An Arkansas 10 Day Notice To Quit is a letter that complies with state legal requirements to begin a criminal eviction against a tenant for nonpayment of rent. The tenant must pay the balance due or move out within ten (10) judicial days (i.e., not counting weekends or legal holidays) of receiving notice.
When To Use an Arkansas 10 Day Notice To Quit
An Arkansas 10 Day Notice To Quit begins a criminal eviction process when some or all of the rent remains unpaid after the standard five (5) day grace period after rent is normally due. The tenant must pay all rent and proven monetary damages in order to obtain a favorable judgment. Otherwise, the tenant will be guilty of a misdemeanor and will incur daily fines.
Some types of Arkansas lease termination notice may allow different reasons for termination, or different notice periods. This may also apply to an eviction notice issued because of a lease or legal violation.
How to Write an Arkansas 10 Day Notice to Quit
To help ensure the legal compliance of a Notice To Quit:
- Use the full name of the receiving parties, and address of record, if known
- Specify the basis upon which the tenancy will terminate, and the payment amount necessary to avoid termination
- Specify the termination date of the lease or tenancy
- Fill in the full address of the rental premises
- Provide updated/current address and phone number information
- Print name and sign the notice
- Complete the certificate of service by indicating the date and method of notice delivery, along with printed name and signature
It is easy to lose an otherwise justified legal action because of improper notice. Check carefully to ensure enough time after notice is delivered, not when it’s sent.
How To Serve an Arkansas 10 Day Notice To Quit
Arkansas landlords may deliver an initial written Notice To Quit by any method which effectively brings the information to the tenant’s attention. The law presumes the following methods are valid:
- Hand delivery to the tenant
- Delivery by registered or certified mail to the tenant’s address of record or (if unknown) last known residence
Proof of mailing does not prove the other party’s receipt of notice. To account for variable delivery times, mailed notice extends a notice period by three (3) calendar days.
Sources
- 1 AR Code § 18-16-101
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If, after ten (10) days’ notice in writing shall have been given by the landlord or the landlord’s agent or attorney to the tenant to vacate the dwelling house or other building or land, the tenant shall willfully refuse to vacate and surrender the possession of the premises to the landlord or the landlord’s agent or attorney, the tenant shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(A) Upon conviction before any justice of the peace or other court of competent jurisdiction in the county where the premises are situated, the tenant shall be fined in any sum not less than one dollar ($1.00) nor more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each offense.
(B) Each day the tenant shall willfully and unnecessarily hold the dwelling house or other building or land after the expiration of notice to vacate shall constitute a separate offense.
Source Link - 2 Ark. Code § 18-17-303
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(a) (1) A person has notice of a fact if: (A) The person has actual knowledge of it; (B) The person has received a notice or notification of it; or (C) From all the facts and circumstances known to him or her at the time in question, he or she has reason to know that it exists. (2) A person knows or has knowledge of a fact if he or she has actual knowledge of it. (b) (1) A person notifies or gives a notice or notification to another person by taking steps reasonably calculated to inform the other in ordinary course whether or not the other actually comes to know of it. (2) A person receives a notice or notification when: (A) It comes to his or her attention; or (B) In the case of the landlord, it is delivered at the place of business of the landlord through which the rental agreement was made or at any place held out by the landlord as the place for receipt of the communication; or (C) (i) In the case of the tenant, it is delivered in hand to the tenant or mailed by registered or certified mail to the tenant at the place held out by him or her as the place for receipt of the communication, or in the absence of the designation, to the tenant’s last known place of residence. (ii) Proof of mailing pursuant to this subsection constitutes notice without proof of receipt. (c) Notice, knowledge, or a notice or notification received by an organization is effective for a particular transaction from the time it is brought to the attention of the individual conducting that transaction, and in any event from the time it would have been brought to the individual’s attention if the organization had exercised reasonable diligence. (d) The time within which an act is to be done shall be computed by reference to the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure. - 3 Ark. R. Civ. P. 6(d)
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Whenever a party has the right or is required to do some act or take some proceedings within a prescribed period after the service of a notice or other paper upon him and the notice or paper is served upon him by mail, commercial delivery company, or electronic transmission, including e-mail pursuant to Rule 5(b)(2), three (3) days shall be added to the prescribed period. Provided, however, that this subdivision shall not extend the time in which the defendant must file an answer or pre-answer motion when service of the summons and complaint is by mail or commercial delivery company in accordance with Rule 4.
- 4 AR Code § 18-17-706
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- (A) If the amount of rent due is found at final adjudication to be less than alleged by the landlord, judgment shall be entered for the amount found due to the landlord.
- (B) If the court finds at final adjudication that no rent is due and no damages are due the landlord, judgment shall be entered for the tenant.
