How to become a landlord in Arkansas

No section read requires an Arkansas-specific disclosure in a residential lease, but this page could not read every older Code section, so it does not say there are none. Federal law requires the lead-based paint disclosure for most homes built before 1978 (42 U.S.C. § 4852d).

• Giving the tenant the move-in defect form is optional but protects you on the quality standards (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-502(c)(1)).See Move-in condition on the Arkansas page

The landlord-tenant act has no section requiring you to disclose the owner's or manager's name and address. A tenant's notice reaches you when it comes to your attention or is delivered at the place of business through which the rental agreement was made or at any place you held out for receiving notices (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-303(b)(2)).

No section read requires a flood disclosure in an Arkansas lease; this page did not search every Arkansas statute (Ark. Code Ann. §§ 18-17-101 to 18-17-913).

Neither the landlord-tenant act nor a lease may stop a tenant from correctly installing, at the tenant's expense, a battery-powered or plug-in smoke or carbon monoxide detector. If the tenant installs one, the tenant alone is responsible for checking that it works, keeping it in working order and any damage from installing or removing it. The Arkansas Fire Prevention Code, adopted by rule, was not read (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-502(e)).

No section read requires you to provide or rekey locks. The tenant must not change the locks without your permission. If a tenant or household member is a victim of domestic abuse shown in a court order, you or a tenant who is not the offender may change the locks at the tenant's expense with your prior consent, and whoever changes them gives the other a copy of the new key immediately, or as soon as possible if the other is unavailable (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-602(b); Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-112(b)(2)).

• If the offender is under a court order to stay away, you may refuse the offender access unless a court order allows it, and you may seek to end the offender's tenancy, evict the offender and recover unpaid rent and damages from the offender (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-112(c)).
• You are immune from civil liability for changing the locks in good faith under this law or acting in good faith under the court order (Arkansas Legislature Code access: 18-16-112(e)).

The Arkansas Attorney General's published guidance describes a two-month-rent maximum security deposit for covered rentals and says the deposit law applies to landlords renting six or more dwellings. This page has not read the current Code provisions on the cap, coverage or penalties. Confirm all applicable coverage conditions and exceptions before collecting a deposit; the overview is not a complete statutory coverage test. The landlord-tenant act refers deposit questions to those Code sections (Arkansas Attorney General: deposit guidance; Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-501).

• The landlord-tenant act says the deposit part of the Code decides whether a security deposit is required and the rights, duties and remedies of landlord and tenant for a deposit (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-501).
• Cities, counties and other local governments may not control the amount charged for rental deposits, except as the Code's deposit section provides (Ark. Code Ann. § 14-54-1409(b)).See Rent control and local rules on the Arkansas page

This page could not read the Arkansas deposit sections outside the landlord-tenant act, so it cannot say whether a separate account or interest is required. None of the sections read mentions either.

No section read requires a move-in checklist, but the quality standards law rewards one. If you give the tenant, when possession is available, a written form to list defects in the six quality standards, you are treated as meeting those standards when the tenant signs it without noting a defect and takes possession, or does not return it within two business days (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-502(c)(1)).

• The six standards are hot and cold running water, electricity, potable drinking water, sanitary sewer and plumbing, a functioning roof and building envelope, and heating and air conditioning where it served the home when the lease was made (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-502(a)).See Repairs and habitability on the Arkansas page

No section read limits what a landlord may charge for an application or screening. State law bars cities, counties and other local governments from controlling the amount of rental application fees (Ark. Code Ann. § 14-54-1409(b)).

• The ban on local control applies to landlords, property owners, property managers, tenants, prospective tenants and real estate companies doing business in Arkansas (Ark. Code Ann. § 14-54-1409(b)(2)).