For volunteer board members
Arkansas HOA Rules for Board Members (2026)
New to a Arkansas HOA or condo board? Before you send a violation letter or set a fine, it helps to know what the law actually says. Here are the Arkansas rules in plain words, each with its statute section and a link to the official text.
Arkansas HOAs, property owners' associations and horizontal property regimes (condominiums). Arkansas has no general HOA statute that sets notice, cure, hearing or fine steps, so your recorded declaration (bill of assurance), bylaws and rules are the rulebook. Horizontal property regimes created by a recorded master deed follow the Horizontal Property Act; incorporated associations follow the Nonprofit Corporation Act; the U.S. flag law reaches every association. Kindly Board follows a fair notice-and-hearing process as good practice and says so wherever a step comes from your documents.
The short version: Arkansas law sets no periods for these steps, so Kindly Board uses the dates from your notice (your documents set them). If a deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, ask an Arkansas attorney.
Updated October 2026. Not legal advice.
Which Arkansas law applies
Arkansas has no general homeowners' or property owners' association statute. No Arkansas statute sets an HOA's violation-notice contents, delivery method, cure period, hearing process or deadline, or a fine cap or fine procedure. The violation process comes from your recorded declaration (often called a bill of assurance), bylaws, rules and enforcement policy; your documents control.
A.C.A. §§18-13-101 to -120 and §4-33-101 ff. (no violation procedure)
The Horizontal Property Act is Arkansas's only statute that governs a type of community association as such. It applies only to a horizontal property regime created by recording a master deed, and it sets no violation-notice, hearing or fine procedure. Act 516 of 2025 rewrote parts of it for regimes organized on and after September 1, 2025 (an older regime may elect in by amending its master deed); which wording binds an older regime that did not elect is unclear, so ask an Arkansas attorney.
The Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1993 applies to nonprofit corporations incorporated on or after January 1, 1994; one incorporated before then stays under the 1963 Act unless it irrevocably elected the 1993 Act by amending its articles.
Arkansas law sets no fine cap, fine procedure or fine appeal; fines come only from your governing documents, in the amount and way they allow.
A.C.A. §§18-13-101 to -120, §4-33-101 ff. (no procedure set)
How Arkansas counts days
Arkansas law sets no cure, hearing-request, hearing-notice or fine periods for HOA violations, so Kindly Board counts no statutory days. Dates come from your documents and your notice.
A.C.A. §§18-13-101 to -120, §4-33-101 ff. (no procedure set)
Violation notices and the chance to fix in Arkansas
Arkansas law sets no cure period for a violation; your documents control. 10 to 30 days is common practice, not a legal rule.
A.C.A. §§18-13-101 to -120, §4-33-101 ff. (no procedure set)
Arkansas law sets no required contents or delivery method for a violation notice; your documents control.
A.C.A. §§18-13-101 to -120, §4-33-101 ff. (no procedure set)
A member of a nonprofit corporation may not be expelled or suspended, or a membership ended or suspended, except under a fair and reasonable procedure carried out in good faith. A procedure is fair and reasonable if the articles or bylaws give at least 15 days' prior written notice with the reasons and a chance to be heard, orally or in writing, at least 5 days before the effective date by a person authorized to stop it; or if it is fair and reasonable considering all the facts. Mailed notice goes first-class or certified to the member's last address on record. A challenge must be brought within 1 year. Whether suspending an owner's use of amenities or voting counts as a suspension under this section isn't stated: follow these steps anyway and ask an Arkansas attorney.
Hearings in Arkansas
Arkansas law sets no hearing right, hearing deadline or hearing-notice period before an HOA fine; your documents control. A fair standard many boards borrow from the nonprofit suspension rule (A.C.A. §4-33-621): at least 15 days' written notice with the reasons, and a chance to be heard at least 5 days before any penalty. That's practice, not an Arkansas rule for fines.
A.C.A. §§18-13-101 to -120, §4-33-101 ff. (no procedure set); §4-33-621
Assessments, late fees and liens in Arkansas
No Arkansas HOA statute gives an association a lien for assessments or fines; the Horizontal Property Act gives a payment priority at sale instead. Ask an Arkansas attorney where any lien right would come from (for example, your recorded documents) before any lien or foreclosure step.
Co-owners must pay their share of common expenses. The board may add an assessment on a unit made available for rent or lease, no more than the amount reasonably calculated to cover the added costs. On a sale, unpaid assessments are paid first out of the sale price or by the buyer, ahead of other charges except past-due taxes and payments due under recorded mortgages, and the buyer is jointly and severally liable with the seller for them.
Meetings and votes in Arkansas
Board meetings (1993 Act): unless the articles or bylaws say otherwise, regular board meetings may be held without notice, and special board meetings need at least 2 days' notice to each director of the date, time and place (not the purpose).
Members' meetings (1993 Act): notice must be fair and reasonable and consistent with the bylaws. Notice of the place, date and time given no fewer than 10 days (30 days if mailed other than first-class or registered mail) and no more than 60 days before the meeting is fair and reasonable; a special-meeting notice must describe the matters it is called for.
Records in Arkansas
The 1993 Act has no general records-inspection right for members. The list of members entitled to notice of a meeting must be open to members, for communicating about the meeting, from 2 business days after notice is given through the meeting. Associations still under the 1963 Act: any member may inspect all books and records for any proper purpose at any reasonable time.
Flags, signs, solar and other owner rights
Arkansas law sets no limits on HOA rules about solar panels, political signs, EV chargers or satellite dishes (federal FCC rules cover certain antennas and dishes); your documents control. The U.S. flag is protected (A.C.A. §14-1-203).
No HOA, property owners' association or other private entity may adopt a rule, policy or covenant that prevents a person who otherwise has the legal right from properly displaying a U.S. flag (fabric, cloth or paper, no larger than 10 feet long or 8 feet wide) on private property. Display used as or with advertising may be restricted. A prevailing party in a suit to enforce the right recovers court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees. Federal law (Pub. L. 109-243) also protects the U.S. flag.
Other rules boards should know
A horizontal property regime is run by bylaws recorded with the master deed. They must cover at least the form of administration, how co-owners are called to meet, that decisions need a majority of at least 51% (measured by the basic value of the property, not a head count), who presides and keeps the minute book, upkeep, and how common expenses are collected. The system of administration can be changed by co-owners representing two-thirds of the total value of the building, effective only once it is in a recorded instrument.
The administrator or board of a horizontal property regime must keep a book with a detailed, chronological account of receipts and expenditures; the book and the vouchers must be open to all co-owners at convenient hours on working days that are set and announced.
Step by step: a Arkansas violation case
The order Kindly Board walks a Arkansas board through, from the first look to the last letter.
- Check before you start Every case
Your documents are the rulebook: find the rule, the steps and the fine power. - Courtesy reminder Optional
A friendly first note before any formal notice. - Formal notice of violation Before any fine (per your documents; good practice)
The rule, the facts, the fix-by date and how to be heard, the way your documents require. - Hearing (if the owner asks, or your documents require one) Per your documents (good practice before any fine)
A fair chance to be heard before the Board decides. - Board vote on the fine Before a fine
A fine your documents allow, voted the way your bylaws require. - Notice of fine After the vote
Amount, due date, how to pay, and the rule behind it. - Close the case Every case
Record how it ended and keep the file.
Arkansas HOA rules: FAQ
What HOA law applies in Arkansas?
Arkansas HOAs, property owners' associations and horizontal property regimes (condominiums). Arkansas has no general HOA statute that sets notice, cure, hearing or fine steps, so your recorded declaration (bill of assurance), bylaws and rules are the rulebook. Horizontal property regimes created by a recorded master deed follow the Horizontal Property Act; incorporated associations follow the Nonprofit Corporation Act; the U.S. flag law reaches every association. Kindly Board follows a fair notice-and-hearing process as good practice and says so wherever a step comes from your documents. The main sources: your recorded documents (Arkansas has no general HOA statute; Horizontal Property Act, A.C.A. §18-13-101 ff., and the Nonprofit Corporation Act).
How are days counted for Arkansas HOA deadlines?
Arkansas law sets no periods for these steps, so Kindly Board uses the dates from your notice (your documents set them). If a deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, ask an Arkansas attorney.
What does Arkansas law say about violation hearings?
Arkansas law sets no hearing right, hearing deadline or hearing-notice period before an HOA fine; your documents control. A fair standard many boards borrow from the nonprofit suspension rule (A.C.A. §4-33-621): at least 15 days' written notice with the reasons, and a chance to be heard at least 5 days before any penalty. That's practice, not an Arkansas rule for fines. (A.C.A. §§18-13-101 to -120, §4-33-101 ff. (no procedure set); §4-33-621)
Can Arkansas owners see the association's records?
The 1993 Act has no general records-inspection right for members. The list of members entitled to notice of a meeting must be open to members, for communicating about the meeting, from 2 business days after notice is given through the meeting. Associations still under the 1963 Act: any member may inspect all books and records for any proper purpose at any reasonable time. (A.C.A. §4-33-720; §4-28-218(e))