What can a landlord charge for a rental application in Arkansas?

The only Arkansas law that names rental application fees is a preemption added in 2025, which bars cities and counties from controlling the amount charged for rent, rental application fees, or rental deposits, while expressly preserving the state ceiling on security deposits of two months' periodic rent. Tenant screening charges, denial notices, reusable screening reports, holding deposits, and rental fee advertising are all left unaddressed by Arkansas statute; where a landlord uses a consumer report to decide on an applicant, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act supplies the denial notice.

Arkansas application & screening fees at a glance

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Arkansas Application & Screening Fee Laws (verified August 26, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/application-fees/arkansas/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

• No state ceiling on application fees — The amount a landlord charges to apply is set by the landlord. Arkansas neither caps it, ties it to what screening actually costs, nor requires that it be used for screening at all.
• Local caps are barred — Since 2025, counties and municipalities may not adopt or enforce an ordinance controlling the amount charged for rent, rental application fees, or rental deposits on private residential or commercial property. The change came from Acts 2025, No. 459, which added the application fee and deposit prongs to a rent control preemption dating from 1993, and it has been in force since 2025.
• Security deposits follow separate rules — A security deposit may not exceed two months' periodic rent, however the deposit is named, and money held as security must be returned within sixty days of the end of the tenancy, less accrued unpaid rent and damages itemized in a written notice. These rules govern deposits under a rental agreement, not money paid to apply.
• Small landlords are outside the deposit rules — The security deposit subchapter does not apply to an individual who, together with a spouse, minor children, and related rental entities, owns five or fewer dwelling units. That exemption is lost if a third party handles management, including rent collection, for a fee.
• Federal law still applies to denials — When a landlord relies on a consumer report to reject an applicant, raise a deposit, or add a condition, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires an adverse action notice identifying the reporting agency and explaining the applicant's right to a free copy of the report and to dispute it. Arkansas adds no state requirement of its own.
• No reusable screening report right — An applicant who has already paid for a screening report has no Arkansas right to have it accepted by the next landlord, and a landlord may require and charge for fresh screening.
• Some tenancies fall outside the act — The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 does not govern transient occupancy in a hotel or motel subject to lodging tax, residence at an institution incidental to medical or similar services, occupancy conditioned on employment, occupancy by a condominium owner or cooperative shareholder, tenancies used primarily for agricultural purposes, or stays at a charitable or emergency shelter.
• About the application fee rule — Arkansas sets no limit on what a landlord may charge a person to apply for a dwelling. The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 leaves rent and other charges to what the landlord and tenant agree to, and the only monetary ceiling in Arkansas landlord-tenant law applies to security deposits, which are defined as money securing performance of a rental agreement that does not yet exist at the application stage. What an applicant pays is therefore set by the landlord and by market practice.
• How the cost limit works — No Arkansas statute ties an application or screening charge to the actual cost of obtaining a credit, background, or eviction report. The landlord obligations subchapter of the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 contains only two sections, on security deposits and on implied residential quality standards, and neither reaches the cost basis of an application charge.
• Screening charges — Arkansas places no conditions on charging an applicant for tenant screening. There is no limit on who may charge, no rule against charging more than one applicant or charging twice, no requirement that the landlord actually obtain a report after taking the money, no written notice or agreement that must come first, and no requirement that a unit be vacant or available before an applicant is charged. Tenant screening is not addressed anywhere in the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007.
• What the receipt duty covers — No Arkansas statute requires a landlord to give an applicant a receipt for application or screening money. The only written receipt duty in the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 arises after an eviction case has begun, when a tenant pays rent to the landlord or through the court clerk, and it runs to a tenant rather than to an applicant.
• When money must come back — No Arkansas statute forces the return of any part of an application or screening fee in any circumstance. The one statutory refund duty in Arkansas landlord-tenant law applies to security deposits and is triggered by the end of a tenancy, not by anything that happens while an application is pending.
• Refunds — Because no refund is required, Arkansas sets no deadline or method for one. Nothing addresses an applicant who is never screened, a unit that is filled or taken off the market, an amount collected above what screening actually cost, or an applicant who withdraws. The security deposit rules are the only comparable mechanism: money held as security must be returned within sixty days of the end of the tenancy, less accrued unpaid rent and damages itemized in a written notice to the tenant.
• What must be disclosed up front — Arkansas requires nothing to be disclosed to an applicant before money is collected. A landlord need not publish screening criteria, explain what the fee pays for, break the charge down, state the applicant's rights, or give fresh notice when criteria change. The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 leaves the terms of the arrangement to the parties and imposes no application-stage disclosure.
• Denial notices — Arkansas imposes no state duty on a landlord who turns an applicant down. There is no required content for a denial, no deadline for giving one, and no duty to hand over a copy of any report relied on. Where a landlord uses a consumer report to make the decision, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act supplies the adverse action notice; Arkansas adds nothing on top of that federal requirement.
• Reusable screening reports — Arkansas has no portable or reusable tenant screening report law. A landlord is not required to accept a screening report an applicant already paid for, no period is set during which such a report stays valid, and there is no rule waiving a fee when a reusable report is used. A landlord may require its own screening.
• Money to hold a unit — No Arkansas statute governs money taken to hold a unit between an accepted application and a signed lease. There is no ceiling on the amount, no written statement the landlord must give, and no rule saying what happens to the money if the applicant signs, backs out, or is turned down. The state security deposit ceiling of two months' periodic rent applies to a deposit however it is named, but both it and the deposit refund rules are written around a rental agreement that already exists.
• Advertising and fee transparency — Arkansas has no rental fee transparency law. Nothing requires a residential rental listing to advertise an all-in price, to itemize mandatory fees, or to disclose application-stage charges, and there is no ban on hidden rental fees. The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 does not address how a rental or its charges are advertised.
• Penalties — Arkansas attaches no damages, penalty, or forfeiture to application or screening fees, because it imposes no duty about them to begin with. The nearest remedy sits in the security deposit subchapter, where a tenant may recover the money due, damages of twice the amount wrongfully withheld, costs, and reasonable attorney's fees; that remedy reaches security deposits only, is cut back to costs and the sum withheld where the landlord shows a procedural error or a good faith dispute, and does not apply to a landlord who owns five or fewer dwelling units unless a third party manages them for a fee.

Common questions: Arkansas application & screening fees

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much can a landlord charge for a rental application fee in Arkansas?

No statutory cap on application fees.

Does an application fee have to be refunded in Arkansas?

No statutory refund duty.

Does a landlord have to give a receipt for an application fee in Arkansas?

No statutory receipt duty for application money.

Does Arkansas have a reusable tenant screening report law?

No statute on reusable screening reports.

Can a landlord charge a holding deposit in Arkansas?

No statute on holding deposits.

Citations

• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-401 · (a) (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-304 (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-301 · (13) (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-501 (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-502 (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-706 · (a)(1)(B)(ii) (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-305 · (a)(1) (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-305 · (a) (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-305 · (b) (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-301 · (6) (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-306 · (a) (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-303 (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-17-103 (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-54-1409 · (b)(1) (verified 2026) Official source
• Ark. Code Ann. § 14-16-601 · (b)(1) (verified 2026) Official source
• Acts 2025, No. 459 (S.B. 91) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of the Arkansas Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 (Ark. Code Ann. ch. 18-17) in full and of Ark. Code Ann. ch. 18-16 in full, including the security deposit subchapter, as published by the State of Arkansas's official public-access code service, current through the First Extraordinary Session of 2026; plus a direct read of Ark. Code Ann. §§ 14-54-1409 and 14-16-601 and of the enrolled text of Acts 2025, No. 459 (S.B. 91) and its bill record on the Arkansas General Assembly's own site. Enacted-law review covered every Arkansas Code section amended in the 2025 regular session and in both 2026 sessions.