Which Arkansas Laws Govern Your HOA or Condo?

Before you can hold an Arkansas association to the law, it helps to know which law applies — and Arkansas is unusual in that its main HOA-related statute is opt-in, not automatic. For your specific situation, a licensed Arkansas attorney is the right resource. This is general information, not legal advice.

Does the Horizontal Property Act apply to my Arkansas HOA?

Only if a master deed was recorded under it. The Horizontal Property Act (Ark. Code, §§ 18-13-101 to 18-13-120) is a condominium-style statute, and a regime under it is created only by recording a master deed (§ 18-13-103(a)). A community without one, which can include a single-family subdivision, relies on its declaration and, if incorporated, nonprofit corporation law.

Arkansas's primary HOA-related statute is the Horizontal Property Act, Ark. Code §§ 18-13-101 to 18-13-120. Under § 18-13-103(a), a horizontal property regime "may be created under this chapter only by recording a master deed." (That is the wording Act 516 of 2025 introduced for regimes organized on and after September 1, 2025; older regimes were created under earlier wording that likewise turned on recording a master deed.)

The Act is written around apartments or units and the common elements they share, in other words condominium-style ownership.

See Did Your HOA Opt In to the Horizontal Property Act? for what to look for in the recorded documents.

The Arkansas stack

A homeowner's rights typically come from several sources at once:

• Arkansas Horizontal Property Act, Ark. Code §§ 18-13-101 to 18-13-120: a condominium-style statute that applies only by recorded master deed.
• Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1993, Ark. Code § 4-33-101 et seq.: the entity law for HOAs incorporated as nonprofits on or after January 1, 1994, and for older ones that elected into it. Nonprofits incorporated earlier that never elected in "shall continue to be governed by preexisting law" (§ 4-33-1701). For a nonprofit incorporated under it, that means the 1963 Nonprofit Corporation Act (Ark. Code Title 4, ch. 28, subch. 2).
• The recorded governing documents: the declaration or master deed, bylaws, and rules.
• Federal law: Fair Housing Act, ADA, Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, OTARD, Flag Act.

What the HPA covers (when it applies)

The HPA is concise. Key provisions include:

• § 18-13-103: establishment of a horizontal property regime through a recorded master deed
• § 18-13-104: required contents of the master deed
• § 18-13-108: bylaws, recorded with the master deed, that must cover the form of administration, how co-owners are called to meetings, and the "Manner of collecting from the co-owners for the payment of the common expenses"
• § 18-13-110: a book of receipts and expenditures open to co-owners' examination
• § 18-13-116: liability for expenses and assessments, including payment of unpaid assessments out of the sales price and joint liability of buyer and seller at a sale
• § 18-13-117: insurance

What the HPA does not lay out: a fining procedure, open-meeting rules, or a records-access timeline beyond the expense book. Meeting procedure is left to the bylaws (§ 18-13-108(b)(2)). Those gaps are filled by the declaration / master deed, the bylaws and, for incorporated HOAs, nonprofit corporation law. The 2025 amendments below did not add them.

A 2025 update: Act 516

In 2025 Arkansas enacted Act 516 (SB 323), which amended the Horizontal Property Act. It rewrote:

• its definitions (§ 18-13-102)
• how a regime is created (§ 18-13-103)
• what the master deed must contain (§ 18-13-104)
• how shares and votes are allocated (§ 18-13-112)
• liability for expenses and assessments (§ 18-13-116), including a declarant's share of expenses during declarant control and interest on past-due assessments "at a lawful rate established by the association"

Act 516 "is applicable to a horizontal property regime organized on and after September 1, 2025." A regime organized earlier may elect in by amending the master deed and filing the appropriate reorganization documents (Act 516, § 9). Act 516 does not add records-access, fine, or hearing rules, so those gaps remain for the governing documents to fill.

Does Arkansas have a law for HOAs that didn't opt in?

No general one. Outside the Horizontal Property Act, the recorded covenants or declaration are the main source of rights and obligations. If the HOA is incorporated, nonprofit corporation law adds a layer: the Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1993 (Act 1147 of 1993) or, for older nonprofits that never elected into it, the 1963 Act.

For Arkansas HOAs that didn't opt in, the framework is:

• The recorded covenants / declaration: the main source of rights and obligations
• Nonprofit corporation law: the 1993 Act or, for older nonprofits that never elected in, the 1963 Act, if the HOA is incorporated
• General Arkansas contract and property law

The full Arkansas stack

Putting it together:

1. The governing documents: the recorded declaration / master deed, bylaws, and rules
2. The property statute: the HPA (if opted in), or nothing at the property-statute layer
3. The entity law: the 1993 or 1963 nonprofit act if incorporated
4. Federal law: FHA, ADA, SCRA, OTARD, Flag Act

Because the right combination depends on whether your community opted in and how it's organized, a licensed Arkansas attorney is the foundation for any specific question — from records to fines to unpaid assessments.

Sources

• Arkansas Code Annotated — official public access (§§ 18-13-101 to 18-13-120; § 4-33-1701)
• Act 516 of 2025 — amendments to Ark. Code §§ 18-13-102 to 18-13-104, 18-13-112 and 18-13-116 (applicability, § 9)
• Act 1147 of 1993 — Arkansas Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1993 (Ark. Code § 4-33-101 et seq.)