Short-Term Rental Agreement

A short-term rental agreement records the terms of a temporary guest stay, including the booked property, dates, occupants, total price, cancellation rules, deposits or damage claims, house rules, taxes, and booking-channel responsibilities.

A useful document turns the parties' actual arrangement into measurable duties, approvals, timing, remedies, and a reliable execution record. Its terms should be reconciled to the transaction rather than copied from an unrelated form.

• An owner accepts a direct booking for a permitted vacation home, condominium, cabin, or room
• A host supplements a platform reservation with property-specific terms that do not conflict with the confirmed listing or platform rules
• A booking guest reserves a property for a defined group and the parties need clear occupancy, visitor, pet, parking, and conduct limits
• A permitted operator needs one record of stay dates, charges, taxes, cancellation rights, deposit handling, check-in, and check-out

The document name alone does not determine the right structure. Consider a different instrument or qualified legal review when any of these conditions applies:

• Do not use it for an ongoing residential tenancy, a stay that may create tenant rights, or a hotel, inn, timeshare, corporate-housing, or event arrangement that requires a different regulatory or contract structure.
• Do not use a generic form to offer occupancy prohibited by zoning, registration, building, lease, association, lender, insurance, safety, or occupancy rules, or to waive applicable consumer, accessibility, nondiscrimination, privacy, tax, or guest protections.

Record exact facts before clauses are written. Names, authority, dates, amounts, defined terms, dependencies, and incorporated materials should be verifiable and consistent.

• Owner, host, manager, booking guest, payment recipient, emergency contacts, property and listing identifiers, booking channel, registration or permit numbers, and the host's authority to offer the stay
• Check-in and check-out dates and times, authorized occupants, ages where operationally necessary, maximum occupancy, visitors, pets, shared or restricted areas, accessibility needs, parking, keys, and access codes
• Nightly charges, mandatory cleaning or service fees, optional add-ons, discounts, taxes and assessments, prominently disclosed total and final payment amounts, payment schedule, platform charges, and who collects and remits each amount
• Cancellation and rescheduling windows, guest and host cancellation consequences, no-show and early-departure treatment, refund method and timing, travel interruption or property-unavailability procedures, and any platform process that applies
• Refundable security deposit, payment-card authorization, or damage-waiver structure; amount, custodian, permitted deductions, inspection and evidence process, claim deadline, dispute route, and release or return timing
• House, noise, event, smoking, fire, pool, water, waste, camera and monitoring, privacy, safety, maintenance, emergency-entry, neighborhood, and departure rules, together with required notices and insurance information

These decisions shape the allocation of responsibility and should not be left for boilerplate to decide:

• Whether the exact property, host, booking channel, stay length, host-presence arrangement, guest count, and intended use are allowed and properly registered under current state, local, building, and private restrictions
• Which people may occupy or visit, which amenities and areas they may use, and which safety, noise, event, pet, parking, privacy, and neighborhood rules are essential to the stay
• What the prominently displayed total price and final payment include, which charges are optional or government-imposed, and whether the host, manager, or platform collects and remits each tax, fee, assessment, or refund
• What happens if the guest or host cancels, the property becomes unavailable, a disruption affects the stay, or a platform grants or denies a refund, including deadlines, evidence, calculation, and payment method
• Whether the risk mechanism is a refundable deposit, card authorization, damage waiver, insurance, platform program, or combination, and how condition, ordinary wear, claims, deductions, disputes, and release timing will be documented

• Parties, property, authorized booking channel, stay dates, temporary-occupancy scope, check-in, check-out, access, and required registration disclosures
• Total price, itemized charges, optional services, taxes and assessments, payment authorization, platform collection, refunds, chargebacks, and receipts
• Named guests, occupancy cap, visitors, children, pets, accessibility, parking, shared areas, prohibited events, quiet hours, lawful conduct, and house rules
• Guest and host cancellation, rescheduling, no-show, early departure, property unavailability, service interruption, refund calculations, and priority of mandatory law or platform-controlled procedures
• Deposit or card hold, pre-stay condition, ordinary wear, damage and extra-cleaning claims, documentation, notice, deductions, insurance or platform protection, dispute process, and balance return
• Repairs, hazards, emergencies, host access, privacy and disclosed monitoring, casualty, compliance, responsibility allocation, records, notices, governing law, and order of precedence among the agreement, listing, reservation confirmation, and platform terms

Every provision should use the same parties, dates, standards, defined terms, and document hierarchy. A clause that is reasonable by itself can still create a conflict when it is not reconciled with payment, default, termination, or another exhibit.

1. 01Describe the intended result and the relationship in plain language.
2. 02Confirm parties, authority, governing jurisdiction, dates, money, property, services, and approvals.
3. 03Resolve the key decisions and identify every schedule, exhibit, disclosure, consent, or filing.
4. 04Draft the provisions as one consistent system, then review the complete execution set before signature.

Short-term rental legality and classification are intensely location- and fact-specific: some jurisdictions require registration or host presence, limit guest counts or rental nights, restrict entire-unit stays, or bar particular buildings. A signed form or platform listing does not cure an unlawful rental or guarantee that the platform handles every tax, refund, or damage claim. Hidden mandatory fees, inconsistent cancellation terms, unnamed guests, undocumented property condition, vague deposit deductions, and conflicts among the listing, confirmation, platform rules, and agreement are recurring dispute points.

The main agreement may establish the framework while schedules, exhibits, disclosures, consents, or operational records supply transaction-specific details.

• Reservation confirmation, listing snapshot, itemized price and tax record, payment receipt, and cancellation or refund schedule accepted at booking
• Current registration, permit, host-authorization, association or landlord consent, tax-account, and platform-listing records applicable to the property
• House rules, safety and emergency instructions, access and parking directions, inventory, amenity instructions, and disclosed monitoring-device schedule
• Time-stamped pre-stay and post-stay condition evidence, deposit or card-authorization record, incident report, repair or cleaning support, claim notices, and final accounting

Each incorporated document should be identified precisely, use the same names and effective date, and follow a stated order of precedence if terms conflict.

Before advertising and again before each stay, confirm current registration, occupancy, tax, building, lease, association, insurance, and booking-platform requirements for the property. Keep the listing, displayed total price, reservation confirmation, cancellation terms, guest list, house rules, tax treatment, and agreement consistent; obtain the booking guest's recorded acceptance before payment; document condition and access; issue receipts, notices, claim evidence, refunds, and deposit accounting through the agreed channel; and preserve the records required by the jurisdiction and platform.

• Confirm legal names, roles, capacity, addresses, and signing authority
• Reconcile dates, amounts, definitions, cross-references, schedules, and exhibits
• Confirm that duties, deadlines, approvals, acceptance standards, and payment triggers are measurable
• Check that default, termination, remedies, and surviving obligations work together
• Complete jurisdiction-specific forms, notices, witnesses, notarization, filings, or professional review when applicable
• Deliver and preserve the complete signed package with its incorporated documents

These sources provide federal, state-resource, regulatory, or institutional context. They do not replace checking the law and required forms applicable to the parties, transaction, and governing jurisdiction.

1. Source 1

   Contract

   Cornell Legal Information Institute. General U.S. contract formation, interpretation, breach, and remedy concepts.

2. Source 2

   Consumer Protection

   Federal Trade Commission. Federal prohibition on unfair or deceptive acts or practices.

3. Source 3

   .com Disclosures

   Federal Trade Commission. Guidance for clear and conspicuous online disclosures.

4. Source 4

   The Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees: Frequently Asked Questions

   Federal Trade Commission. Official FTC small-entity compliance guide for 16 C.F.R. Part 464, effective May 12, 2025, covering vacation rentals and other short-term lodging. It explains upfront total-price display, treatment of mandatory cleaning and payment fees, later disclosure of permitted exclusions such as government charges, final-payment display, truthful fee descriptions and refundability statements, marketplaces, and the interaction with stricter state or local requirements.

5. Source 5

   Topic no. 415, Renting residential and vacation property

   Internal Revenue Service. Official federal tax overview for rental income and expenses involving residential and vacation property, including personal-use allocation and the special federal income-tax treatment when a residence is rented for fewer than 15 days. It supports collecting the stay and payment records needed for tax administration without implying that federal income-tax treatment resolves local lodging-tax or rental legality questions.

6. Source 6

   FAQ for Prospective Hosts

   New York City Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement. Official current New York City guidance illustrating highly local short-term-rental controls, including host registration and permanent-occupant eligibility, restrictions affecting entire-unit rentals and specified housing, host sharing with no more than two paying guests in described homes, booking-platform listing information, and the city's distinction between a 29-night short-term rental and 30-night permanent occupancy.

7. Source 7

   Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT)

   San Francisco Office of the Treasurer & Tax Collector. Official current San Francisco tax guidance for stays of fewer than 30 days, including host business and registration obligations, guest-paid transient occupancy tax, filing and remittance duties, and the limited circumstances in which an authorized Qualified Website Company collects and remits specified taxes and assessments for hosts.