Mortgage Note Investing in Arkansas

Arkansas gives note holders a fast, final exit — as long as you use the statutory non-judicial path. The Statutory Foreclosure Act lets a trustee sell under the power of sale in roughly two to three months, and that sale terminates all rights of redemption (Ark. Code §18-50-108). The "up to 12 months" redemption you may see quoted belongs to the older, rarely-used judicial route, which a lender can waive; on the dominant non-judicial path, title is clean at the sale.

The recurring underwriting gotcha is fee recovery. Arkansas caps recoverable note attorney fees at 10% of the principal and accrued interest, and only for services actually rendered (Ark. Code §4-56-101). Model your legal-cost recovery at that statutory ceiling rather than at actual billings, especially on larger balances where 10% may not cover the full legal spend.

Deficiency judgments remain available after a non-judicial sale, but the real value in Arkansas paper is the combination of a short timeline and immediate clean title. Treat the deficiency as upside and underwrite to the collateral and the two-to-three-month path to a clean deed.