How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Arkansas?

Under Ark. Code § 18-16-305, a Arkansas landlord has 60 days to return the deposit and provide any required written itemization of deductions.

What is the penalty if my landlord keeps my deposit in Arkansas?

Under Ark. Code § 18-16-306, a landlord who wrongfully withholds may be liable for double the amount wrongfully withheld plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

Do I have to sue to get my security deposit back?

Often not. A formal written demand sent by certified mail puts your landlord on notice of the statute, the deadline they missed and the penalty attached to it — and gives you a dated record that they received it. Small claims court is the fallback if they ignore it.

Arkansas security deposit law

What your landlord is legally required to do after you move out, how long they have, and what it costs them if they get it wrong.

Deadline to return

60 days

Governing statute

Ark. Code § 18-16-305

The deadline

Under Ark. Code § 18-16-305, a landlord in Arkansas must return your security deposit — together with any required written itemization of deductions — within 60 days. Once that window closes without payment or a proper itemization, the landlord is in violation of the statute.

Arkansas gives the landlord 60 days from termination of the tenancy, not 30 — the 30-day figure repeated across the web has been wrong since Act 559 of 2009. There is no forwarding-address requirement; Act 559 struck that language. The damages provision at § 18-16-306 dates to 1979 and is not published by the legislature or any state source we can reach, so we treat it as unverified and will not put it in a letter. Arkansas also exempts small landlords from the ENTIRE subchapter, not just the penalty.

What it costs your landlord

Ark. Code § 18-16-306 is reported to make a landlord who wrongfully withholds a deposit in Arkansas liable for double the amount wrongfully withheld plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

We have not been able to verify this against Arkansas's own published law.

Everything else on this site is quoted from a state legislature, court, or code revisor. This figure is not, which is why Arkansas has no letter: we will not put a number in a demand letter to your landlord that we could not read in the statute ourselves. Treat what is above as a starting point for your own research, not as something to rely on.

Important limit on who this law covers

Arkansas's security-deposit law applies only if your landlord — counting the owner, their spouse and minor children, and any rental companies they control — owns six or more rental units, or if a third party manages the property or collects rent for a fee. Otherwise none of it applies: no deadline, no itemization duty, no remedy.

How to get your deposit back in Arkansas

1. Confirm the deadline has passed. Count from the day you moved out and returned possession. In Arkansas that's 60 days.
2. Put your forwarding address in writing. In several states a landlord has no obligation until they have it, and having sent it protects your claim.
3. Gather your evidence. The lease, proof you paid the deposit, move-in and move-out photos, and any itemization they sent.
4. Send a written demand by certified mail. Cite Ark. Code § 18-16-305, state the amount owed, and give a deadline to pay. Certified mail creates the delivery record a judge will want to see.
5. File in small claims if they ignore you. You don't need a lawyer. File in the county where the property is located.

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Other Arkansas tenant rights

Landlords who get one of these wrong often get another wrong too.

Arkansas landlord entry lawsHow much notice your landlord owes you before letting themselves in.

Security deposit laws in other states

These rules change at the state line. Every page is checked against that state's own published statute.

Common questions

How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Arkansas?: Under Ark. Code § 18-16-305, a Arkansas landlord has 60 days to return the deposit and provide any required written itemization of deductions.
What is the penalty if my landlord keeps my deposit in Arkansas?: Under Ark. Code § 18-16-306, a landlord who wrongfully withholds may be liable for double the amount wrongfully withheld plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
Do I have to sue to get my security deposit back?: Often not. A formal written demand sent by certified mail puts your landlord on notice of the statute, the deadline they missed and the penalty attached to it — and gives you a dated record that they received it. Small claims court is the fallback if they ignore it.

How this page was checked

Read from the source. Every deadline, cap and penalty here was taken from the legislature's published text — the statute, session law or administrative code itself.
No legal-information websites. Commercial summaries were used only to find a provision, never as authority for it. An automated check fails our build if any state we serve cites a secondary source.
Locked against drift. The verified figures are pinned by regression tests, so a later edit cannot quietly change a deadline or a penalty.
Last verified September 1, 2026. Laws change — confirm the current text before relying on it.

General information, not legal advice. We are not a law firm.