Transaction coordinator in Arkansas: contract, AREC rules and costs

What does a transaction coordinator do on an Arkansas deal?

An Arkansas coordinator manages the file from the signed contract to the closing at the title company. The standard residential form is the Real Estate Contract (Residential), known as the RECR, published by the Arkansas REALTORS Association. Unlike the commission-approved forms in Oklahoma or Louisiana, it is a private association form, and the state regulator plays no part in approving it.

The association's order terms spell that out. A buyer of the forms must be a broker licensed by the Arkansas Real Estate Commission and must acknowledge that AREC “does not have legal authority to approve real estate forms and that AREC does not require the use of any particular form.” The forms are serialized, carry an expiration date, may not be scanned or reproduced except for copies of executed documents, and may only be passed to another Arkansas-licensed broker who has signed the same terms. The association says the forms have been reviewed and generally approved by an Arkansas-licensed attorney.

For a coordinator, the practical point is that the form isn't public. There is no official copy to check a default period against, and the terms only let blank forms pass between Arkansas-licensed brokers. Every deadline has to come off the executed contract in the file.

What changed in the Arkansas forms for 2026?

The association presented its 2026 forms changes at the 2025 AREC Educator Retreat. For the RECR, the changes it listed were:

• moving the Owners Association addendum box, with a restructured paragraph on restrictive covenants and property owners associations
• adding solar panels to the fixtures paragraph
• revising the FIRPTA compliance paragraph
• reformatting the signature pages

The Seller Property Disclosure gained a tax assessment disclaimer. None of these changes affects a deadline on the published list. A coordinator should still read the solar panel and owners association language on any 2026 contract before passing it to the lender.

Which Arkansas deadlines can a TC verify publicly?

Because the RECR is members-only, we can't quote its paragraph numbers or default periods. What follows are the periods that come from public rules, plus one dated reference to the contract from a local board.

The 2018 reference is worth understanding even if the number has changed. In its 2018 forms changes, the Northwest Arkansas Board of REALTORS printed its Inspection, Repair and Survey Addendum, whose seller's receipt says the buyer performed inspections “within ten (10) business days as allowed by the Real Estate Contract.” The point for a coordinator is the unit. That addendum counted in business days, so a calendar built on calendar days would run short.

The trust fund rule matters for earnest money. Under 17 CAR § 220-1007(g), trust funds delivered to the principal broker must, within three days after both parties sign, go into the trust account, go to an escrow agent or be handled under a written agreement between seller and buyer. If the third day lands on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, it moves to the next day that is none of those. The rule makes the broker responsible for funds sent to an escrow agent the broker chose, but not for an escrow agent the parties chose.

Does a transaction coordinator need a license in Arkansas?

Arkansas has no transaction coordinator license, and AREC publishes no guidance written specifically for coordinators. Its licensing FAQ answers the general question instead. Only people who perform the activities listed in A.C.A. 17-42-103(10) need a license, and brokers should instruct unlicensed staff not to perform any of them. The same FAQ says an unlicensed assistant running an open house is not advisable, because it is hard to avoid licensed activity in that setting.

Pay is the other line. AREC says A.C.A. 17-42-311(8) only allows a licensee to receive compensation for licensed activities from the principal broker under whom they are licensed. So a licensed coordinator working for an agent can't simply be paid by that agent for licensed work. That payment has to run through the principal broker.

The penalties for getting it wrong are real. The Arkansas Real Estate License Law makes a violation of the chapter a Class D felony under 17-42-105(d). Under 17-42-109, AREC may impose a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for unlicensed real estate activity and may require the person to repay any compensation collected. An unlicensed coordinator should keep to administrative work and leave anything on the 17-42-103(10) list to the licensee.

Who closes an Arkansas home sale?

Arkansas sales close through a closing agent, and where title insurance is involved, state law gives the parties a specific protection. Under A.C.A. § 23-103-405, when closing services are provided in Arkansas, the closing agent must give notice that closing protection is available to all parties to a transaction where title insurance may be issued. On written request, the title insurer must issue a closing protection letter, which covers loss of closing funds from theft or misappropriation, or from failure to follow the insured's written instructions.

The Insurance Department's Rule 87 adds that the title insurance agency must offer the coverage and obtain each party's election in writing. A coordinator should expect that election form in the closing package and make sure the client has returned it.

Arkansas also taxes the deed. The Department of Finance and Administration sets the real property transfer tax at $3.30 per $1,000 of actual consideration on transactions over $100. Under A.C.A. § 26-60-106, it is split half and half between seller and buyer unless they agree otherwise. Section 26-60-107 makes the grantee or their agent complete the affidavit of compliance and attach the documentary stamps to the deed.

How is the Arkansas housing market doing?

Central Arkansas has the most detailed public figures. The CARMLS December 2025 statistics give full-year single-family sales by county for the Little Rock area.

Homes are taking longer to sell. Pulaski County's average days on market rose from 26 in 2023 to 40 in 2025, and Saline County's from 27 to 41. Prices held up: the Pulaski median rose from $220,000 in 2023 to $235,000 in 2025. Sold prices in all three counties averaged 98% of list in 2025.

What is different in Little Rock and Northwest Arkansas?

Little Rock. Central Arkansas listings and statistics run through CARMLS. Pulaski County alone produced more than half of the single-family sales across the three counties above, so most central Arkansas files a coordinator sees will start there.

Northwest Arkansas. The Northwest Arkansas Board of REALTORS publishes its own forms material, including the 2018 addendum quoted above. The licensing, trust fund, transfer tax and closing protection rules on this page are state law, so they apply in Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville just as in Little Rock.

What does a transaction coordinator cost in Arkansas?

A coordination firm whose card covers Arkansas along with two neighboring states charges $450 per contract-to-close file and $800 for dual agency, collected at closing and waived if the deal terminates. Its listing management fee is $200, paid up front. Set against the $300 to $550 one-side range on the 21 rate cards DeedSpring reviewed in October 2026, that Arkansas price sits toward the top. Compare it with an in-house hire using the TC fee per file calculator.

How do you hire a transaction coordinator in Arkansas?

Settle the licensing question first. Decide whether you need an unlicensed coordinator who stays clear of the 17-42-103(10) list, or a licensed one paid through your principal broker. Then ask how they will get the deadlines when the form isn't public, and how they count business days and holidays.

Ask how they handle the closing protection election and the earnest money receipt. Our transaction coordinator checklist makes a good interview script.

DeedSpring has no office in Arkansas. You upload the executed contract, and it reviews each open file every hour and waits for your approval before anything is sent.

Freelance TC, TC company or DeedSpring: which fits a Arkansas agent?

The table sets the usual options side by side. A good freelance TC is worth every dollar on a messy file. What most agents are really paying for, though, is someone who never misses a date and always chases the lender. Software does that on every file at once.

To see what the gap means across a year of files, put your numbers into the TC fee per file calculator.

Compare plans on the DeedSpring pricing page.