—Short-term rental agreement
A free, ungated template that states the occupancy limit, the itemized fees, the damage terms, quiet hours, and cancellation your guest agrees to for one stay. Download it, edit it to your property, then read the one step a template can't do on its own.
A short-term rental agreement (also called a vacation rental agreement) is a written statement of the occupancy limit, fees, damage terms, quiet hours, and cancellation policy a guest agrees to for a single stay. It sets expectations up front so both sides know the terms before check-in. On its own it's a template you provide; what a reviewer can act on later is a version the named guest actually acknowledged.
Free, no signup, no email wall. Edit the wording and the amounts to your property and your market.
01What the agreement covers
A good vacation rental agreement is short and specific. Five sections do most of the work: who may stay, what the fees are, who's responsible for damage, how the guest is expected to behave, and what the cancellation terms are. Free templates for all of this are everywhere and perfectly fine as a starting point; the value is in adapting one to your property, not in the paperwork itself.
| Section | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Occupancy limit | The maximum overnight guests, whether day visitors are allowed, and how unregistered guests are handled. |
| Itemized fee schedule | Each fee named on its own line (cleaning, extra guest, pet, late checkout) with an amount and a unit, not a vague "fees may apply." |
| Damage and deposit terms | What the guest is responsible for, how damage is assessed, and how any security deposit or hold is handled. |
| Quiet hours and conduct | Noise windows, no-party language, smoking rules, and anything a neighbor or an HOA would flag. |
| Cancellation and dates | The cancellation window, check-in and checkout times, and what happens on an early departure or a no-show. |
Amounts and windows in the template are illustrative starting points, not a recommendation. Set them to your actual costs and to what your market and booking platform allow.
02The full checklist
The five sections above are the core. A complete short-term rental contract adds the business terms around them, especially for direct bookings, where there is no platform holding the payment or the cancellation policy. Here is the full list, and what the free template already covers.
| Clause | What it says | In the free template? |
|---|---|---|
| Parties and property | Host name, the guest named on the reservation, and the property address. | Yes |
| Dates and times | Arrival and departure dates, plus check-in and checkout times. | Dates; add your times |
| Rent, taxes, and payment | Total price, what is due when, and any occupancy taxes you collect directly. | Add for direct bookings |
| Occupancy and visitors | Maximum overnight guests, the day-visitor policy, and the primary guest's responsibility for everyone else. | Yes |
| Itemized fees | Each fee on its own line with an amount and a unit: smoking, extra guest, party, late checkout, pet. | Yes |
| Damage and deposit | Who pays for damage beyond normal wear, how it is documented, and how any deposit or hold works. | Yes |
| House rules and conduct | Quiet hours, no parties, no smoking, building or HOA rules. | Yes |
| Cancellation and refunds | The cancellation terms, or a pointer to the platform's policy for platform bookings. | Yes |
| Liability and insurance | What the host is and isn't responsible for, and any insurance either side should carry. | Add if it applies |
| Local rules and permit | Your STR permit or registration number where the city requires one, and local limits on occupancy, parking, or noise. | Add if it applies |
| Access and entry | How keys or codes are delivered, and when the host may enter for maintenance. | Add if it applies |
| Signature and date | The guest's signature and the date, captured before arrival. | Yes |
Permit, tax, and occupancy rules are set city by city. The city-specific pages cover the local context for the markets we track; your city's own site is the source to rely on.
03Step by step
04On Airbnb
Airbnb treats a separate signed contract differently from a direct booking. Its Help Center says contracts on home listings are allowed only in limited situations, and its newer policy (for reservations booked from November 20, 2026) lists the exceptions as legal or insurance requirements, optional amenities, monthly stays, and Luxe listings. Where a contract is allowed, it goes in the listing's Contracts section, where anyone viewing the listing can read it before booking.
Two rules follow from that. You can't ask an Airbnb guest to sign a contract that wasn't on your listing when they booked, and a contract you add or change only applies to reservations made afterward. So for Airbnb stays, the terms that matter (occupancy, itemized fees, quiet hours) should live in your listing's house rules and requests. Anything you send the guest before arrival should restate those published rules and fees for acknowledgment, not add new ones.
On a direct booking there is no platform listing, no platform payment, and no platform cancellation policy. The agreement is the document that states all of it, which is why the payment, tax, and cancellation clauses in the checklist above matter most there.
05A template is a suggestion until it's signed
This is the pivot the free template can't make on its own. An unsigned short-term rental agreement states your terms: it's a suggestion sitting in a document or a listing field. The packet the guest tapped through and acknowledged before check-in is a dated, hashed record of what that named guest saw and agreed to. When something goes wrong later, that record is the version a Resolution Center agent, an insurer, or a small-claims clerk can actually act on.
—What changes when it’s signed
A rule pasted into a listing tells the guest it exists. A signed acknowledgment is dated, IP-recorded, and tapped line-by-line — and produces an immutable PDF on file before check-in.
Both halves cover the Resolution Center pattern: the disclosure (your listing block) and the acknowledgment (this certificate). Same packet, both halves.
Open the sample certificate PDF
06Common questions
Whether any agreement is enforceable is a question for your lawyer and your jurisdiction, and nothing here is legal advice. What PreArrive gives you is narrower and concrete: evidence that the named guest acknowledged your specific terms before arrival, dated and hashed into a tamper-evident PDF. That record documents what the guest agreed to; how a court or platform treats it is up to them, on the file in front of them.
None, really. "Vacation rental agreement" and "short-term rental agreement" are two names for the same document: the written terms a guest agrees to for a single stay. Vacation-rental phrasing leans toward whole-home leisure stays; short-term-rental phrasing is the broader, more regulatory term. The template on this page works for either, and so does the signed version.
No. Airbnb doesn't require a separate agreement, and it only allows a signed contract on home listings in limited situations, disclosed in the listing before booking. For most Airbnb stays your house rules and fees live in the listing itself. But the listing is disclosure only. A guest's acknowledgment of those published rules and fees adds the second half a Resolution Center looks for: proof the guest saw and agreed to the terms, not just that the terms existed.
The parties and property, the dates and times, the occupancy limit, an itemized fee schedule, damage and deposit terms, house rules and quiet hours, and the cancellation terms, plus a signature and date. Direct bookings add payment, taxes, and often your permit number.
Before arrival, not at the door. Terms confirmed a few days ahead give the guest time to read them and ask questions, and an acknowledgment dated before check-in is the version that holds weight later. On Airbnb, the terms themselves also have to be on the listing before the guest books.
You can use one set of terms, but not one process. On Airbnb the rules and fees belong in the listing, and a separate contract is only allowed in limited cases. On a direct booking the agreement carries everything, including payment, taxes, and cancellation. Keep the rules and fee amounts identical in both, and check each platform's own policy before you send anything.
PreArrive is documentation, not legal advice. A template is a suggestion until it's acknowledged; the certificate is evidence, not a guaranteed outcome. For questions about enforceability in your area, talk to a lawyer.
Take the agreement you just downloaded, drop it into a packet, and send it on every reservation. The guest taps through each section and signs in about ninety seconds, and you get a dated PDF certificate. Free covers one property, no card, no time limit.
07Keep reading
Last verified November 4, 2026 · Scope: When Airbnb allows a host contract on a home listing, where it must be disclosed, and how post-booking contract changes are limited. · Reviewer: Primary-source policy review
Plain-language summary only. Airbnb policies and claim outcomes can change; verify the live Airbnb source before relying on a fee, deadline, contract term, or access requirement.
Primary sources: Airbnb: Asking guests to sign a contract · Airbnb: If a Host asks you to sign a contract
