This is the first time Arkansas has imposed national standards for rental housing. A federal housing law protects tenants from unlawful discrimination when selling or renting residential property. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in most residential real estate transactions. The law includes the following provisions: As mentioned earlier, Arkansas tenants have many responsibilities at the time of living in a rental unit. Since the lessor is not required to perform any repair or maintenance work on the unit (unless otherwise stated in the rental agreements), tenants are responsible for maintaining the unit in good condition at all times. Check out our complete guide to the deportation process and laws for Arkansas. Law 1052 comes into force on November 1 and is required by law in all leases. These must follow the new national guidelines for rental properties once the leases are signed. In order to comply with residential, health and safety rules, landlords are responsible for changing the locks of the rental building if tenants request it due to domestic violence. In these cases, Arkansas homeowners must provide a copy of the new rental property keys to comply with housing regulations. A tenant is considered the owner of a “state in the country”, a type of property that currently owns a real estate interest.
There are four types of rentals, but the most common types are year-term (or temporary) rentals and periodic rentals. The first is created if an end date is specified in the lease agreement. Such a tenancy ends on the date specified in the lease, although if the tenant stays and continues to pay the rent and the landlord accepts the rent, a new periodic tenancy is formed. The latter usually results from the payment of rent on a periodic basis (once a year, once a month or once a week) and without an end date agreed at the beginning. To end a regular monthly tenancy, the landlord or tenant must provide the other party with written notice with a termination date of at least thirty days in the future. A lease can be written or oral. If it is for a period of more than one year, it must be in writing to be enforceable. Attempts to improve landlord and tenant laws during the 2019 session of the Arkansas General Assembly all failed, largely due to opposition from the Arkansas Realtors Association.
The Arkansas Senate even voted against a bill passed in the Arkansas House of Representatives that would have allowed victims of domestic violence to leave a rented apartment without the fees typically associated with terminating a lease. In June 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the state`s criminal deportation law. Another attempt was made in 2021 at the state legislature to improve tenants` rights and require landlords to maintain rental properties at a certain level of habitability. A bill, HB 1798, that would have ended Arkansas` unique status as the only state in the country to have made non-payment of rent a criminal matter, made it a criminal case on June 5. April 2021 not from the committee, while another, HB 594, which would require minimum standards for the habitability of rental properties, managed to get the house through on April 22. In 2021, and in the Senate the following week, with amendments, and was brought into force. âââ. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 8, 2018, pp. 1A, 6A. Online at www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/jul/08/study-links-sick-tenants-to-run-down-ap/ (accessed July 29, 2021). Monk, Ginny.
âHabitableâ Not in Rules for State Landlords.â Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, July 8, 2018, p. 6A. Online at www.arkansasonline.com/news/2018/jul/08/habitable-not-in-rules-for-state-landlo/ (accessed July 29, 2021). An Arkansas small claims court can hear lease cases worth up to $5,000. Arkansas is one of the few states in the Union that has no express or implied warranty of habitability. Therefore, there are no minimum standards of habitability that homeowners must provide. There are minimum federal standards for public housing and Section 8 housing in Arkansas, but these standards do not apply to private rental housing. The law implies certain conditions in a lease, although some may be annulled by the parties. A tenant has an implicit obligation to pay rent, even if a lease does not provide for it. A tenant has an implicit obligation not to commit “waste” or damage to the premises. A tenant also has an obligation to respect the terms of the lease. In addition, Arkansas regulations require residential tenants to comply with applicable housing regulations and keep places safe and clean.
Tenants must provide landlords with reasonable access to enter rental premises for a variety of purposes, including repairs, “decorations,” service delivery, and investigations of possible criminal activity, to name a few. Tenants may not engage in or permit illegal activities on the premises. Under Arkansas laws, a landlord can take legal action to terminate the lease and evict a tenant if the tenant fails to pay the rent or violates the terms of the lease. Of course, a landlord can also successfully sue to evict a tenant when the lease is terminated and the tenant is holding illegally. Arkansas law provides rights for residential tenants and landlords. Arkansas` laws on these issues apply only to private rental housing and not to government-subsidized housing. There is currently no known law on late fees or grace periods in Arkansas; This means that Arkansas landlords can charge their tenants a late fee if they wish. It is always recommended to charge these fees as they can motivate the tenant to pay on time. Since there are no grace periods, landlords can charge a late fee once rent is late. “Most of the time, when I talk to a student and they have problems or a problem, it`s because the tenant is wrong, the tenant has violated the lease,” Higgins said.
“I know it was a little scary, there were documentaries about the state of Arkansas and how bad our rights and laws are in favor of the owner, but honestly, in this area, we don`t have those kinds of problems.” Vrbin, Tess. “The trial is aimed at the law on forced evictions. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, September 12, 2021, p. 1B, 3B. Online at www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/sep/13/arkansas-unique-eviction-law-source-of-324/ (accessed September 12, 2021). Unlike other states, Arkansas is considered a very owner-friendly area. It doesn`t impose many regulations on Arkansas landlords, which means they can manage their lease at will. Essentially, Arkansas gives landlords a high degree of influence over tenants in terms of housing rights. Allred said that while there may be few state laws, landlords must follow a variety of federal housing regulations. The federal Fair Housing Act and the Arkansas Fair Housing Act of 2001 prohibit discrimination in the rental of housing.
Classifications protected by federal law are race, skin colour, religion, sex, marital status and national origin. In addition, landlords must make reasonable arrangements for rules and services for people with disabilities, and a landlord cannot prohibit a tenant with a disability from making changes to the premises to be occupied if they are reasonable and the tenant pays for them, although a landlord may require the tenant to restore the premises at the end of the tenancy period. By following the guidelines of Arkansas laws, you guarantee a healthy and safe rental experience until its end. If you want more help with your case, contact a lawyer or property manager. The notice of admission for owners is an important thing in any agreement. In Arkansas, minimum or maximum admission notification is not set, which means that landlords are not required to declare entry before entering the rental property. It is generally considered a good practice in the housing market to send an entry notice in some way to avoid litigation. This notification can take from one to two days, depending on what the tenant and landlord agree on. Moritz, Jean.
The criminal deportation bill fails at the panel`s request. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, April 6, 2021, p. 7A. Online at www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/apr/06/criminal-eviction-bill-fails-to-get-panel-nod/ (accessed July 29, 2021). Under Arkansas tenant laws, the value of the security deposit cannot be greater than the cost of two months` rent. Arkansas landlords are not required to provide the tenant with a receipt from the deposit. If a non-compliance issue occurs (and the rent is up to date and the non-compliance is not excused) and the landlord does not resolve the non-compliance within 30 days of receiving the tenant`s notice, the tenant can terminate the lease or lease without penalty and receive a refund of their deposit. However, according to the plain language of Bill 1052, this is the tenant`s only recourse. In addition, it is the tenant`s responsibility to address non-compliance issues, and there is no excuse for a tenant to pay the rent or allow a tenant to otherwise offset the rent due due to an alleged violation of these implicit quality standards. According to Arkansas` landlord-tenant laws, there is no guarantee of habitability. .