Miscellaneous & related Arkansas laws

This is the most important section on the page, because in Arkansas the recorded instrument is doing the work a statute does elsewhere. A “restrictive covenant” means a restriction on the use or development of real property regardless of whether it was created by a covenant in a deed or bill of assurance, or by any other instrument (§ 18-12-103(a)) — a deliberately wide definition that does not care what the document is called.

Then the operative rule: an instrument creating a restrictive covenant is not effective to restrict the use or development of real property unless the instrument is executed by the owners of the real property and recorded in the office of the recorder of the county where the property is located (§ 18-12-103(b)). Both conditions. If a board adopts a use restriction that was never executed by the owners and recorded, this section is the first place to look.

The amendment rule catches people out. Where the instrument has separate sections stating the duration of the covenant and the requirements for amending it, those sections are read independently, so that the duration does not limit the ability to amend the covenant at any time (§ 18-12-103(c)). Owners often read a bill of assurance that says the covenants “shall run until 2035” and conclude nothing can change before then. That is not how Arkansas reads it — the amendment clause operates on its own terms.

Arkansas has no homeowners' association act — but it does have three sections written specifically about enforcing residential subdivision restrictive covenants, and almost nobody knows they are there. They are narrow: they reach encroachment of interior setback lines. Within that lane they are the closest thing on this tab to an HOA-specific protection outside the Horizontal Property Act.

The court is not obliged to order the structure torn down. Circuit judges are authorized to exercise their discretion to balance the equities between or among the parties when deciding whether to award injunctions or damages in cases involving encroachment of interior setback lines in residential subdivision restrictive covenants (§ 18-11-501). That is a deliberate legislative instruction against automatic injunctive relief for a covenant breach — the judge weighs what the encroachment actually costs against what removal would cost.

And the fee rule cuts against the enforcer. If the trial judge finds that the violation of an interior setback restriction is de minimis, no attorney's fees shall be awarded to any party seeking to enforce the setback restriction (§ 18-11-502). Note the direction: this bites the association or neighbour bringing the claim, not the owner defending it. An association contemplating suit over a garage that sits a foot inside a setback should read this section before it runs up a legal bill it cannot recover. The subchapter applies to cases that were pending in Arkansas courts on April 13, 1999 as well as those filed after (§ 18-11-503).

This is one of the most common questions Arkansas homeowners ask, and because the state has no HOA act, the answer comes from the general limitations chapter rather than from anything about associations. The whole thing turns on whether the obligation to pay is treated as written or not.

If written — five years. Actions to enforce written obligations, duties or rights must be commenced within five (5) years after the cause of action accrues (§ 16-56-111(a)). A recorded declaration or bill of assurance is a written instrument, which is why this is the provision most often pointed to for assessments. If not written — three years. Actions founded on a contract, obligation or liability not in writing, and actions on any contract or liability express or implied, must be brought within three (3) years (§ 16-56-105(1), (3)). Anything the chapter does not otherwise cover falls into a five-year residual (§ 16-56-115).

When the clock starts can matter more than its length. In an action to recover a balance due on a mutual open account current, the cause of action is deemed to accrue from the time of the last item proved in the account (§ 16-56-127). An assessment ledger that runs for years is exactly the kind of account that argument gets made about.

We are not going to tell you which applies to your assessments. That is a legal conclusion that depends on your recorded documents and on how an Arkansas court characterises the obligation, and it is worth an hour of a lawyer's time rather than a guess from a website. What this page can tell you is precisely what turns on it — three years versus five, and an accrual date that may reset with the account.

Partial payment tolls a written obligation. Section 16-56-111(b) is blunt about it: “partial payment or written acknowledgment of default shall toll this statute of limitations.” If your association's claim runs on the five-year written track, making a small payment on an old balance restarts the clock. That is worth knowing before you send anything to settle an ancient charge you are disputing — get the terms in writing first.

What will not revive a stale claim. In an action founded on a simple contract, no verbal promise or acknowledgment is sufficient evidence to take the case out of the statute (§ 16-56-122) — so a phone call in which you concede you owe something does not, by itself, do it. Where there are two or more joint contractors, one person's written acknowledgment does not cost the others the benefit of the statute — although the section is careful to say it does not lessen the effect of any payment of principal or interest by anyone on a joint contract (§ 16-56-124). And a creditor's own written endorsement of a payment on a bond or sealed instrument is not sufficient proof that the payment was made (§ 16-56-123).

A stale claim of yours can still be used defensively. This is the provision most owners never hear about. The limitations chapter applies to a demand raised by way of setoff — but then: “any demand, right, or cause of action, regardless of how it may have arisen, may be asserted by way of setoff in any action to the extent of the plaintiff's demand” (§ 16-56-102). If the association sues you, a claim of your own that would be too old to bring on its own can still be raised to reduce what they recover, up to the amount they are claiming.

Three more clocks worth knowing. A judgment lasts a long time — actions on judgments and decrees must be brought within ten (10) years (§ 16-56-114), so an association that obtains one against you has a decade to act on it. If a suit is filed in time and the plaintiff suffers a nonsuit, or judgment is arrested or reversed on appeal, a new action may be commenced within one (1) year (§ 16-56-126(a)(1)) — a dismissal is not always the end. And a person who was under 21 or insane when the cause of action accrued gets three years after reaching full age or the disability being removed, with multiple disabilities running until all are removed (§ 16-56-116).

One important boundary. This chapter does not extend to any action otherwise limited by statute — that action must be brought within the time its own statute sets (§ 16-56-103(a)). So the one-year deadline on an Arkansas Fair Debt Collection Practices Act claim (§ 17-24-512(d)) is governed by that act, not by anything here.

Arkansas puts a hard outer limit on claims arising from defective design or construction, and it runs from substantial completion of the improvement — not from when the defect was discovered. For an association facing common-area problems that surface years later, this is usually the provision that decides whether there is a case at all.

Property damage: five years. No action in contract, oral or written, sealed or unsealed, to recover damages caused by a deficiency in the design, planning, supervision or observation of construction, or the construction or repair of any improvement to real property, or for injury to real or personal property caused by such a deficiency, may be brought more than five (5) years after substantial completion (§ 16-56-112(a)). Personal injury or wrongful death: four years after substantial completion (§ 16-56-112(b)(1)) — with a narrow extension where the injury occurred during the third year after completion, allowing one year from the date of injury but never more than five years from substantial completion (§ 16-56-112(b)(2)).

It reaches surveyors and engineers too. The same limits apply to damages caused by a deficiency in surveying, establishing or making the boundaries of real property, preparing maps, or any other engineering or architectural work on real property or improvements (§ 16-56-112(c)). And plans that are not used within three years of being furnished cannot ground an action against the person who furnished them (§ 16-56-112(e)).

Two exceptions and one hard rule. The limitations do not apply where the deficiency was fraudulently concealed, and they may not be asserted as a defence by a person in actual possession or control of the improvement — as owner, tenant or otherwise — at the time the deficiency proximately caused the injury (§ 16-56-112(d)). The hard rule is in subsection (f): nothing in the section extends any other limitation period, and the parties to a construction contract may not extend these limits by agreement or otherwise. A warranty clause promising longer will not buy an association more time under this section.

Read this together with the misplaced-fence and destroyed-tree cards below — boundary disputes in Arkansas subdivisions turn on these provisions more often than on anything in a bill of assurance.

Adverse possession has a statutory overlay. To establish it, the claimant (and those they claim under) must have actual or constructive possession and either have held color of title for at least seven years while paying the ad valorem taxes, or have held color of title for seven years to contiguous land while paying taxes on that contiguous parcel (§ 18-11-106(a)). Color of title itself can be established by paying the taxes for seven years on unimproved and unenclosed land, or fifteen years on wild and unimproved land, provided the true owner has not also paid or made a bona fide effort to pay (§ 18-11-106(a)(1)(B)); parallel presumptions sit at §§ 18-11-102 and 18-11-103. Tax-exempt claimants are relieved of the tax-payment element (§ 18-11-106(b)). Crucially, these requirements are in addition to the common-law elements and do not repeal them (§ 18-11-106(c), (d)).

There is a hard outside limit on suing over land. No action or suit for any lands, tenements or hereditaments may be brought after seven years from when the right to bring it accrued (§ 18-61-101(a)). A person who was under 21 or non compos mentis when the right accrued gets three years after reaching full age or sound mind, notwithstanding the seven years (§ 18-61-101(b)), though cumulative disabilities do not stack (§ 18-61-101(c)). And an entry onto land is not a valid claim unless an action is commenced within one year after the entry and within the seven-year period (§ 18-61-102(a)).

Arkansas adopted the Uniform Easement Relocation Act in 2023, and it is genuinely useful in a subdivision where a drainage, access or utility-adjacent easement runs somewhere inconvenient. The owner of the servient estate — the burdened lot — may bring a civil action to relocate an easement, whether it arose by express grant or reservation, prescription, implication, necessity, estoppel or another method (§§ 18-11-703(a), 18-11-705). Relocation by consent is outside the subchapter (§ 18-11-703(c)).

The test is protective of the easement holder. A servient owner may relocate only if the change does not materially lessen the easement's utility, increase the holder's burden, impair an affirmative easement-related purpose, impair anyone's safety, disrupt use during relocation without substantial mitigation, impair the physical condition, use or value of the dominant estate, or impair the interest of a recorded lienholder, lessee or other recorded interest holder (§ 18-11-704). The servient owner also pays the expenses (§ 18-11-707) and owes a duty to act in good faith (§ 18-11-708), and a relocation affidavit is recorded when it is done (§ 18-11-709).

Check the exclusions first. The subchapter may not be used to relocate a public-utility, telecommunications, conservation or negative easement, an easement whose new location would interfere with one of those, a State Highway Commission easement, or an easement or right-of-way held by a public entity (§ 18-11-703(b)). The rights cannot be waived (§ 18-11-711).

A transfer fee covenant recorded in Arkansas after July 27, 2011 does not run with the title and is not binding or enforceable at law or in equity against the real property or against a subsequent owner, purchaser or mortgagee (§ 18-12-107(b)(1)). A “transfer fee” is a fee obligating a transferee or transferor to pay a third person on a transfer of an interest, or for permitting the transfer, and a “transfer fee covenant” — the provision imposing such a fee — expressly includes a lien or claim of lien to secure payment of one (§ 18-12-107(a)(4)(A), (a)(5)(A)–(B)). The section does not validate transfer fee covenants recorded before that date (§ 18-12-107(b)(2)).

Read the exclusions before concluding your association's transfer fee is void. A provision requiring payment of a fee or charge to an association — defined here as a nonprofit, mandatory-membership organization of owners created by declaration, covenant, bill of assurance or master deed — is not a transfer fee covenant, so long as the fee is used exclusively for the purposes authorized in the document and no portion is required to be passed through to a third party designated or identifiable in that document or another it references (§ 18-12-107(a)(1), (a)(5)(C)(iii)). Capital contributions and working-capital fees payable to the association itself generally sit inside that carve-out. Also excluded: one-time fees payable only on the next transfer that do not bind successors, loan assumption fees, real estate commissions, and fees to certain 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) organizations used to support the community or the property (§ 18-12-107(a)(5)(C)(i), (iv)).

Arkansas has a judicial foreclosure route in chapter 49 and a nonjudicial power-of-sale route in chapter 50, and the differences matter enormously to a homeowner. Note first that these chapters are about mortgages, deeds of trust and vendor's liens — see the section below on why that generally rules out an association using them for an assessment debt.

Judicial foreclosure carries a one-year redemption right. Where real property is sold under an order or decree of the circuit court foreclosing a mortgage or deed of trust, the mortgagor (or heirs or legal representatives) may redeem the property within one (1) year from the date of sale by paying the sale price plus interest at the decree rate and the costs of foreclosure and sale (§ 18-49-106(a)). That right can be waived in the mortgage or deed of trust itself (§ 18-49-106(b)) — so read your loan documents before relying on it. Also in that chapter: a limitations defence tied to the period for suing on the underlying debt (§ 18-49-101(a)); the right to prove payment or setoff and then satisfy the judgment within ten days to retain the property (§ 18-49-102); sale on court-ordered credit terms with notice published at least ten days before the sale (§ 18-49-104); and a deficiency execution if the sale does not cover the debt (§ 18-49-105).

Nonjudicial foreclosure has a strict pre-sale notice package — and a very short window to complain afterwards. A beneficiary or mortgagee may not start a chapter 50 foreclosure unless the instrument is recorded and, at least ten days before initiating, it has mailed the borrower a copy of the note with endorsements, the mortgage or deed of trust and available assignments, the name of the holder and the physical location of the original note, information about loan modification and forbearance programs, and, where the default is non-payment, a payment history showing the date of default — duties the statute says are not delegable to the trustee or attorney-in-fact (§ 18-50-103(2)). Then the trap: any claim or defence must be asserted before the sale or it is forever barred, except that the mortgagor may still assert fraud or failure to strictly comply with the chapter — and a strict-compliance claim must be brought within thirty (30) days of the foreclosure sale (§ 18-50-116(d)(2)(B)(ii), (d)(2)(D)). None of those claims may be asserted against a subsequent purchaser for value (§ 18-50-116(d)(2)(C)), and the chapter creates no implied right of redemption (§ 18-50-116(d)(1)). Chapter 50 does not displace judicial foreclosure (§ 18-50-116(a)), and it does not reach property used primarily for agricultural purposes (§ 18-50-116(c)(2)).

This one is genuinely useful and almost nobody knows it is there. A person who trespasses and cuts down, injures, destroys or carries away any tree placed or growing for use or shade, or any timber, rails or wood standing on another's land, or who digs up, quarries or carries away any stone, ground, clay, turf, mold, fruit, or plants, or cuts or carries away grass or crops in which they have no interest, shall pay the person injured treble the value of the thing damaged, broken, destroyed or carried away, with costs (§ 18-60-102(a)). The same subsection also covers wilfully breaking the glass in a building that is not your own.

In a community-association setting this reaches the landscaping crew that takes out a tree on your lot, a neighbour who clears vegetation over the line, and an association that removes plantings it had no right to remove. Co-owners are covered too: where land is held by joint tenants or tenants in common, a co-owner who did not consent to the trespass gets treble the value computed on their undivided interest (§ 18-60-102(b)).

The defence is the part to plan around. If it appears at trial that the defendant had probable cause to believe the land, or the thing taken or destroyed, was their own, the plaintiff recovers single damages only, with costs (§ 18-60-102(c)). A clear written boundary objection, sent and kept, is what makes that defence hard to run.

Where fences, buildings or other improvements that can be moved have been erroneously placed on adjoining land instead of the land they were intended for, the owner of the improvement has twelve (12) months from the date of discovery of the error to remove it and place it on their own land (§ 18-60-105(a)). The owner of the misplaced improvement is not held responsible for any damages to the adjoining landowner by reason of the erroneous erecting or building — subsection (b) states that immunity flatly, without attaching any time limit to it (§ 18-60-105(b)).

Two things worth noting. The clock runs from discovery, not from construction, and the section is limited to improvements that may be moved and to placements that were erroneous — it is not a licence to build deliberately over a boundary. This is the provision behind a great many fence disputes in Arkansas subdivisions.

Any person claiming to own land — wild or improved, or in their actual possession or that of those claiming under them — may have title confirmed and quieted by petitioning the circuit court of the county where the land sits (§§ 18-60-501, 18-60-502(a)). The petition must state facts showing a prima facie right and title and that there is no adverse occupant. The petitioner must also search seven categories of records to identify persons entitled to notice — county land title, collector, treasurer and assessor records, probate records for an individual, county clerk partnership records and Secretary of State business records — then serve certified mail notice in duplicate (one copy by name, one to “occupant”), send a second notice by regular mail if the certified mail is returned, and post notice conspicuously on the property (§ 18-60-502(b)). The clerk then publishes notice weekly for four weeks (§ 18-60-503(a)).

What the court can do to a lien is narrower than owners expect. Under that published notice the circuit court is authorised and empowered to find apparent existing liens on the real estate to be barred by the laws of limitation or laches, and to decree the cancellation of the liens and the records thereof (§ 18-60-503(b)). That is a route to clear a stale lien — one that is time-barred or has been slept on. It is not a damages remedy against someone who recorded a baseless lien, and this subchapter provides no statutory damages at all.

A useful fallback if your paperwork is imperfect: a petitioner who cannot show perfect title establishes prima facie title by showing color of title for more than seven (7) years plus continuous payment of taxes during that time (§ 18-60-506). The decree does not bar anyone claiming through a contract with the petitioner, an adverse occupant at the time of filing, anyone who paid the taxes within the preceding seven years, or a remainderman, unless they were made a defendant and personally summoned (§ 18-60-508(b)). Costs fall on the petitioner where there is no other party (§ 18-60-511).

Arkansas's DTPA makes a long list of practices unlawful, and the catch-all is broad on its face: engaging in any other unconscionable, false, or deceptive act or practice in business, commerce, or trade (§ 4-88-107(a)(10)). The list also covers knowingly making false representations about the characteristics, benefits, quality or approval of goods or services (§ 4-88-107(a)(1)), knowingly taking advantage of a consumer unable to protect their own interest because of infirmity, ignorance, illiteracy or inability to understand the language of the agreement (§ 4-88-107(a)(8)), and knowingly facilitating or aiding another's violation (§ 4-88-107(a)(12)). Separately, in connection with the sale or advertisement of goods or services, deception, fraud or false pretense and the concealment, suppression or omission of any material fact with intent that others rely on it are unlawful (§ 4-88-108).

The private remedy is where the limits bite, and they are severe. A person who suffers an actual financial loss as a result of his or her reliance on an unlawful practice may sue to recover that actual financial loss proximately caused (§ 4-88-113(f)(1)(A)) — and to prevail, a claimant must prove individually that they suffered actual financial loss proximately caused by their own reliance (§ 4-88-113(f)(2)). “Actual financial loss” is defined mechanically: the difference between the amount paid for goods or services and the actual market value of what was provided (§ 4-88-102(1)). A court may award reasonable attorney's fees — discretionary, not automatic (§ 4-88-113(f)(3)). And a private class action is prohibited unless the claim is for a violation of Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 89 (§ 4-88-113(f)(1)(B)).

Public enforcement is a different and stronger animal: the Attorney General may sue for restitution, injunctions and civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation, and may seek suspension or forfeiture of a corporate charter or licence (§§ 4-88-104, 4-88-113(a)–(c)). A knowing and wilful violation is a Class A misdemeanor (§ 4-88-103). The limitations period for a civil action under the chapter is five (5) years from the occurrence of the violation or the date the cause of action arises (§ 4-88-115). Check the applicability limits too: the chapter does not reach advertising or practices that are subject to and comply with an FTC rule, order or statute, or actions specifically permitted under laws administered by certain state and federal regulators (§ 4-88-101).

After hail or wind damage, roofing and exterior contractors move fast, and Arkansas gives homeowners a specific escape hatch. This subchapter applies to a residential real estate repair contract — a written contract with an insured to repair residential real estate with goods and services to be paid from a property and casualty insurance policy — where “residential real estate” means a dwelling built for one to four families, including a detached garage (§§ 4-88-901(a), 4-88-902(4)–(5)).

The right: you may cancel within three (3) business days after you receive written notice from your insurer that all or any part of the claim or the contract is not a covered loss (§ 4-88-904(b)). Before signing, the contractor must give you a bold-type statement of that right and a detachable duplicate “NOTICE OF CANCELLATION” form in at least 10-point boldface (§ 4-88-903). The contractor may not start work until the cancellation period has expired (§ 4-88-904(a)). Cancellation needs no particular form — any writing expressing an intention not to be bound will do, and if mailed it is effective on deposit in the mail (§ 4-88-904(c)).

What you get back: within ten (10) days of cancellation the contractor must tender back all payments, partial payments and deposits and any note or evidence of indebtedness, keeping only the reasonable value of emergency services actually performed — and “emergency services” expressly excludes inspection and estimating (§§ 4-88-902(1)(B), 4-88-904(d)). Any contract provision requiring a fee for anything other than emergency services is unenforceable against an insured who cancels (§ 4-88-904(e)). A violation is an unfair and deceptive act or practice under the DTPA, and the subchapter does not prevent a harmed insured from bringing a civil action (§ 4-88-905).

Where a recorded instrument affecting title contains an error in the identification of a party, marital status, heirship, death, the identification of a corporation or entity, or the legal description, Arkansas allows a scrivener's affidavit — a sworn, acknowledged affidavit correcting it. It may be executed by the attorney who prepared the original or represents a party, a party who prepared it, a current employee of the title company that completed the form, the engineer or surveyor who prepared the survey or plat, or the notary who witnessed and erred in the acknowledgment (§ 18-12-108(a)–(b)).

It must be titled conspicuously as a “Scrivener's Affidavit” and identify the preparer, all parties, the recording information and a brief description of each error corrected (§ 18-12-108(c)). Once recorded and indexed under the original parties' names it is admissible in evidence to the same extent as a recorded deed (§ 18-12-108(e)). Notice of the correction is effective when the affidavit is recorded — except that for an error of an obvious nature notice relates back to the recording of the original instrument, which does not help against a bona fide purchaser for value (§ 18-12-108(f)).