Mortgage Relief Guides for Arkansas Homeowners

Arkansas Gives Lenders A Choice Of Two Foreclosure Paths — Fast Non-Judicial Under The Statutory Foreclosure Act, Or Judicial With A 12-Month Right Of Redemption.

Arkansas is unusual: it permits both non-judicial foreclosure under the Arkansas Statutory Foreclosure Act (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-50-101 et seq.) and judicial foreclosure under Ark. Code Ann. Title 18 Chapter 49, and the lender chooses which path to use. The non-judicial route is more common because it is faster: after the federal 12 CFR § 1024.41(f) 120-day pre-foreclosure floor lifts, the lender records and mails a notice of default under § 18-50-104, which opens a 60-day cure period from the date of mailing. Combined with publication requirements, the typical non-judicial timeline runs about four to six months after the federal floor.

The path the lender picks changes the homeowner's options in a fundamental way. A non-judicial sale under the Statutory Foreclosure Act generally precludes any statutory right of redemption — the sale concludes the foreclosure — but in exchange the lender's deficiency rights are limited under Ark. Code Ann. § 18-50-112. Judicial foreclosure is the opposite trade: the lender preserves the ability to pursue a deficiency, but the borrower keeps a 12-month statutory right of redemption under § 18-49-110, one of the longer post-sale redemption windows in the country, allowing the property to be reclaimed after the sheriff's sale by paying the judgment plus statutory interest. Understanding which path you are on is the first step in any Arkansas strategy.

The federal 12 CFR § 1024.41 framework runs in parallel throughout and supplies the core procedural architecture: the 120-day floor under 12 CFR § 1024.41(f), the early-intervention duties under 12 CFR § 1024.39, the investor-identification right under 12 CFR § 1024.36, the completeness designation under 12 CFR § 1024.41(b)(2)(i)(B), the 30-day evaluation under 12 CFR § 1024.41(c), the dual-tracking ban under 12 CFR § 1024.41(g), and the 14-day appeal under 12 CFR § 1024.41(h). The modification available depends on the investor — the Fannie Mae Flex Modification under Servicing Guide D2-3.2, the Freddie Mac Flex Modification under Servicing Guide Chapter 9203, the FHA waterfall under 24 CFR § 203.605 with the Partial Claim under 24 CFR § 203.371 and the face-to-face requirement under 24 CFR § 203.604, or the VA framework under 38 CFR § 36.4350 et seq. Homeowners in Little Rock, the Northwest Arkansas corridor (Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers, Springdale), Fort Smith, Jonesboro, and Hot Springs operate under the same statewide framework, with the military demographic around Little Rock Air Force Base and Pine Bluff Arsenal carrying additional VA-specific options. The guides below walk through each stage.