Arkansas Squatters Rights: Adverse Possession and How Removal Actually Works

Arkansas layers a strict statutory test over the common-law elements of actual, open, notorious, exclusive, hostile, and continuous possession. Since 1995, Ark. Code Ann. § 18-11-106 requires the claimant to hold color of title to the land (or to contiguous land they also possess) and to have paid ad valorem taxes on it for at least seven years; the seven-year limitation on recovery actions in § 18-61-101 supplies the underlying clock. Paying taxes for seven years on unimproved and unenclosed land, or fifteen years on wild and unimproved land, can itself establish color of title. A house squatter with no deed and no tax payments cannot satisfy the statute.

Act 238 of 2025 (HB1049), approved March 4, 2025, created the crime of unlawful squatting at Ark. Code Ann. § 5-39-215. A person commits it by knowingly entering and residing on another's premises without lawful authority when they cannot produce a deed or mortgage statement, a lease signed by the owner or the owner's representative, a written authorization, or a rent receipt dated within the last 60 days — provided the premises were not open to the public, the owner directed them to leave or reported the squatting, and no litigation is pending. Only the owner or the owner's authorized representative can make the report, giving police a clear statutory basis to arrest and remove instead of shrugging it off as civil. A first offense is a Class B misdemeanor, a second is Class A, a third is a Class D felony, and producing a false document is itself a Class D felony; the statute also gives the aggrieved owner a private cause of action for damages and attorney fees. For a possession judgment — or against anyone with a tenancy history — the civil unlawful detainer process under § 18-60-304 remains the route.

Section 5-39-215 builds the tenant exclusion into the offense itself: a current tenant, anyone with a valid occupancy agreement, an immediate family member of the owner, or anyone who can produce a rent receipt dated within the last 60 days cannot be charged. Former tenants and holdovers must be removed by civil unlawful detainer — three days' written notice to quit under § 18-60-304(3), then suit in circuit court.

Only a sheriff executing a court-issued writ of possession may remove an occupant claiming residency; lockouts, utility shutoffs, and hauling out belongings invite a forcible-entry suit for restoration of access plus actual damages, costs, and sometimes fees. Arkansas sets no fixed statutory penalty, which means exposure is whatever a judge finds the occupant lost — and the removal usually has to start over.

Act 238 of 2025 (HB1049), signed March 4, 2025, criminalized unlawful squatting at Ark. Code Ann. § 5-39-215: Class B misdemeanor for a first offense, escalating to a Class D felony for a third or for presenting false documents, with law enforcement authorized to act on an owner's report, immunity for officers acting in good faith, and a private cause of action for owners. It supplements, rather than replaces, civil unlawful detainer.

Arkansas owners tend to fear 'squatters' rights' that barely exist here — since 1995 an adverse possessor needs color of title plus seven years of tax payments, which disqualifies almost every residential squatter — while underusing the tool that does exist: the 2025 criminal statute turns a document check (deed, signed lease, authorization, or 60-day rent receipt) into grounds for arrest. Two cautions: a criminal conviction removes the person but is not a judgment of possession, so follow up with unlawful detainer if the occupant may resurface or claims any right; and never invoke § 5-39-215 against someone with any rent-payment history — the statute excludes them, and a false report of unlawful squatting is itself a Class D felony under § 5-54-122.

• Act 238 of 2025 (Ark. Code Ann. § 5-39-215)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-11-106
• Ark. Code Ann. § 18-60-304