What Arkansas Sellers Must Disclose

Arkansas puts the homework on the buyer. Caveat emptor (buyer beware) - no disclosure statute addressing the individual owner/seller. That is the regime you are buying into: whatever the seller does not volunteer, you have to go and find.

What sellers still have to tell you

Seller has no statutory duty to complete a disclosure form, but cannot actively conceal known defects or make false statements; licensed agents must exert reasonable efforts to learn material facts under Arkansas Real Estate Commission Regulation 10.6. Arkansas has no seller disclosure statute, and the Arkansas Real Estate Commission says so directly, despite a fake 'Arkansas Residential Property Disclosure Act' citation circulating online. Most agent-led sellers still complete a voluntary REALTORS disclosure form, but as a buyer you must inspect and ask questions yourself.

Flooding: the answer that matters most

Arkansas law does not impose a flood-specific disclosure duty, so the paperwork may say nothing about water at all — even for a house in a FEMA flood zone. That silence is why the flood check is on you: run the exact parcel through FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer before you offer, not after.

The Arkansas traps inside the paperwork

Sale removes the Amendment 79 assessment cap. Sebastian County's assessor guidance states Act 2284 of 2005 removes the capped-value limitation on an arm's-length transfer, so the property accelerates to full assessed value (20 percent of appraisal) on the first lien date after the recorded transfer.

A widely cited Arkansas disclosure statute does not exist. Multiple sources repeat an 'Arkansas Residential Property Disclosure Act, A.C.A. 18-12-601 et seq.' citation; the Arkansas Real Estate Commission's own position, as reported by iBuyer, is that there is no disclosure statute addressing the individual owner/seller.

What no disclosure will ever tell you

A disclosure is the seller's knowledge, on the seller's timeline. It says nothing about the street's crime trend, the registry, the tax bill you will pay after the sale, permits pulled (or never pulled) for the renovation in the photos, or the rezoning working its way through the planning office. In Arkansas, property tax reassessment works like this: A sale can remove the Amendment 79 cap and accelerate the property to full assessed value on the next January 1 lien date, with the higher bill appearing later because Arkansas collects in arrears. Do not budget from the seller's capped bill, and apply for your own homestead credit — which is why the seller's current bill is a poor guide to yours. Pull those records yourself; they are all public.

Your checks, in order

• Read the disclosure line by line, and get 'unknown' answers in writing anyway — an unknown is a flag, not a pass.
• Run the exact parcel on FEMA's flood map.
• Estimate your post-sale tax bill with the Arkansas records guide — never budget from the seller's bill.
• Check the address against the official Arkansas registry.
• Ask the county for open and expired permits on the address before you waive anything.

Frequently asked questions

Is a seller disclosure form required in Arkansas?

No standard statutory form. Seller has no statutory duty to complete a disclosure form, but cannot actively conceal known defects or make false statements; licensed agents must exert reasonable efforts to learn material facts under Arkansas Real Estate Commission Regulation 10.6.

Does a Arkansas seller have to disclose flooding?

There is no flood-specific disclosure duty in Arkansas law. Assume nothing and check the parcel on FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer yourself.

The seller answered 'unknown' to half the form. Now what?

'Unknown' is legal in most regimes and useful to nobody. Treat every unknown as a job: inspection, permit search, and the county record file. If the seller genuinely doesn't know, the records usually do.

Sources: sexoffenderregistry.ar.gov · dfa.arkansas.gov · sebastiancountyar.gov · ibuyer.com · listwithclever.com