How the Arkansas eviction process works
Most Arkansas apartment evictions run as unlawful detainer cases under Ark. Code 18-60-304 and 18-60-307. You serve a 3-day notice to quit, file a complaint and affidavit with the circuit clerk, and have the tenant served with a summons and a notice of intent to issue a writ of possession. If the tenant files no written objection within 5 days, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, the court can order the writ without a hearing.
The Arkansas Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 adds a second route in district court, and the criminal failure-to-vacate statute is a third. Our Arkansas landlord-tenant law guide covers deposits, entry and the 2021 habitability standards. This page goes step by step through the eviction itself.
Arkansas eviction notices
The notice depends on the reason and on which route you’ll file under.
- Unpaid rent, unlawful detainer route: a written notice to quit and demand for possession giving 3 days, from you or your agent or attorney (18-60-304(3)).
- Unpaid rent, district court route: if rent isn’t paid within 5 days of the due date, you may terminate the rental agreement, and the nonpayment itself serves as legal notice that you may file (18-17-701(b); 18-17-901(b)).
- Lease violation: written notice of the breach and a termination date at least 14 days after the tenant receives it; the lease survives if the tenant fixes the problem in time (18-17-701(a)).
- Holdover after the lease ends: unlawful detainer applies without a separate cure period (18-60-304(1)), and a written demand to surrender works for other wrongful holding (18-60-304(2)).
- Nuisance, including drug-related nuisances subject to abatement: grounds for unlawful detainer (18-60-304(5)).
- End of a month-to-month tenancy: written notice at least 30 days before the termination date; 7 days for week-to-week (18-17-704).
Getting the 3-day notice right
Section 18-60-304(3) doesn’t say how the three days are counted or how the notice must be delivered, so make delivery provable. Hand it to the tenant, note the date and time, and keep a copy. Count three full days after delivery before filing.
State the amount owed, the unit, and the date by which the tenant must leave. A notice that demands more than the lease allows invites an objection that turns a five-day default into a contested hearing. If the property is federally financed or subsidized, the 30-day federal notice discussed below may apply instead.
Route one: unlawful detainer in circuit court
File a complaint identifying the property and an affidavit stating you’re entitled to possession and the tenant held over after proper demand (18-60-307(a)). The clerk issues a summons, and the sheriff or a process server serves it along with a notice of intent to issue a writ of possession, on a form the statute prescribes.
If no written objection is filed within 5 days of service, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, the clerk issues the writ on court order and it directs the sheriff to deliver possession without delay (18-60-307(b)). If the tenant objects, you set a hearing and notify the tenant or counsel by certified mail. You must make a prima facie case; if the court finds you’re likely to win at a full hearing, it orders the writ (18-60-307(c) and (d)).
A tenant who wants to stay after that ruling must move for it, show good cause and post security within 5 days of the writ’s issuance, at least the rent owed plus rent as it accrues (18-60-307(e)). The possession ruling isn’t a final judgment, so the money claims go on to trial.
Route two: eviction in district court under the 2007 act
Under 18-17-902, you can file a complaint and an affidavit signed by someone with personal knowledge in district court. The court issues an order requiring the tenant to vacate or show cause within ten calendar days after service. The order is served like a district court summons, or posted on the most conspicuous part of the premises if that fails and no one is in possession (18-17-903).
If the tenant doesn’t appear and show cause in the ten days, or at the hearing the court sets, the court rules for you and directs the clerk to issue a writ of possession that the county sheriff executes (18-17-904). Either side may appeal as in other civil cases (18-17-909). This route is slower on paper but can suit a straightforward case.
How the sheriff executes the writ
Ark. Code 18-60-310 governs the lockout under both routes (18-17-913 points to it). The sheriff serves a copy of the writ on the tenant, or posts it on the front door if no one authorized to accept it can be found at the residence within eight hours of receiving the writ.
If the tenant is still there 24 hours after service, the sheriff notifies you and provides the help you need to move the tenant’s belongings into storage, in a public warehouse or another reasonably safe place under your control, until the court makes a final ruling. The sheriff can remove locks and barriers. If you later win a money judgment, the court orders the stored property sold in a commercially reasonable way.
The criminal failure-to-vacate statute
Ark. Code 18-16-101, last amended by Act 159 of 2017, makes it a misdemeanor for a tenant who doesn’t pay rent to willfully stay more than ten days after a written notice to vacate, with a fine of $1 to $25 for each day. It doesn’t produce an order for possession, and legal aid groups note that judges often dismiss the charge if the tenant moves before conviction. For a building owner who needs the unit back, the civil routes are the ones that work.
Self-help, retaliation and the tenant’s right to cure
Don’t change the locks. In Gorman v. Ratliff, 289 Ark. 332 (1986), the Arkansas Supreme Court held that lease clauses allowing a landlord to lock out a tenant are invalid and that the landlord’s self-help was a forcible entry and detainer. Legal aid guidance also treats shutting off utilities or removing a tenant’s property without a court order as illegal self-help.
The Arkansas statutes we reviewed for this page don’t include a general anti-retaliation section like those in neighboring states. Federal fair housing law still bars coercing or interfering with a tenant who exercises fair housing rights (42 U.S.C. 3617). As for cure, the 14-day violation notice under 18-17-701(a) lets the tenant fix a breach in time, while the 3-day rent notice in 18-60-304(3) is a notice to quit, not a notice to pay.
Federal rules: CARES Act notice and SCRA
If the building has a federally backed mortgage, such as a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA-insured loan, or takes part in a covered federal housing program, Section 4024(c) of the CARES Act, codified at 15 U.S.C. 9058(c), bars requiring a tenant to leave until 30 days after a notice to vacate. The 120-day moratorium ended in 2020, but the 30-day text remains and courts have split on whether it still applies. Legal aid in Arkansas tells tenants in federally backed housing they’re owed 30 days, so serving 30 days at a covered building avoids that fight.
Before any default, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. 3931, requires an affidavit on whether the tenant is in military service.
Arkansas eviction timeline at a glance
These are the statutory periods for a nonpayment case. An objection and hearing, or a tenant posting security, adds time.
| Step | Deadline | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Notice to quit, unpaid rent | 3 days | Ark. Code 18-60-304(3) |
| Lease violation notice | At least 14 days to cure | Ark. Code 18-17-701(a) |
| Objection to writ | 5 days after service, excluding Sundays and holidays | Ark. Code 18-60-307(b) |
| Security to stay after hearing | Within 5 days of the writ | Ark. Code 18-60-307(e) |
| District court show-cause order | 10 calendar days after service | Ark. Code 18-17-902(b) |
| Posting the writ | If no one found within 8 hours | Ark. Code 18-60-310(b) |
| Removal of belongings | 24 hours after service of the writ | Ark. Code 18-60-310(c) |
Worked example: one unit in a 10-unit Little Rock building
Assume an $875 unit in a 10-unit Little Rock building, with rent due Thursday, April 1, 2027. You hand the tenant a 3-day notice Friday, April 2, and it runs through Monday, April 5. You file in Pulaski County Circuit Court Tuesday, April 6, and the tenant is served that day. Five days excluding Sunday end Monday, April 12. With no objection, assume the writ issues and is served Tuesday, April 13, and the sheriff removes the tenant 24 hours later, Wednesday, April 14.
That’s 13 days from the missed rent to possession. The daily rent is about $28.77 ($875 × 12 ÷ 365), so lost rent is $373.97. Add an assumed $800 attorney fee and an assumed $300 for filing, service and the writ, and the minimum cost is $1,473.97. If the tenant objects, the hearing date depends on the court’s docket and the cost climbs.
Alternatives, and selling with an eviction pending
A short written payment agreement can resolve a one-time shortfall, and cash for keys, paying a tenant to leave by a set date in a signed agreement, can beat a contested hearing and a stay bond.
You can sell an occupied building with a case open. The buyer takes the leases and the landlord’s rights, including the pending case, and under 18-16-302 the deposit law binds whoever holds the landlord’s interest when each tenancy ends. Share the notice, the court file and the ledger, and expect tenant estoppel certificates in due diligence.
Selling your Arkansas apartment building to Skyline
Skyline Capital Investments buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Arkansas, occupied and as-is, including buildings with problem tenants or evictions under way. Send the address and unit count through the form on this page or call (469) 660-2977. We typically respond within 48 hours.
