Arkansas Code section 18-60-304 |
| Nonpayment (criminal, contested) | 10 days notice to vacate | Criminal — Arkansas Code section 18-16-101 |
| Nonpayment (2007 Act) | Terminate if unpaid 5 days after due | 2007 Act — Arkansas Code section 18-17-701 |
| Curable lease violation | 14 days to cure | 2007 Act — Arkansas Code section 18-17-701 |
| No-fault, month-to-month | 30 days written notice | Arkansas Code section 18-17-704 |
| No-fault, week-to-week | 7 days written notice | Arkansas Code section 18-17-704 |
| Federally covered dwelling (nonpayment) | Often 30 days — verify coverage | Federal CARES Act layers on top |
Never file before the period runs
Whichever track a landlord picks, filing before the notice period has fully expired is a classic, avoidable defect. Count the days from the day after the notice is delivered, and when a federal thirty-day notice may apply, use the longer period. Filing one day early can hand the tenant a defense and force the landlord to start again with a fresh notice.
Takeaway
Match the ground to the track: 3 days to quit for a civil nonpayment unlawful detainer, 10 days on the contested criminal statute, 5 days for the 2007 Act nonpayment remedy, 14 days to cure a lease violation, and 30 days for a no-fault month-to-month termination. Federally covered dwellings may need 30 days for nonpayment.
Serving the Notice and the Court Papers
A notice that says the right thing still fails if the landlord cannot prove it was delivered. Arkansas does not demand a single rigid method for the pre-suit notice, but the practical rule is to use a method you can prove and to keep records.
| Method | How it works | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Personal delivery | Hand the notice to the tenant, or to an adult occupant at the unit | Preferred; the cleanest proof |
| Post and mail | Affix a copy on the premises AND mail a copy to the tenant at the property | When personal delivery is not possible |
| Certified mail | Send the notice by certified mail with return receipt requested | To document delivery for the court file |
Once the landlord files the civil unlawful detainer, service of the summons, complaint, affidavit, and notice of intent to issue a writ of possession is handled through the court process by the sheriff, constable, or an authorized process server. Posting a notice on an exterior door with no mailing, or relying on an oral demand, is the kind of shortcut that gets an unlawful detainer dismissed. Keep a written record of who served each notice, how, when, and where.
Keep proof of every notice
Because section 18-60-304 requires a written demand and a proper notice, the landlord who cannot prove delivery may be unable to prove the notice period ever ran. A signed record of delivery, a certified-mail receipt, or a process server’s return is the difference between a provable case and a losing one.
Takeaway
Serve the pre-suit notice by a method you can prove — personal delivery, post-and-mail, or certified mail with return receipt. Once suit is filed, the court serves the summons, complaint, affidavit, and notice of intent through the sheriff or constable. An unprovable or oral demand can sink the case.
After the Notice: The Court Process and the Writ
If the notice period expires and the tenant has not paid or left, the landlord’s lawful next step is to file the civil unlawful detainer. In Arkansas, district court has jurisdiction concurrent with the circuit court over these actions where court rules allow, so many evictions are heard in district court in the county where the property sits.
Serve the notice and written demand
Deliver the correct written notice for the track — three days to quit with a written demand for a nonpayment unlawful detainer — and keep proof of delivery.
File the complaint and affidavit
After the notice period runs, file a complaint in unlawful detainer in the county court, with an affidavit stating the landlord is lawfully entitled to possession and the tenant is unlawfully detaining after written demand.
Serve the papers and notice of intent
The tenant is served with the summons, complaint, affidavit, and the notice of intent to issue a writ of possession, which starts the tenant’s short window to object.
Tenant objects within five days
The tenant generally has five days, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, to file a written objection or response. A tenant who does not respond can lose possession by default.
Hearing, judgment, and writ
If contested, the court holds a hearing and the landlord must prove every element. On a judgment for possession, the court issues a writ that the sheriff or constable — not the landlord — executes.
The five-day objection window is short
An Arkansas tenant served with the unlawful detainer papers generally has only five days, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, to file a written objection with the court. Miss it, and the tenant can lose the home by default and face an immediate writ. Historically Arkansas also required the tenant to pay the disputed rent into the court registry to contest possession, but that bond requirement has been substantially curtailed. Because the window is short, a tenant who intends to fight must act at once.
Only the sheriff or constable can remove a tenant
A judgment for possession does not let the landlord change the locks personally. The court issues a writ of possession that the sheriff or constable executes, physically restoring possession to the landlord. Any shortcut around the writ is an unlawful self-help eviction that can expose the landlord to the tenant’s damages.
Takeaway
The civil unlawful detainer is filed in the county court — district court shares jurisdiction with circuit court — with a supporting affidavit. The tenant generally has only five days (excluding Sundays and holidays) to object, and a judgment ends in a writ the sheriff or constable executes, never a personal lockout.
Retaliation and Habitability: The Arkansas Peculiarities
Two features set Arkansas apart from nearly every other state, and both cut against defenses a tenant might expect to have. A landlord and tenant should each understand them clearly, because assuming Arkansas works like a more tenant-protective state leads to costly mistakes.
No General Retaliation Statute
Arkansas has no general anti-retaliation statute. Unlike most states, Arkansas law does not broadly forbid a landlord from raising rent, cutting services, or moving to terminate a tenancy after a tenant complains to a code agency or asserts a right, and there is no statutory retaliation presumption a tenant can invoke to defeat an eviction. The protections that do exist are federal and narrow: the Fair Housing Act forbids retaliation for exercising fair-housing rights, and the federal lead-based-paint disclosure rules and certain federal housing programs add limited protection. A tenant should not assume the retaliation defense that exists elsewhere applies here; it generally does not.
Long Alone on the Warranty of Habitability
For most of its history Arkansas stood alone as the only state with no general implied warranty of habitability. State law did not automatically require a landlord to keep a rental in livable condition unless the lease said so or a local housing code applied, and courts were reluctant to imply such a duty. The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 imposes only limited tenant duties and does not create a broad landlord repair obligation. The practical effect in an eviction is stark: a habitability defense that would defeat a nonpayment eviction in most states has far less footing in Arkansas. Local housing codes, lease terms, and federal program rules can still impose duties, so both sides should check those for the specific property.
Federal fair housing still applies
Even in the most landlord-friendly state, a landlord may not evict, refuse to renew, or choose the timing of an eviction because of a tenant’s race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. The federal Fair Housing Act reaches Arkansas rentals, and a discriminatory eviction is unlawful regardless of the state’s thin tenant-protection landscape.
Takeaway
Arkansas has no general retaliation statute and long stood alone with no general implied warranty of habitability. Tenant defenses that work elsewhere — retaliation presumptions, broad habitability offsets — have little footing here. The main outside limit is the federal Fair Housing Act, which still forbids discriminatory evictions.
Tenant Defenses in Arkansas
Even in a landlord-friendly state, a tenant who appears and contests can raise real defenses — but the defenses that matter in Arkansas are narrower than elsewhere, and appearing at the hearing is the threshold move. A tenant who never responds loses by default.
- Defective notice or demand. No written notice, the wrong number of days for the chosen track, or a missing written demand for possession under section 18-60-304 — each can defeat the case.
- Mismatched track. Citing the criminal ten-day notice while filing a civil suit, or the 2007 Act’s five-day rule while pleading unlawful detainer, is a pleading defect a tenant can raise.
- Payment made in time. If the tenant paid the rent due before the eviction was filed, the grounds can evaporate; receipts and bank records win.
- Filed too early. Filing before the notice period fully expired is grounds to dismiss.
- Constitutional challenge to the criminal statute. On the failure-to-vacate track, the unresolved constitutionality of section 18-16-101 is itself a defense.
- Federal coverage ignored. Using a short state notice on a CARES-Act-covered dwelling that required a thirty-day notice can defeat a nonpayment eviction.
- Discrimination. An eviction motivated by a protected class under the federal Fair Housing Act is unlawful.
Showing up is the tenant’s biggest lever
The fastest path to a landlord judgment in Arkansas is a tenant who never files the five-day objection — a default. A tenant who responds in time and appears forces the landlord to prove every element and opens the door to the defenses above. For landlords, the lesson is the mirror image: assume the tenant will appear, and make the notice, the written demand, and the filing flawless.
Takeaway
Arkansas tenant defenses center on defective notice, a mismatched track, timely payment, filing too early, and the constitutional challenge to the criminal statute, with federal fair-housing and CARES-Act coverage adding outside limits. But a tenant must file the five-day objection and appear, or lose by default.
The Arkansas Landlord Playbook
Put the whole framework into a repeatable sequence and an Arkansas eviction becomes a disciplined, winnable process. Follow these steps every time.
Choose the track — use the civil route
Decide the ground, then pick the civil unlawful detainer over the constitutionally contested criminal statute. Match the ground to nonpayment, a curable lease breach, or a no-fault month-to-month termination.
Check for federal coverage
Before serving a short notice, confirm whether the property is a CARES-Act-covered dwelling or a subsidized tenancy that requires a thirty-day notice for nonpayment.
Serve the correct written notice and demand
Use three days to quit with a written demand for a nonpayment unlawful detainer, fourteen days to cure a lease violation under the 2007 Act, or thirty days for a month-to-month termination. Put it in writing and keep proof.
Count the days and never file early
Count from the day after delivery, and where a federal thirty-day notice applies, use the longer period. Do not file until the notice period has fully passed.
File with an affidavit and let the officer execute the writ
File the complaint with the required affidavit in the correct county court, serve the papers and notice of intent, and if you prevail, let the sheriff or constable execute the writ of possession.
Need the notice itself?
A ready-to-fill notice keeps the required fields in place. See our free Arkansas 3-day notice to pay rent or quit form, the Arkansas notice to cure or quit, the Arkansas unconditional quit notice, and the Arkansas notice to vacate. Always tailor the details to your unit and verify current law.
Defensible Versus Fatal: Common Scenarios
✓ Usually Defensible
- Civil nonpayment done right. A three-day notice to quit with a written demand for possession under section 18-60-304, filed after the three days with a proper affidavit.
- Fourteen-day cure under the 2007 Act. A written notice naming the specific lease breach and giving fourteen days to cure, with the tenant failing to fix it.
- Documented month-to-month termination. A thirty-day written notice under section 18-17-704 to a tenant with no lease violation, followed by an unlawful detainer if the tenant stays.
- Officer-executed writ. Waiting for the judgment and letting the sheriff or constable post and remove — never a personal lockout.
✕ Likely Fatal
- Mismatched track. Citing the criminal ten-day notice while filing a civil unlawful detainer, or vice versa.
- Filed too early. Filing before the three-day, fourteen-day, or thirty-day period has fully run.
- Oral or unprovable demand. Relying on an oral demand, or a posting with no mailing and no record, when section 18-60-304 requires a written demand.
- Short notice on a covered dwelling. Using a three-day notice where the CARES Act required a thirty-day notice, or a self-help lockout.
The Best Eviction Is the One You Never File
Most eviction disputes trace back to a tenant who showed red flags before move-in. Comprehensive credit, income, and eviction-history reports catch prior evictions and payment problems before you ever sign a lease.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days is an Arkansas eviction notice?
It depends on which track the landlord uses. For a civil unlawful detainer based on nonpayment, Arkansas Code section 18-60-304 requires three days written notice to quit and a written demand for possession before the landlord can file suit. Under the separate criminal failure-to-vacate statute, Arkansas Code section 18-16-101, the landlord gives ten days written notice to vacate before a tenant who fails to pay and stays can be charged with a misdemeanor. Under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007, a landlord may terminate for nonpayment if rent is unpaid five days after it is due, and for other lease violations must give fourteen days to cure. A no-fault month-to-month termination under Arkansas Code section 18-17-704 requires thirty days. Always verify current law before serving.
What are the two eviction tracks in Arkansas?
Arkansas is unusual in offering two parallel eviction routes. The first is the civil unlawful detainer under Arkansas Code section 18-60-304, in which the landlord serves a three-day notice to quit and written demand, then files a civil suit in district or circuit court that ends in a judgment for possession and a writ. The second is the criminal failure-to-vacate statute, Arkansas Code section 18-16-101, historically the only law in the country that made a tenant’s failure to pay rent while staying in the unit a crime; after ten days written notice, a tenant who willfully refuses to vacate can be charged with a misdemeanor carrying a fine, with each day a separate offense. The criminal track has been repeatedly challenged as unconstitutional and many practitioners avoid it. A third, more modern route runs through the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007.
Does Arkansas require just cause to evict?
No. Arkansas does not have a just-cause eviction requirement. A landlord may end a month-to-month tenancy for any lawful reason, or no stated reason, by giving thirty days written notice under Arkansas Code section 18-17-704, and may decline to renew a fixed-term lease when it ends. There is no state relocation-assistance obligation and no state list of allowable reasons. The only limits are federal, chiefly the Fair Housing Act, which forbids terminating a tenancy because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. Arkansas is widely regarded as the most landlord-friendly state in the country.
Is the Arkansas criminal failure-to-vacate statute still enforceable?
It remains on the books at Arkansas Code section 18-16-101, but it sits under a constitutional cloud. In 2015 a Pulaski County circuit judge, in State v. Artoria Smith, declared the failure-to-vacate statute unconstitutional as a form of imprisonment for debt, and several other circuit courts reached the same conclusion. The legislature amended the statute in 2017 in an attempt to address the objections, but its validity is still contested and no binding statewide appellate ruling has settled the question. Because a landlord who uses the criminal track risks a defense that the statute is unconstitutional, and because it draws the prosecutor and the criminal court into a rent dispute, many Arkansas landlords and attorneys rely on the civil unlawful detainer instead. Confirm the current status before relying on it.
Does Arkansas have an implied warranty of habitability?
For most of its history Arkansas stood alone as the only state with no general implied warranty of habitability, meaning state law did not automatically require a landlord to keep a rental in livable condition unless the lease said so or a local housing code applied. The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 imposes only limited tenant duties and does not create a broad repair obligation, and courts have been reluctant to imply one. This peculiarity matters in eviction cases because a habitability defense that would defeat a nonpayment eviction in most states has far less footing in Arkansas. Local housing codes, lease terms, and federal program rules can still impose duties, so check those for the specific property.
Can an Arkansas landlord evict in retaliation?
Arkansas has no general anti-retaliation statute. Unlike most states, Arkansas law does not broadly forbid a landlord from raising rent, cutting services, or moving to end a tenancy after a tenant complains to a code agency or asserts a right, and there is no statutory retaliation presumption a tenant can invoke. The narrow exceptions come from federal law: the Fair Housing Act protects against retaliation for exercising fair-housing rights, and certain federal programs and the federal lead-based-paint disclosure rules add limited protection. Do not assume Arkansas offers the retaliation defense that exists elsewhere; it generally does not.
How do you serve an eviction notice in Arkansas?
The notice to quit or notice to vacate should be in writing and delivered in a way the landlord can prove. Common methods are handing it to the tenant personally, delivering it to an adult occupant at the unit, or posting it on the premises together with a mailed copy, and certified mail with return receipt is often used to document delivery. Once the landlord files the civil unlawful detainer, service of the summons, complaint, affidavit, and the notice of intent to issue a writ of possession is handled by the court process through the sheriff, constable, or an authorized process server. Keep proof of how and when every notice was delivered, because an unprovable notice can sink the case.
How long does an Arkansas tenant have to respond to an unlawful detainer?
After being served with an unlawful detainer complaint and the notice of intent to issue a writ of possession, an Arkansas tenant generally has five days, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, to file a written objection or response with the court. A tenant who does not respond in time can lose possession by default and face an immediate writ. Historically Arkansas also required the tenant to pay the disputed rent into the court registry to contest possession, but that bond requirement has been substantially curtailed. Because the window is short, a tenant who intends to fight the eviction must act quickly.
Can an Arkansas landlord change the locks or shut off utilities to force a tenant out?
No. Self-help eviction is not lawful in Arkansas. A landlord may not change the locks, shut off water, gas, or electricity, remove the tenant’s belongings, or otherwise force a tenant out without a court order. The landlord’s remedy is to serve the required notice, obtain a judgment for possession through the civil unlawful detainer, and have the sheriff or constable execute a writ of possession. A landlord who resorts to self-help exposes himself to a claim for the tenant’s damages and can turn a straightforward eviction into a lawsuit he loses.
What court hears an eviction in Arkansas?
An unlawful detainer is filed in the county where the property sits. District court has jurisdiction concurrent with the circuit court over these actions where court rules allow, so many evictions are heard in district court, while the classic unlawful detainer statute is set in circuit court. The complaint must be accompanied by an affidavit stating that the landlord is lawfully entitled to possession and that the tenant is unlawfully detaining after a proper written demand. If the landlord prevails, the court issues a judgment for possession and a writ that the sheriff or constable executes. Confirm the correct court for the property’s county before filing.
Does the federal CARES Act 30-day notice apply in Arkansas?
It can. For a rental that is a covered dwelling under the federal CARES Act, chiefly properties with a federally backed mortgage or that participate in a federal housing program, the tenant must generally receive at least thirty days written notice to vacate before an eviction for nonpayment, which is longer than Arkansas’s three-day or ten-day state notices. Section 8 and other subsidized tenancies carry their own program notice rules as well. Before serving a short state notice, confirm whether the property is federally covered, because using the shorter state notice on a covered dwelling can defeat the eviction.
What makes an Arkansas eviction notice or filing defective?
Common fatal problems include using an oral notice instead of a written one, giving fewer days than the chosen track requires, failing to make the written demand for possession that section 18-60-304 requires, mixing up the tracks by citing the wrong statute or notice period, filing before the notice period has run, naming the wrong tenant or wrong property, and being unable to prove how the notice was served. On the criminal track, the constitutional challenges to section 18-16-101 are themselves a defense. Because Arkansas courts still expect the landlord to follow the statute he chose, precision about which track, which notice, and how many days decides many cases.
What is the safest way for an Arkansas landlord to handle an eviction?
Use the civil unlawful detainer, not the criminal statute. Pick the ground, serve the correct written notice for that ground, three days to quit with a written demand for a nonpayment unlawful detainer, five days for the 2007 Act nonpayment remedy, fourteen days to cure a curable lease violation, or thirty days for a no-fault month-to-month termination. Confirm whether the CARES Act thirty-day notice applies. Keep provable proof of service, file in the correct county court with the required affidavit, and let the sheriff or constable execute any writ. Never resort to a lockout. A clean notice and a clean filing are the foundation of a winning case.
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