Arkansas Mobile Home Park Rent Control: 2026 Guide

Is mobile home lot rent controlled in Arkansas?

No. Arkansas does not control mobile-home lot rent in any way. There is no statewide rent cap, no limit on how much or how often you can raise lot rent, and — importantly — no mobile-home-park-specific statute governing rent at all.

Be honest with yourself about the legal landscape: Arkansas is generally considered the most landlord-friendly state in the country, and it never enacted a manufactured-home-community act like Florida or California did. Your rent authority comes almost entirely from the written lease and general periodic-tenancy law, not from an MHP statute.

The practical takeaways: set rent by contract, use a clear written lease, and deliver any change to a month-to-month tenant with at least 30 days' written notice (Ark. Code § 18-17-704). No city or county in Arkansas can impose rent control on you.

No rent cap and no percentage limit

Arkansas has no statewide rent control and no statute capping the dollar amount or the percentage of a rent increase. You may set the initial lot rent at any amount and raise it by any amount, subject only to the lease terms and to federal fair-housing and anti-retaliation limits.

There is no 'reasonable increase' standard, no CPI tie, no annual cap, and no mandatory review board. If a tenant claims a specific percentage or dollar ceiling in the Arkansas Code, none exists.

Because there is no cap, the discipline has to come from your own lease drafting and from good resident relations, not from a statute telling you what is allowed.

No MHP act — the written lease governs, and 'notice' is really a 30-day termination

Arkansas has no mobile-home-park landlord-tenant act and no MHP rent-increase notice law. The one statute that mentions mobile homes on leased land, Ark. Code § 18-16-111, does not touch rent increases — it only gives the park owner a certified-mail notice and lien remedy when a home is unoccupied and lot rent is 60 or more days past due. Do not rely on it for anything rent-related.

Lot tenancies otherwise fall under the general Arkansas Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 2007 (§ 18-17-101 et seq.) and common-law periodic-tenancy rules. That means the written lease is your rulebook: it should spell out the rent amount, the increase mechanism, the notice you will give, and the term.

The 'notice reality': Arkansas has no standalone rent-increase-notice statute. For a month-to-month lot tenant you raise rent by terminating the current tenancy on at least 30 days' written notice under § 18-17-704(b) and offering renewal at the new rate. During a fixed-term lease, rent cannot change mid-term unless the lease expressly allows it. Write the increase mechanism into the lease so there is no ambiguity.

Local rent control is prohibited statewide

No Arkansas city or county can impose rent control on your park. The Legislature preempted it twice: Ark. Code § 14-16-601 bars counties, and Ark. Code § 14-54-1409 bars municipalities, from enacting, maintaining, or enforcing any ordinance that would control the amount of rent charged for private residential or commercial property.

This preemption is statewide and does not vary by county or city, so a local ordinance capping lot rent would be unenforceable against you.

The only carve-out is that a local government may still manage rent on property in which it holds its own property interest — which does not affect privately owned mobile-home parks.

Rent-increase rules at a glance in Arkansas

• Statewide rent cap
  None. No limit on rent amount or on the size or frequency of increases.
• Percentage cap
  None. No CPI tie, no annual ceiling, no 'reasonable increase' standard.
• MHP-specific act
  None. Arkansas has no mobile-home-park landlord-tenant statute governing rent.
• Rent-increase notice
  No dedicated statute. A month-to-month increase is delivered via a 30-day termination-and-renewal notice under Ark. Code § 18-17-704(b).
• Fixed-term leases
  Rent cannot change mid-term unless the written lease expressly permits it — the lease governs.
• Ark. Code § 18-16-111
  Not a rent statute. Only a notice/lien remedy for homes left unoccupied with lot rent 60+ days past due.
• Local rent control
  Prohibited. Counties (§ 14-16-601) and cities (§ 14-54-1409) are preempted from any rent-control ordinance.
• Remaining limits
  Federal fair-housing/anti-discrimination law and the bar on retaliatory increases still apply.

Operator best practices in Arkansas

• Put the increase mechanism in the lease
  Since no statute limits or times increases, your written lease is the controlling document — spell out amount, method, and notice for every increase.
• Give 30 days' written notice for month-to-month
  Deliver any increase to a month-to-month tenant as a 30-day termination-and-renewal notice under § 18-17-704(b); use 7 days only for week-to-week.
• Do not change rent mid-term
  On a fixed-term lease, hold rent steady until renewal unless the lease itself authorizes an adjustment.
• Document delivery
  Keep proof of written notice (certified mail or signed receipt) for every increase and termination in case of a later dispute.
• Never raise rent for a prohibited reason
  Avoid any increase that is discriminatory or retaliatory — those remain unlawful even without a rent cap.
• Do not rely on § 18-16-111 for rent
  Use it only for its actual purpose: the notice/lien process when a home is abandoned/unoccupied and lot rent is 60+ days past due.
• Build a relationship with an Arkansas MHP attorney
  Because Arkansas has no MHP act, well-drafted leases and correct notices are your only protection — have local counsel review your forms and process.