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How long is squatters' rights in Arkansas?

Seven years, but a squatter with no paper and no tax receipts cannot use them. Since 2025 unlawful squatting is also a crime in Arkansas, under Act 238.

If someone is living in your home now, the clock matters far less than getting them out lawfully, and that is where we can help.

Someone in your home? Get them outStart with one building
Statutory period
7 years
What's different here
color of title and seven years of paid taxes are required
Statute
Ark. Code §§ 18-11-106, 18-61-101

Someone living in your home in Arkansas? Dardaris helps you get them out.

Changing the locks or cutting the power turns the law against you. We hand it to people who remove squatters lawfully, for a living.

If they are moving in right now, call the police first. Once they have settled in, it takes a formal process, and that is where we come in.

Your contact at Dardaris

 

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Dardaris is not a law firm and removes nobody itself. If you hire the specialist we introduce, they pay us a referral fee, and you deal with them under their own terms. We pass your details on only once you agree.

  1. Tell us what is happening, by email or on a call. Talking to us costs nothing.
  2. We put you in touch with a removal specialist who works through the court and the sheriff, never around them.
  3. Once the home is free, Dardaris manages the letting for you.

Arkansas counts seven years of continuous possession that is visible, notorious, distinct, exclusive and hostile, held with the intent to keep the land against the true owner. The number is short, but the rule attached to it is not. Since Act 776 of 1995, Ark. Code § 18-11-106 requires the claimant to prove color of title and payment of property taxes on the land, or on contiguous land, for seven years. A claim that had already vested before 1995 is outside that rule.

That makes Arkansas one of the hardest states for a squatter with nothing on paper. Someone who walks into a house with no deed, no recorded document and no tax bill in their name has neither color of title nor paid taxes, so the seven years do not help them. Arkansas courts cite § 18-61-101 beside § 18-11-106 when they apply the rule.

Act 238 of 2025 (House Bill 1049, approved March 4, 2025) adds Ark. Code § 5-39-215 and makes unlawful squatting a crime. A person commits it by knowingly entering and living on another person's premises, a dwelling, commercial building or vacant land, with no lawful authority, when the premises were not open to the public, the owner has told them to leave or has called law enforcement, no litigation is pending between them, and the person cannot produce a deed or mortgage statement, a lease signed by the owner, a written authorization, or a rent receipt from the last sixty days. It is a Class B misdemeanor, a second offense is a Class A misdemeanor and a third is a Class D felony. The act is a criminal law and does not set up an affidavit or sheriff removal process.

Where Arkansas sits against the rest of the United States, in years

Of 50 places in the United States on these pages, 5 have a shorter clock and 33 a longer one or none at all.

Sources checked

From the day someone moves in to the day a claim is possible

The same three stages in most places. The exact rule, and whether the last stage exists at all, is on each place's own page.

  1. Day oneMoving inCaught in the act, it is usually a matter for the police: a trespass, not a tenancy.
  2. Weeks to yearsSettled inOnce someone lives there, removing them usually takes a court order, the same route as for a tenant.
  3. After 7 yearsA claim becomes possibleOnly if every test held, without a break, for the whole period. Where the law allows no such claim, this stage never comes.

Not yours to do, once they have moved inChanging the locks, cutting the water or power, or removing belongings yourself. It is illegal in every US state and most places on these pages forbid it too. Each page says how removal works there.

Letting a home in Arkansas? Start from a free leaseFill in a Arkansas residential lease with the deposit, late fee, entry and notice rules Arkansas law sets, then download it as PDF or Word. No account needed.Write the Arkansas lease

The record a court asks for, kept as you go

Wherever your property stands, removing an occupant usually comes down to showing who had the right to be there, and since when. Dardaris files every lease, message and document for a building by date, so that record already exists on the day you need it.

Start with one building
  • Every lease, with who signed it and when
  • Every message with a tenant, on the thread it was sent in
  • Every document, filed against the building it concerns

Frequently asked questions

What are the squatting laws in Arkansas?

Arkansas's squatter law comes down to Ark. Code §§ 18-11-106 and 18-61-101: 7 years of continuous, hostile, open and exclusive possession, and the claimant must also show color of title and paid property taxes. Since Act 238 of 2025, unlawful squatting is also a crime. Squatting is trespassing, and a squatter who has settled in and is not removed through the police is removed through the courts, never by changing the locks or cutting the utilities.

How long is squatters' rights in Arkansas?

Seven years of continuous possession, and the claimant must prove color of title and seven years of paid property taxes. Ark. Code § 18-11-106.

What applies to an ordinary squatter with no deed in Arkansas?

The seven years do not turn occupation into ownership on their own. Since 1995 a claimant must also prove color of title and payment of property taxes for the seven years, so a squatter with no paper and no tax bill cannot meet the rule however long they stay. Permission from the owner also defeats the claim.

Is squatting a crime in Arkansas?

Yes, since Act 238 of 2025 (Ark. Code § 5-39-215). It is a Class B misdemeanor to knowingly enter and live on premises without lawful authority after the owner has said to leave, if the person cannot produce a deed, lease, authorization or recent rent receipt. Police may take a report only from the owner or an authorized representative, and a false document is a Class D felony.

Can I change the locks on a squatter in Arkansas?

No. Changing the locks, removing belongings or shutting off utilities yourself is not a lawful route once someone is living there. Report the occupation to the police if the Act 238 conditions fit, or use the courts. Call the police while someone is still moving in.

Can someone help me get squatters out of my home in Arkansas?

Yes. Removal specialists do it through the court and the sheriff. Changing the locks or cutting the power would put you in the wrong. Dardaris can put you in touch with one, and once the home is free, manage the letting for you.

Elsewhere in the United States

The same question, on a different clock. Every place sets its own period and its own shortcuts.

This is general information, not legal advice.Laws change, and a county or a city can add its own wrinkle on top of the state rule, the way New York City does. Confirm the current rule for your address before acting on it, and talk to a local attorney before relying on any of it in a real dispute.