Arkansas changed exactly one thing about rental law in 2025, and it cut in landlords' favor: Act 459 (SB 91, signed April 3, 2025) says cities and counties have no authority to regulate what you charge as a rental application fee or security deposit, for residential or commercial property. Stacked on the state's existing ban on local rent control (Ark. Code § 14-54-1409), it means there is now one statewide rulebook; no Little Rock or Fayetteville ordinance can add its own pricing rules on top.
The change that still catches working landlords is older. Act 1052 of 2021 ended Arkansas's run as the only state with no implied warranty of habitability, and plenty of leases written before it still haven't caught up. Beyond those two laws, the 2024 and 2025 sessions left the fundamentals untouched, so the numbers below are stable ground.
Act 1052, four years on: the habitability floor your lease can't waive
For every lease signed or renewed after November 1, 2021, Arkansas implies minimum "residential quality standards": a structurally sound roof and building, potable running water, available electricity, available plumbing and a sanitary sewer connection, and functioning heat and air conditioning to the extent they were available when the lease began (Ark. Code § 18-17-502). You can't write these out of the lease; the statute is nonwaivable.
The remedy structure is unusually landlord-friendly, though. A tenant who claims a violation must give you written notice, and you get 30 calendar days to fix the problem. If you don't, the tenant's remedy is to walk: terminate the lease without penalty and collect the deposit back. The statute gives tenants no right to withhold rent, offset repair costs, or sue to force the repair. Treat the 30-day window seriously anyway; losing a paying tenant over a $400 water heater is bad math.
Security deposits: two months, 60 days, and a small-landlord carve-out
The cap is two months' rent (Ark. Code § 18-16-304). But Arkansas's deposit subchapter has a quirk almost no other state shares: it doesn't apply at all to a landlord who owns five or fewer rental units, counting units owned by a spouse, minor children, and entities you control, unless the units are managed by a third party for a fee (Ark. Code § 18-16-303). Hand your fourplex to a property manager and the cap and refund rules snap into force.
Covered means the ceiling is real: on a $1,100 rental you can hold $2,200, and not a dollar more as "security," whatever the line item is called. The refund clock is 60 days from termination of the tenancy, with a written, itemized list of deductions for unpaid rent and damage (Ark. Code § 18-16-305). If you mail the refund to the tenant's last known address and it comes back undelivered, the money becomes yours 180 days after mailing.
Miss the deadline or withhold wrongfully and § 18-16-306 makes it expensive: the tenant can recover the amount due plus damages of twice the amount wrongfully withheld, plus costs and attorney fees. There's a safety valve for honest mistakes and good-faith disputes, but you'd rather never argue it. Rentari flags the 60-day deadline automatically when an Arkansas lease ends. If you also own across the state line, note the gap: Texas gives you half the time on its deposit clock.
Rent, late fees, and raises: one statewide market
Arkansas sets no cap on rent, rent increases, or late fees, and no statutory grace period; the lease you write is the rule that governs. Under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act, once rent goes unpaid for five days past the due date, you may terminate the rental agreement (Ark. Code § 18-17-701(b)), so in practice every Arkansas lease carries a built-in five-day fuse.
On a month-to-month tenancy, raise rent the same way you'd end the tenancy: 30 days' written notice (Ark. Code § 18-17-704). Fixed-term rents hold until renewal. And after Act 459, no city can regulate your application fees or deposits, so the statewide picture is the whole picture. Neighboring Oklahoma and Louisiana run the same market-priced approach, but their notice math differs, so don't reuse one state's forms in another.
Entry: the statute trusts your lease, so write a real entry clause
Arkansas sets no minimum notice period before a landlord enters. The Act simply says a tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent for you to enter to inspect, make repairs, or show the unit (Ark. Code § 18-17-602). That freedom is a trap for the unwritten lease: without a clause, every entry becomes a negotiation. Put 24 hours' notice and reasonable hours in the lease, follow it, and you'll never litigate the question.
Eviction: three tracks, and one of them is criminal
Arkansas gives landlords more than one path to possession, and choosing the right one matters.
The civil track (use this one). For nonpayment, serve a written notice to quit; if the tenant hasn't left after three days, they're committing unlawful detainer and you can file in circuit court (Ark. Code § 18-60-304). The court can issue a writ of possession early in the case unless the tenant objects in writing and deposits the disputed rent with the court. For lease violations other than rent, the Act uses a 14-day cure notice: the lease terminates in 14 days unless the tenant fixes the breach (Ark. Code § 18-17-701(a)).
The criminal track (know it exists, think twice). Arkansas is the only state where a tenant who fails to pay rent and refuses to leave commits a crime. After 10 days' written notice to vacate, a holdover tenant is guilty of a misdemeanor, fined $1 to $25 for each day they stay (Ark. Code § 18-16-101). Courts have repeatedly questioned the statute's constitutionality and prosecutors in a number of counties simply won't charge it, so treat the civil track as the reliable one.
No-cause endings. A month-to-month tenancy ends on 30 days' written notice from either side (Ark. Code § 18-17-704).
What you can't do is self-help. The Arkansas Supreme Court held in Gorman v. Ratliff that landlords must use the judicial process, so lock changes and utility shutoffs invite a lawsuit even in this landlord-friendly state. Let the sheriff execute the writ. The whole Residential Landlord-Tenant Act is short by statute-book standards; reading Chapter 17 in full takes less time than one contested hearing.
Disclosures: the shortest list in the country
Arkansas requires no state-specific disclosure paperwork: no owner-agent form, no move-in checklist mandate, no brochure. The one that still applies is federal: the lead-based paint disclosure and EPA pamphlet for pre-1978 housing. Do a photographed move-in checklist anyway; with a doubled-deposit penalty on the table under § 18-16-306, condition evidence is cheap insurance. Arkansas-specific leases and notices are in our forms library, and the one-screen summary of everything above lives on our Arkansas quick-reference page.
Arkansas landlord FAQ
Does the deposit cap even apply to me?
If you own five or fewer rental units and manage them yourself, the deposit subchapter (cap, 60-day refund, penalties) doesn't apply to you (Ark. Code § 18-16-303). Use a paid property manager and it does. Either way, two months' rent is the market norm.
How long do I have to return a security deposit?
Sixty days from termination, with an itemized list of deductions (Ark. Code § 18-16-305). Wrongful withholding risks double damages plus attorney fees (§ 18-16-306).
What notice do I need to evict for nonpayment?
Serve a written notice to quit; after three days, file unlawful detainer (Ark. Code § 18-60-304). The 10-day criminal route under § 18-16-101 exists but is constitutionally contested and unevenly enforced, so most landlords and attorneys stick to the civil case.
Can my tenant withhold rent until I make a repair?
No. Act 1052's quality standards give tenants exactly one remedy: written notice, a 30-day window for you to fix it, then lease termination with a deposit refund (Ark. Code § 18-17-502). Rent withholding and repair-and-deduct aren't part of Arkansas law.
Is there any limit on raising rent?
No state cap, and since Act 459 of 2025 no city or county may regulate rent, application fees, or deposit amounts. On month-to-month tenancies give 30 days' written notice (Ark. Code § 18-17-704); fixed-term leases wait for renewal.
This guide is general information for Arkansas landlords, not legal advice. Arkansas layers a 2007 act, an older deposit subchapter, and case law on top of each other, and details shift with new sessions, so verify anything you'll rely on against the current Arkansas Code or with a local landlord-tenant attorney.