Can you legally get a car title loan in Arkansas? Not the kind sold in most other states. A title loan is a short-term loan secured by your vehicle's title, and the lender can repossess the car if you default. Arkansas's constitution caps interest on most non-bank consumer loans at 17% a year, and that makes the usual triple-digit-rate title loan unlawful.

That matters if you are weeks from closing on a house and short on cash. Anyone offering you a title loan in Arkansas is either working around the law or ignoring it.

The rule that keeps title lenders out

The cap comes from Amendment 89 of the Arkansas Constitution, which voters approved in 2010. Section 3 says the rate on loans not covered by its first two sections "shall not exceed seventeen percent (17%) per annum." Title lenders are not federally insured banks, so they fall under that ceiling.

The Encyclopedia of Arkansas describes separate caps for smaller loans: 36% a year under $1,000 and 24% from $1,000 to $2,000. A lender cannot make the numbers of a typical title loan work under any of these limits.

The sources disagree on what happens when a lender charges more. One financial guide says such a loan is void as to both principal and interest. FindLaw's summary of the constitution says it is void as to unpaid interest, and that the borrower can recover twice the interest already paid. If this applies to you, a lawyer should settle it.

Item What the sources show
General rate cap, non-bank lenders 17% per year (Amendment 89, approved 2010)
Loans under $1,000 36% per year (Encyclopedia of Arkansas)
Loans of $1,000 to $2,000 24% per year (Encyclopedia of Arkansas)
Maximum title loan amount None set; the product is effectively barred
Term and rollovers No title-loan rules in our sources

How title loans still reach Arkansas borrowers

A ban does not make the product disappear. The Center for Responsible Lending found evidence of title loans being made in 22 states plus DC where they are prohibited. Arkansas is among the ban states it covers.

Watch for three routes. The first is online lenders based outside the state. The second is lenders who register as credit repair organizations and charge "credit counseling fees" in place of interest. The third is banks: national banks and insured Arkansas-headquartered banks are not bound by the 17% cap.

The Arkansas Attorney General is the enforcer named in our sources. On September 17, 2026, the office joined a $694 million, 40-state settlement with subprime auto lender Credit Acceptance Corporation under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Some things our sources do not cover: repossession notice rules, any right to cure a default, whether a surplus from a car sale goes back to the borrower, and figures for credit union alternatives. Ask the Attorney General's office before relying on any of these.

If you are closing on a house soon

A title loan taken now shows up in your file. Regular payments to a lender appear as debits on the bank statements you hand to underwriting, and expect a request for a letter of explanation. The payment can also count against your debt-to-income ratio, the share of your monthly income that goes to debt payments.

If you already have one, ask your loan officer whether paying it off before you apply, or before closing, is the cleaner route. Get that answer in writing. The same caution applies to the payday loans Arkansas residents are offered online. If you need a small loan, a licensed installment loan under the state caps is a safer place to start.