Arkansas tenant screening & landlord laws
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Arkansas tenant screening
Tenant screening is the process of reviewing a rental applicant's credit, criminal, and eviction history, typically through a background-check provider, before deciding whether to offer a lease. Arkansas has not adopted a broad state consumer-reporting statute specific to tenant screening, so the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) generally governs how landlords pull and use these reports. Arkansas does, however, have its own security-deposit statute, its own Fair Housing Act, and an unusual criminal eviction remedy that landlords should generally understand. Always check whether a specific city has adopted its own rules, since Arkansas limits how far cities can go beyond state law (see "Rules that vary by city" below).
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How to screen a tenant in Arkansas
- Collect a written application and consent. No Arkansas requirement beyond FCRA requires a specific disclosure or authorization before pulling a screening report, so FCRA's written-consent baseline generally applies.
- Charge a screening fee. No Arkansas law caps application or screening fees, so fees are generally left to landlord discretion and market norms.
- Run the background check through an FCRA-compliant consumer reporting agency. Evaluate criminal, credit, and eviction history consistently across applicants; Arkansas's Fair Housing Act does not add criminal-history or lookback restrictions beyond federal law.
- Apply fair housing rules. The Arkansas Fair Housing Act (Ark. Code Ann. § 16-123-204) prohibits discrimination in real estate transactions based on religion, race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or familial status — the same categories protected under the federal Fair Housing Act, with no state add-ons for source of income or criminal history.
- Send an adverse action notice if you deny the applicant based on a consumer report, following FCRA § 615's baseline requirements; Arkansas has no specific adverse-action addition.
- Collect a security deposit and execute the lease, keeping the deposit within Arkansas's statutory cap (below) unless your rental qualifies for the small-landlord exemption.
Screening rules to follow in Arkansas
Screening fees
Arkansas has no statewide dollar cap or disclosure requirement on tenant screening or application fees. Landlords should generally set fees that are reasonable and consistent across applicants, and should watch for city-level changes.
Criminal history
Arkansas has not enacted a state law restricting how landlords consider criminal history in housing decisions, and its Fair Housing Act's protected classes (listed above) do not include criminal history. Federal Fair Housing Act disparate-impact theory may still apply to criminal-history screening, and the underlying statute and case law such as Texas Dept. of Housing & Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project (2015) remain intact.
Source of income
Source of income, including housing vouchers, is not a protected class under Arkansas law. The Arkansas Fair Housing Act's list of protected categories (religion, race, color, national origin, sex, disability, familial status) does not include it. Landlords should confirm whether any local ordinances extend fair-housing protection to source of income before finalizing a screening policy.
FCRA and adverse action
Federal FCRA § 615 sets the baseline: notify the applicant, provide the consumer reporting agency's contact information, and disclose the right to dispute the report. Arkansas law has no additional requirements.
Landlord obligations beyond screening
Security deposits
Arkansas generally caps security deposits at two months' rent (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-304). This cap does not apply to a landlord who, with immediate family and related entities, owns five or fewer dwelling units — unless a third party manages the property for a fee, in which case the exemption does not apply (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-303). Deposits must generally be returned within 60 days of lease termination, with any deductions itemized in writing; if a refund is mailed and undeliverable, the funds generally become the landlord's after 180 days if the tenant can't be located (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-305). Arkansas has no statewide interest-on-deposit requirement.
Rent and eviction rules
Arkansas has no statewide rent cap or rent-control law. According to a summary of the Arkansas Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 from Legal Aid of Arkansas, landlords generally must give 5 days' written notice to cure nonpayment of rent, or 14 days' notice for other lease violations, before pursuing eviction. Separately, Arkansas maintains a criminal "failure to vacate" statute (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-101) that can expose a tenant who doesn't leave within 10 days of a nonpayment notice to a discretionary fine of $1–$25 per day — a distinct, criminal track that runs alongside the civil unlawful-detainer process (which generally uses a 3-day notice).
Rules that vary by city
Confirm any tenant-screening or source-of-income ordinances in Little Rock, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, and Springdale against current city code. Confirm whether Arkansas law limits how far municipalities can extend nondiscrimination protections beyond state-recognized categories, which may narrow the room for local variation compared to states like California. Outside city limits, Arkansas uses standard county government (not townships); confirm any additional county-level screening ordinance for the counties containing these cities.
Frequently asked questions
Does Arkansas cap security deposits? Generally yes, at two months' rent, unless the landlord qualifies for the small-landlord (five-or-fewer-unit) exemption.
Is source of income a protected class in Arkansas? No. Arkansas's Fair Housing Act does not include source of income among its protected categories.
How long do Arkansas landlords have to return a security deposit? Generally 60 days after the tenancy ends, along with a written itemization of any deductions.
Can an Arkansas tenant be criminally charged for not paying rent? Under Arkansas's failure-to-vacate statute, a tenant who doesn't leave within 10 days of a nonpayment notice can generally face a discretionary fine, separate from the civil eviction process.
Start an Arkansas tenant screening with Checkr
Checkr helps landlords run FCRA-compliant background checks quickly, so you can evaluate Arkansas rental applicants with consistent, documented criteria. Get started at tenant.checkr.com/signup to set up your first screening.
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Disclaimer
The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.