An Arkansas eviction notice form is a legal demand for a tenant to comply with the terms of the rental agreement or else move out of the premises. Arkansas landlords may deliver an eviction notice because of unpaid rent, lease violations, or illegal activity on the rental property.
Types of Arkansas Eviction Notice Forms
| Notice Form | Grounds | Curable? |
| 3 Day Notice To Quit | Unpaid Rent (Civil Action) | Maybe |
| 10 Day Notice To Quit | Unpaid Rent (Criminal Action) | Maybe |
| Immediate Notice To Vacate | Illegal Activity | No |
| 14 Day Notice To Comply or Vacate | Lease Violation | Yes |
| 30 Day Notice To Vacate | Monthly / Yearly Lease | No |
Arkansas 3 Day Notice To Quit
An Arkansas 3 Day Notice To Quit evicts a tenant nonpayment of rent. In Arkansas, rent is past due five (5) calendar days after it is normally due. The tenant must pay the past due balance or move out within three (3) judicial days (i.e., not counting weekends and legal holidays) of receiving notice.
If the tenant does not move out of the rental unit on time, the landlord may pursue a civil eviction action for unpaid rent and possession of the premises.
Arkansas 10 Day Notice To Quit
An Arkansas 10 Day Notice To Quit is a criminal eviction action for nonpayment of rent. This notice applies when the tenant has not paid rent within the statutory five (5) calendar day grace period of the date rent is due. The tenant must pay the past due balance or move out within ten (10) judicial days (i.e., not counting weekends and legal holidays) of receiving notice.
A tenant with a past due balance who is still on the property at the end of the notice period is guilty of a misdemeanor and receives a daily fine upon conviction, with the amount determined by the court (between $1-$25/day). The court issues a judgment in favor of the tenant if there is nothing owed at the end of the notice period.
Arkansas Immediate Notice To Vacate
An Arkansas Immediate Notice To Vacate evicts a tenant for illegal activity on the premises. The tenant is not given an opportunity for corrective action, and must move out immediately upon receiving notice.
Arkansas 14 Day Notice To Comply or Vacate
An Arkansas 14 Day Notice To Comply or Vacate demands correction of a lease violation that is “curable,” i.e., the tenant may get a chance to fix the situation rather than be evicted. A curable lease violation might include failure to maintain health and safety on the rental property, interfering with the quiet enjoyment of neighbors, or refusal to allow lawful entry by the landlord.
The tenant must take appropriate corrective action, or else move out within fourteen (14) calendar days of receiving notice.
Arkansas 30 Day Notice To Vacate
An Arkansas 30 Day Notice To Vacate terminates a rental agreement, including a month-to-month or year-to-year lease as well as an expired lease or a situation with no written lease where the tenant pays rent monthly. The non-terminating party must receive notice at least thirty (30) days before the date of termination.
How To Write an Eviction Notice in Arkansas
To help ensure the legal compliance of an eviction notice:
- Use the tenant’s full name and address
- Specify the lease violation as well as any balance due
- Specify the date of termination
- Print name and sign the notice, including the landlord’s address of record
- Note 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 Calculate Expiration Date in Arkansas
The “clock” for an eviction notice period starts “ticking” the day after the notice gets delivered (served), except for an Immediate Notice To Vacate which takes effect as soon as it’s received by the tenant. For example, to give at least 30 days of notice and begin court action as of June 30th, delivery of the eviction notice must be no later than May 31st.
In most jurisdictions, if the last day of a notice period is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the notice period continues to run until the end of the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. This is called the “next judicial day;” in other words, the next day a courthouse is open.
Arkansas counts only judicial days (i.e., no weekends or legal holidays) for notice periods of less than fourteen (14) days. Longer periods are counted normally.
How To Serve an Eviction Notice in Arkansas
Arkansas landlords may deliver an initial written eviction notice 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 Arkansas Court Rules of Civil Procedure - Rule 6
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Computation. In computing any period of time prescribed or allowed by these rules, by order of the Court or by any applicable statute, the day of the act, event or default from which the designated period of time begins to run shall not be included. The last day of the period so computed shall be included, unless it is a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or other day when the clerk’s office is closed, in which event the period runs until the end of the next day that the clerk’s office is open. When the period of time prescribed or allowed is less than fourteen (14) days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays shall be excluded in the computation
Source Link - 3 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.
Source Link - 4 Ark. R. Civ. P. 6(d)
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Source Link
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.
- 5 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.
