Vacation rental agreement: what to include, with a template

A vacation rental agreement is a short contract between you and a guest that sets the terms of one stay. It covers the dates, the price, who may stay, the rules, the deposit, cancellation and who pays for damage. On a booking you take yourself, you can require one for every stay.

This guide lists what to include and gives a sample you can adapt. It is general information, not legal advice. Have an attorney in your state review your version before you use it.

What the agreement is for

A short-term rental agreement does three jobs.

It sets expectations. A guest who has read that the house sleeps eight and parties are not allowed has less room to be surprised.

It gives you something to point to. When a guest brings twelve people, or leaves two days late, the agreement says what happens next.

It supports a claim. A deposit deduction or a chargeback dispute is easier to win with a signed document than with a message thread.

It does not replace insurance, and it does not make a bad guest pay. It makes the terms clear and provable.

Where you can and cannot require one

Whether you can use your own agreement depends on where the booking was made.

Where the booking is made	Can you require your own agreement?
Your own website	Yes. Your terms apply, within your local law
Vrbo	Vrbo’s help pages say hosts can require travelers to sign a rental agreement before arrival
Airbnb	For reservations booked on or after November 20, 2026, only in four listed cases

Airbnb’s policy on limiting host-imposed contracts names the four cases. A separate contract is allowed when the law, a community association or the host’s insurer requires it.

It is allowed when it is needed for an optional amenity, for stays of 28 nights or more, and for Luxe listings. The terms must be disclosed in the listing.

Airbnb adds that it does not help enforce a host’s contract. The guide to Airbnb rules for hosts covers the change in full.

I checked both platforms’ pages on November 10, 2026. Read the current version before you rely on either.

A rental agreement is not a lease

A short-term rental contract gives a guest permission to stay for a few nights. A lease gives a tenant rights to a home. The two are treated differently in law, and you want to stay on the right side of that line.

In many places a long enough stay can give a guest the rights of a tenant. The length that triggers this varies by state. If you take stays of a month or more, ask a local attorney how to document them.

Do not copy a residential lease and shorten it. Leases carry terms that do not fit a four-night stay and leave out the ones that do.

What to include

A good agreement fits on two or three pages. These are the parts I would expect to see.

1. The parties and the property: your name or business, the guest’s name and the address.
2. The dates, with check-in and checkout times.
3. The total price, broken into rent, cleaning fee, other fees and taxes.
4. The payment schedule: what is due at booking and what is due later.
5. Maximum occupancy, and a rule that only registered guests stay overnight.
6. The minimum age of the person booking, if you set one.
7. The cancellation and refund terms.
8. The damage deposit or damage waiver, and when a deposit is returned.
9. House rules: pets, smoking, events, noise, parking and anything specific to the home.
10. What you provide, and what happens if something breaks.
11. Your right to enter for repairs or emergencies.
12. Responsibility for damage, and a liability clause your attorney approves.
13. What happens if the guest breaks the agreement.
14. The state law that governs the agreement.

Write each one in plain words. If a guest would need a lawyer to read it, it will not be read.

Terms the platforms used to set for you

Three sections deserve more thought, because on a listing the platform chose them.

Cancellation comes first. Pick a policy you can explain in two lines and show it next to the book button.

The platforms’ own menus are a useful model. Vrbo’s options, for instance, run from a full refund up to 24 hours before check-in to no refund at all.

Then the deposit. Decide between a refundable deposit, a card hold and a damage waiver fee, and state when money comes back. The guide to the Airbnb security deposit rules compares the three.

Last, checkout. On your own bookings you may ask for more than a platform allows. Ask only for what a reasonable guest would do, and say it before they book.

Sample short-term rental agreement

This sample short-term rental agreement is a starting point. Replace the words in brackets, delete what does not apply and have your attorney review the result.

1. Parties and property. This agreement is between [OWNER OR MANAGER NAME], called the Owner, and [GUEST NAME], called the Guest, for the property at [ADDRESS].
2. Dates. The stay begins on [DATE] at [CHECK-IN TIME] and ends on [DATE] at [CHECKOUT TIME]. Late checkout needs the Owner’s written approval.
3. Price. The total is [AMOUNT], made up of rent of [AMOUNT], a cleaning fee of [AMOUNT], other fees of [AMOUNT] and taxes of [AMOUNT].
4. Payment. [AMOUNT OR PERCENTAGE] is due at booking. The balance is due [NUMBER] days before check-in.
5. Occupancy. No more than [NUMBER] people may stay overnight. Only the guests named in the booking may stay.
6. Booking age. The Guest confirms they are at least [AGE] and will be present for the stay.
7. Cancellation. If the Guest cancels [NUMBER] or more days before check-in, the Owner refunds [AMOUNT OR PERCENTAGE]. After that, [TERMS].
8. Deposit. The Guest pays a refundable damage deposit of [AMOUNT]. The Owner returns it within [NUMBER] days of checkout, less the documented cost of any damage or missing items.
9. House rules. The Guest agrees to the house rules attached to this agreement, including [PETS, SMOKING, EVENTS, QUIET HOURS, PARKING].
10. Condition and repairs. The Owner provides the property clean and in working order. The Guest will report any problem promptly so it can be fixed.
11. Access. The Owner or their agent may enter for repairs or in an emergency, with notice where practical.
12. Damage. The Guest is responsible for damage caused by the Guest or their visitors, beyond normal wear.
13. Breach. If the Guest breaks this agreement or the house rules, the Owner may end the stay without a refund.
14. Governing law. This agreement is governed by the laws of [STATE].

Signed by the Guest: [NAME, DATE]. Signed by the Owner: [NAME, DATE].

A short-term vacation rental agreement like this one will not cover every case. It is short on purpose, so guests read it.

How to get it accepted

Put the agreement in the booking, not in an email afterward.

The cleanest way is at checkout. The guest sees the terms, ticks a box or signs, and then pays.

Most booking software supports this. A guest who has already paid has little reason to sign something new.

Keep a copy with each reservation. Send the house rules again a few days before arrival, when guests are paying attention.

Mistakes I see most often

• A document so long that nobody reads it
• Fines for small things that you would never collect
• Terms that conflict with the listing on a platform where the same home is advertised
• A deposit clause with no deadline for returning the money
• No mention of maximum occupancy, which is the rule that matters most when it is broken

Keep the agreement, the house rules and the policies page on your website saying the same thing. A guest who finds three versions will pick the one that suits them.

Why this belongs on your own site

A vacation rental agreement does its best work where you control the booking. On your own site, the terms are shown before payment, accepted in one step and stored with the reservation.

That is part of what a direct channel gives you: your agreement, your deposit and your cancellation terms, on every stay. If you do not have a site that takes bookings this way yet, see vacation rental website design.

Final Thought

A vacation rental agreement is not paperwork for its own sake. It is the stay written down, so that you and the guest agree on it before any money moves. Keep it short, keep it plain and get it reviewed once by an attorney in your state.

Then put it where guests accept it as they book. If you need the site for that, start with vacation rental website design.