Breaking a lease in Arkansas

If you are the tenant

• A tenant may end a month-to-month tenancy by written notice given at least 30 days before the termination date named in the notice; the statute does not tie that date to a rent day (Ark. Code § 18-17-704(b)).

If the landlord ends it

• A landlord may end a month-to-month tenancy by written notice given at least 30 days before the termination date named in the notice; no reason is required by state law (Ark. Code § 18-17-704(b)).

Written notice required: Yes. Notice ending a periodic tenancy must be written (Ark. Code § 18-17-704).

• week-to-week, both: 7 days. Either side may end a week-to-week tenancy by written notice given at least 7 days before the termination date named in the notice (Ark. Code § 18-17-704(a)).

No Arkansas statute releases a tenant who leaves a fixed-term lease early or sets the landlord's remedy; the lease controls. The Arkansas Supreme Court has described the common-law options of a landlord whose tenant abandons, including letting the unit sit and suing for rent as it comes due (Weingarten/Arkansas, Inc. v. ABC Interstate Theatres, Inc., 306 Ark. 64 (1991)).

Landlord's duty to re-rent: Unsettled. No statute requires an Arkansas landlord to re-rent. In a commercial case the Arkansas Supreme Court recited the common-law rule that a landlord may let abandoned premises lie idle and sue for rent, and held that a lease may expressly say the landlord has no duty to mitigate (Weingarten/Arkansas, Inc. v. ABC Interstate Theatres, Inc., 306 Ark. 64 (1991)). No residential holding was found, so the rule for residential leases is unsettled.

Lease-break fees: No statutory limit; the lease controls.

• Unit unlivable or landlord fails to repair (Ark. Code § 18-17-502(d))

  For leases signed or renewed after Nov. 1, 2021, if the landlord does not fix a failure of the basic standards (water, electricity, sewer, roof, heat/AC) within 30 days after written notice, the tenant may end the lease.

  Proof:

  Written notice by certified mail (or a method in the lease) naming the defect; rent must be current.

  What you still owe:

  Lease ends without penalty and the tenant gets back any recoverable deposit; this is the tenant's sole remedy and rent may not be withheld.

Military orders, every state: the federal SCRA lets servicemembers with orders (permanent change of station or deployment of 90+ days) end a lease with written notice and a copy of the orders. How the SCRA date is counted.

• No Arkansas statute was found that lets domestic-violence victims or state military members end a lease early. Federal SCRA still applies.
• A tenant who holds over willfully can owe up to 3 months' periodic rent or twice actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees (Ark. Code § 18-17-704(c)).
• Section 18-17-704 text was read from the official enacting act (Act 1004 of 2007); the current codified text on the state's Lexis-hosted code could not be loaded, so later amendments to that section, if any, were not checked.

• Write a Arkansas notice to vacate
• Arkansas security deposit law: getting your deposit back after you move

• Ark. Act 1004 of 2007 (Arkansas Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007; enacts Ark. Code § 18-17-704) Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Ark. Act 1052 of 2021 (adds Ark. Code § 18-17-502, implied residential quality standards) Retrieved October 13, 2026.
• Weingarten/Arkansas, Inc. v. ABC Interstate Theatres, Inc., 306 Ark. 64, 811 S.W.2d 295 (1991) Retrieved October 13, 2026.

Laws change. This page was checked against the sources above on October 13, 2026. It is legal information, not legal advice; see our methodology.