Arkansas

Registration or Filing Required? No
Business Opportunity Laws? No*

Arkansas is not a franchise registration state nor a franchise filing state, so you may offer or sell your franchise without registering or filing your Franchise Disclosure Document (“FDD”) with the state, provided that you are compliant with the Federal Franchise Rule.

Does Arkansas Have Business Opportunity Laws?

Arkansas does not have specific business opportunity laws, but it still regulates franchises through its Franchise Practices Act. The act governs several areas of the franchise agreement. For one, it prevents franchisors from terminating or failing to renew a franchise without good cause, and even with good cause, the franchisor must still give the franchisee 90 days’ notice along with 30 days to cure in the case of default. If the franchisor terminates the franchise agreement without good cause, the franchisee can also require the franchisor to repurchase supplies and equipment franchisee purchased from the franchisor or its distributors.

Additionally, the act puts additional requirements on the transfer of a franchise. First, the franchisee must provide the franchisor with notice of the transfer of the franchise, in addition to information about the proposed transferee, including business experience during the past five years. After receiving notice, the Franchisor must approve or reject the proposed transfer within sixty days. If the Franchisor does not decide, it is deemed to have approved of the transfer. Further, if the Franchisor rejects the proposed transfer, it must provide written notice to the franchisee, providing material reason why the transfer is unacceptable.

There are other protections given to franchisees, by essentially codifying restrictions on behaviors franchisors should not engage in regardless, including misleading and fraudulent behavior.

Fun Fact: If you are in Arkansas and you remove the first two letters…you’re in Kansas! Just kidding. But seriously, what other states produces diamonds??