Arkansas Roommate Agreement
The Arkansas reality that shapes this contract: no lodger law, no roommate-sharing statute, and cities cannot add housing protections beyond the state list.
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Introduction
A roommate agreement is a private contract between co-tenants who share a home. It is separate from the lease: it does not bind the landlord, does not change who the landlord can collect rent from, and does not give either roommate any right against the landlord that the lease itself does not already give. In Arkansas, Title 18 of the Arkansas Code never creates a lodger or roomer category, never gives a tenant a right to add a roommate, and never sets a default for splitting rent liability or a security deposit between roommates. Arkansas also has a distinctive rule running the other way on discrimination: Ark. Code Ann. Section 14-1-403 bars every Arkansas city and county from adding protected classes to housing law beyond what the state Fair Housing Act already lists, a rule the Arkansas Supreme Court enforced by striking down Fayetteville's broader ordinance. That means your written roommate agreement, not a state statute or a city ordinance, is what actually controls how you and your roommates share the home.
Key Things to Know
- 1
Arkansas has no lodger law. There is no statute letting an owner-occupier remove a paying roommate without a formal eviction, so a roommate agreement should never promise a quicker path out than the standard eviction process through the landlord.
- 2
No Arkansas statute gives a tenant the right to add a roommate, and none requires landlord consent either. The only 'subletting' statute in the Code, Ark. Code Ann. Section 18-16-102, is an 1883 agricultural provision that does not apply to residential roommates, so the Lease alone controls whether you can add someone.
- 3
Arkansas sets no joint-and-several liability default among co-tenants. Whatever the Lease says controls your liability to the landlord, so your roommate agreement should state in writing how you divide rent responsibility between yourselves.
- 4
Arkansas's security deposit statute, Ark. Code Ann. Section 18-16-305(a), returns the deposit to 'the tenant' in the singular and does not apportion it among multiple roommates, so your agreement should set that split yourselves.
- 5
Selecting a roommate for an owner-occupied home of four or fewer units is exempt from the Arkansas Fair Housing Act, but the exemption does not cover advertising: a listing still cannot indicate a preference based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin (Ark. Code Ann. Section 16-123-311).
- 6
No Arkansas city or county, including Fayetteville or Little Rock, may add housing protections beyond the state Fair Housing Act's list. Ark. Code Ann. Section 14-1-403 bars local ordinances from doing so, and the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down Fayetteville's ordinance on exactly that basis.
- 7
An Arkansas roommate agreement never binds the landlord. It is a contract between you and your roommates only. It does not require the landlord to recognize a new occupant and does not override any landlord-consent clause the Lease already contains.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Roommate Agreement in Arkansas, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Roommate Agreement guide walks through them.
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Arkansas Requirements for Roommate Agreement
Ark. Code Ann. Section 18-16-301(8) defines only a single 'Tenant' category with no separate lodger or roomer class an owner-occupier could remove without a formal eviction. Removing a roommate who will not leave should be assumed to require the standard eviction process through the landlord. Do not include self-help removal language.
No Arkansas statute or case addresses whether co-tenants are jointly and severally liable for rent. The roommate agreement should state each roommate's share explicitly, separate from whatever liability the Lease itself creates toward the landlord.
Ark. Code Ann. Section 18-16-305(a) governs only the landlord's return of a security deposit to 'the tenant' in the singular, not how it is split among roommates. Include a clause setting each roommate's contribution and the move-out division.
Ark. Code Ann. Section 14-1-403 preempts every Arkansas city and county from adding a protected classification beyond the state Fair Housing Act's list, a rule the Arkansas Supreme Court enforced against Fayetteville's ordinance. Do not tell readers to check a city ordinance for extra roommate-selection protections.
The owner-occupied exemption in Ark. Code Ann. Section 16-123-306(a) covers selection only. Any listing must still comply with the advertising-discrimination ban in Section 16-123-311, which bars indicating a preference based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. An Arkansas roommate agreement is a private contract between co-tenants, enforceable like any other contract under Arkansas law. It does not bind the landlord and does not change the Lease; it only governs the relationship between the roommates who sign it.
No. Arkansas has no lodger law and no statute giving one roommate the power to remove another directly. Removing a roommate who will not leave requires the standard eviction process through the landlord, under Arkansas's unlawful detainer statutes or the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007. Self-help removal, such as changing the locks, is not a lawful substitute.
No. Arkansas has no statute like New York's Roommate Law giving a tenant a right to add an occupant, and no general subletting-consent statute either. Whether you can add a roommate, and whether the landlord must consent, depends entirely on the terms of your Lease.
Arkansas statutes and case law set no default rule on this. Whether each roommate owes the full rent or only a share depends on what the Lease and your roommate agreement say, not on state law, so put the split in writing.
No. Ark. Code Ann. Section 18-16-305(a) only tells the landlord to return the deposit to 'the tenant' in the singular; it does not divide that money among multiple roommates. Your roommate agreement should set the split and the move-out process yourselves.
No. Ark. Code Ann. Section 14-1-403 bars every Arkansas city and county from adding a protected classification beyond the state Fair Housing Act's list. The Arkansas Supreme Court struck down Fayetteville's ordinance for adding sexual orientation and gender identity, so the state list is the ceiling, not just the floor.
No. Ark. Code Ann. Section 18-16-101's failure-to-vacate misdemeanor runs from the landlord to the tenant after the landlord gives ten days' written notice; it is not a tool one roommate can use against another. Removing a roommate who will not leave still requires the landlord and the standard eviction process.
If your home is owner-occupied with four or fewer units and you occupy one, the Arkansas Fair Housing Act's selection provisions do not apply to you. But that exemption does not cover advertising: your listing still cannot indicate a preference based on familial status or any of the Act's other protected classes.
No Arkansas statute or reported decision settles what execution formalities a private roommate agreement needs. Signatures from all roommates are the baseline, but ask an Arkansas attorney before assuming notarization or witnesses are unnecessary.