Short-Term Rental Agreement

What Is a Short-Term Rental Agreement?

A short-term rental agreement or vacation rental agreement outlines rental conditions for a property for a short period. The tenant (or “guest”) and the owner agree to follow the pre-established terms while the tenant occupies the property. The typical short-term rental period lasts between one and 30 days, but it may last as long as six months.

A vacation rental agreement is similar to a standard residential lease, but a vacation rental agreement outlines terms specific to short-term stays. For example, it covers check-in times, cleaning fees, guest limits, and cancellation policies.

When you create a short-term rental agreement with Legal Templates, you can easily define the terms of each rental. Tailor each agreement for different tenants and properties so you can host multiple guests over weeks or months. With this agreement in place, you can enforce your terms and help an ever-changing lineup of guests understand their obligations.

Who Needs a Short-Term Rental Agreement?

Anyone planning to rent a property for a short amount of time can benefit from a short-term vacation rental agreement. This includes Airbnb and Vrbo hosts and homeowners looking to rent their property. A temporary rental contract establishes consequences for destructive conduct or other lease violations, offering you legal protection if something goes wrong.

Short-term renters may rent to people who:

• are on vacation
• need temporary housing due to a work trip
• want to test living on a property

Pros & Cons of a Short-Term Rental Agreement

Short-term rental agreements can offer flexibility, but they also come with potential downsides. If you’re a landlord thinking about taking on temporary tenants, you can explore the pros and cons before deciding how you want to proceed.

Pros of Short-Term Rental Agreements

Short-term rental agreements lay out clear rules for guests to follow when renting for a couple of days or weeks. Check out some of the other benefits:

• Greater flexibility: Have guests leave once the specified departure date arrives, ensuring you can use your property how you’d like afterward.
• Higher rates: Write higher rental rates for each contract as seasonal demand increases.
• Less risk from bad tenants: If you unknowingly sign with a bad tenant, you can rest assured they’ll be gone in a few days or weeks.
• Property protection: Describe the furnishings so that you have legal recourse if tenants damage or steal your property.

Potential Cons of Short-Term Rental Agreements

Before proceeding with a short-term rental agreement, you should also weigh the potential risks:

• Management work: With a rotating cast of guests, you may have more management work to handle guest communications, check-ins, and upkeep.
• Unpredictable income: It may be challenging to fill vacancies during seasons with low short-term rental demand.
• Potential for property damage: Short-term guests may not treat the property the same as long-term tenants.

Our short-term rental agreement template helps you stay ahead of these challenges. Use it to outline guest responsibilities, build trust with potential guests, and include damage protection terms.

Do I Need to Register My Short-Term Rental?

Short-term rental regulations vary widely across the US. Depending on where your property is located, you may need to register it with your city. For example, San Francisco requires vacation rental owners to register their hosting business with the Treasurer & Tax Collector’s Office and register with the Office of Short-Term Rentals (City and County of San Francisco).

When registering a rental, ensure you meet the requirements in your area. Before renting your property on a short-term basis, you may need to:

• live on the property for a certain amount of time
• be a permanent resident of the city
• plan to live on the property for a certain number of days per year
• be an owner or tenant

If you must register your short-term rental, you may also need to apply for a short-term rental license and pay licensing fees. Ensure you follow zoning and residency laws concerning where short-term rentals are allowed and who may operate them. Depending on your city’s rules, you may also need to get a business license. If you’re operating your rental as a business, consider forming an LLC to register appropriately and avoid tax problems later.

Do I Need a Rental Application for a Short-Term Rental Agreement?

You may ask guests to fill out a rental application before entering a short-term agreement with them to ensure they’re a good fit, but it’s not necessary. When guests book a rental, they usually plan to stay briefly without a long-term commitment, so a rental application may be frivolous.

However, certain types of short-term rentals may benefit from rental applications. Applications are often useful for short-term rentals of greater length, like those between three and six months long. Screening tenants with applications is also often appropriate for high-value and luxury rentals, including properties furnished with valuable items.

How to Create a Short-Term Lease Agreement

Creating a short-term lease agreement can help you establish arrangements with guests and increase your rental business’s efficiency. Follow these steps to write a legally sound contract.

1. Identify Yourself as the Host

Your short-term rental agreement should clearly identify you as the property’s host. Local laws may impose certain residency requirements or make short-term rentals through parties other than the owner illegal, so keep that in mind when drafting your contract.

2. Describe the Rental Property

Describe the rental property in your contract to clarify what the tenant will receive. Include the property’s address and describe the type of property, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and similar features.

When you use our template, you can list the amenities that come with the rental by selecting pre-written options or writing your own. We also cover details to limit liability, including a disclaimer about the dangers of hot tub use and a disclosure about lead-based paint (if applicable to your property).

3. Name the Tenants

A short-term tenancy agreement needs to specify who the tenants are. List all children and adults who will be staying at the property by name. Mention occupancy limits as appropriate, ensuring that the limits you set comply with your local laws.

Include a visitor policy regarding additional guests and, if so, whether there are any conditions for guest visits. For example, a six-month short-term lease might allow visitors but set a one-week limit for guests to stay before their presence becomes a lease-violating subtenancy.

4. Define the Rental’s Duration

Your contract should clearly define how long your guests will be staying, preferably with specific calendar dates for check-in and check-out. Check local laws before renting your property to see how long a short-term lease can run without becoming a traditional lease. Include check-in procedures and access codes so that guests can arrive and leave on time.

Our template lets you easily enter check-in and check-out dates with a drop-down calendar. Plus, you can clarify whether there’s a minimum number of nights stay required if you want to reduce vacancies and increase your revenue potential.

5. Outline Rental Rules

You can customize a short-term rental agreement per property or per tenant to meet your needs as a landlord. An appropriate agreement outlines your rules for guests to follow. These can include:

• smoking
• amenities usage
• pets
• quiet hours
• garbage disposal
• bed sheet cleaning
• guest maintenance responsibilities

If your local area has regulations such as noise ordinances or HOA rules, alert your guests about these as well.

6. Detail the Rent Amount & Deposits

Spell out exactly how much money the tenant will owe in the contract. This includes a reservation deposit, the total rent amount, and any security deposit. Security deposits aren’t always necessary for short-term stays, especially on platforms like Airbnb. The total rent amount includes both base rent per night and any cleaning fees.

When you use our template, you can record each cost in a separate field and add them all up to communicate the total payment the guest owes.

7. Clarify the Cancellation Policy

A cancellation policy specifies how long a guest has to cancel a reservation and receive a refund on their deposit. Some hosts allow full refunds until a certain date, while others offer partial refunds. Decide what makes sense for your situation, and use our template to record the cancellation and refund details.

8. List the Furnishings

Short-term vacation rentals are generally fully furnished. Inspect the rental property thoroughly to list all furnishings and their condition in your rental agreement. This section is more detailed than the property description and clearly establishes exact details about your items.

Protect your property by filling out our template, which helps you get the wording just right. We give guidelines for guests to follow if they break any items and help you communicate that they may not remove any furnishings.

9. Explain the Parking Situation

Parking at a rental property can be a mess for tenants and landlords alike. Using our template, you can outline the number of spots available, restrictions on where guests can park, and which local parking laws apply to the property.

10. Address Acts of God

A vacation rental agreement must address what happens if sudden severe weather prevents the guest from staying at the property. Some hosts offer guests a prorated refund for the nights they can’t stay; some hosts don’t allow refunds at all. Consider the impact of the weather on the client when determining fair terms.

Can I Use a Short-Term Rental Agreement for Month-to-Month Tenants?

It’s possible to use a short-term rental agreement for month-to-month tenants, but it’s not recommended. Signing a month-to-month rental agreement is a better option for longer-term tenants.

Month-to-month rental agreements offer flexibility and stability compared to short-term leases. They let landlords adjust the terms from period to period or end the lease with proper notice.

However, they can allow for more consistent income, reducing frequent vacancies and higher turnover costs associated with short-term leases. In many cities, landlord-tenant laws apply to month-to-month rental agreements, giving tenants rights and eviction protections that short-term rental agreements may lack.

How Legal Templates Helps With Vacation Rentals

At Legal Templates, we offer a comprehensive short-term lease agreement template for you to customize as you see fit. Tailor it to different circumstances, like if you have a property with additional furnishings or rental situations involving different guests.

Once you provide all the relevant information, we will produce a legally enforceable document. You can save it to your computer as a PDF or Word document and send it to tenants for review and signing. You can also print it out and go over it with them in person.

We know landlord duties can be daunting, but we’re here to make things easier and help you rent your property your way. Create your short-term rental agreement quickly, and rest assured it will meet your needs.

Short-Term Rental Contract Sample

Below, you can view an example of a short-term rental agreement template to understand its structure. When you’re ready, create your own with Legal Templates.

Frequently Asked Questions