A watered-down renters' protection bill making its way through the Capitol offers little in the way of actual renter protections. But a meatier version remains stalled out, and it looks likely that Arkansas will remain the worst state in the country for renters.
Evictions in Arkansas can snowball from criminal charges to arrests to jail time because of a 119-year-old law that mostly impacts female, Black and low-income renters. Even prosecutors have called it unconstitutional.
With unemployment in Arkansas skyrocketing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and renters facing threats of losing their homes, advocates for tenants have pushed for a temporary moratorium on evictions, a measure implemented in some form in 42 other states.