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A short-term rental agreement is a host-guest contract for short stays. It sets the dates, rent, deposit, cancellation terms and house rules in writing for both sides. FormsPal's free template suits vacation hosts: create it online or download it as a PDF.
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A short-term rental agreement is a contract between a host and a guest for a brief furnished stay, such as a vacation rental. It names the property, the stay dates, the price and the rules of the house. With a signed copy, both sides know the terms in advance.
The guest uses a furnished unit for the whole stay and leaves at a set check-out time.
A short-term lease differs from a standard residential lease agreement in what it covers. A standard lease sets up a longer tenancy, often in an unfurnished home that becomes the tenant's residence. A short-term rental agreement covers a furnished place for a single stay and adds hotel-style terms: check-in times, door codes, Wi-Fi, cleaning and the key return.
These short-term rental agreements use a few terms of their own:
The form calls the parties Host and Guest. Deposit statutes such as 9 V.S.A. § 4461 say landlord and tenant, and the label on the form does not decide whether such a statute applies.
Use a short-term rental agreement when you rent a furnished place to a guest for a vacation or a stay of days or weeks. It fits a beach house, a cabin, a spare room or an event space. For a stay with no end date, a month-to-month lease agreement fits better.
Hosts reach for this contract in these cases:
A short-term rental contract names the host, the guest, the property, the stay dates, the payments, the cancellation terms and the house rules. The FormsPal template asks for each of these in its numbered sections.
The rest of the template holds standard clauses that protect both sides. They need no entries, but the host and the guest read them before signing.
State law can call for more than these blanks, and the host contact part asks only for a name, phone number and email, so check whether these rules reach your stay. Under Mich. Comp. Laws § 554.634, a rental agreement shall state the name and address at which notice under that act is given to the lessor. Under Fla. Stat. § 83.50, the landlord or a person authorized to enter into a rental agreement for the landlord shall disclose in writing to the tenant, at or before the commencement of the tenancy, the name and address of the landlord or a person authorized to receive notices.
In Massachusetts, the rules of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 15B on advance rent and security deposits do not apply to a rental of one hundred days or less for a vacation or recreational purpose. New Jersey, New York and Vermont also treat seasonal stays apart in their deposit rules, as the table shows.
| State | Rule for vacation or seasonal stays | When it applies | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts | The section's rules on advance rent and security deposits do not apply. | A lease, rental or occupancy of one hundred days or less, for a vacation or recreational purpose. | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 15B |
| New Jersey | The duty to place the security deposit in a money market fund or an interest bearing account does not apply. | Security paid on a contract, lease or license agreement for the seasonal use or rental of real property. | N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 |
| New York | The cap of one month's rent on a deposit or advance does not cover a seasonal use dwelling unit, which subdivisions four and five of the section treat separately. | The deposit or advance is for a seasonal use dwelling unit. | N.Y. Gen. Oblig. Law § 7-108 |
| Vermont | The security deposit and the written statement go back to the guest within 60 days. | Seasonal occupancy and rental of a dwelling unit not intended as a primary residence. | 9 V.S.A. § 4461 |
This page lists no vacation or seasonal rule for other places. Many cities and counties set their own permit and tax rules for vacation rentals, so check with your local government before the first booking.
Renting out a vacation property takes ten steps, from studying how good hosts work to the guest's check-out. The short-term rental agreement comes in once a booking is confirmed.
A short-term rental works like a small hotel or homestay. You don't need to serve your guest around the clock, but you do need to be reachable and help them find their way. Before you start, study how well-run hotels and homestays welcome and look after their guests.
Write a short list of house rules: quiet hours, smoking, pets, parties and parking. Keep the list fair, so guests still enjoy their vacation and have a comfortable stay.
Your property does not need to match a hotel, but it should be easy to live in. Furnish each room with what a guest uses every day and prepare amenities such as towels, pillows, linens and basic kitchen items.
Once everything is ready, take clear, well-lit pictures. Show every room and area, including the amenities you offer.
There are two ways to list your property:
A direct listing means you run your own marketing, through a social media page or your own website, and pay no listing fees. Ask your city or county whether a permit or business license applies to short-term rentals before you take the first booking.
An online platform advertises your property for you and handles payments, which helps a first-time host learn the job. Platforms charge a fee on each booking, so compare their terms before you sign up. Common listing sites include:
Answer booking inquiries quickly. Confirm a booking only after you check the guest's identity and contact details.
To finalize the booking, send the guest the short-term rental agreement and collect the payment it lists. The security deposit covers damage within any limit of state law, such as the bar on keeping any of it for normal wear and tear in Tex. Prop. Code § 92.104. That bar may not reach a vacation stay: Tex. Prop. Code § 92.102 ties a security deposit to a lease of a dwelling, and Tex. Prop. Code § 92.001 defines a dwelling as one or more rooms rented for use as a permanent residence. The cancellation terms set what happens if the guest cancels late.
As the host, you guide the guest as well as rent out the property. Before the check-in date, send the house rules, directions, access instructions and a few local tips, such as places to eat and how to get around.
Clean the property before the guest arrives. You or someone you assign can handle check-in, give a short tour, go over the rules and hand over the keys.
When the guest is ready to leave, walk through a check-out form together. Make sure all your items (towels, sheets, toiletries, utensils) are accounted for, then return the deposit under the agreement and within any time your state's law sets: for example, 9 V.S.A. § 4461 gives 60 days, with a written statement, for the seasonal occupancy and rental of a dwelling unit not intended as a primary residence. If the guest had a good stay, ask for a review.
The table lists the basics of the FormsPal template, including its other names, the time it takes to fill in and the number of fillable fields. Below it, you can watch the video and open the online builder to create your own copy.
| Document Name | Short-Term Rental Agreement Form |
| Other Names | Vacation Rental Agreement, Short-Term Rental Contract |
| Avg. Time to Fill Out | 12 minutes |
| # of Fillable Fields | 64 |
| Available Formats | Adobe PDF |
These steps follow the FormsPal Short-Term Rental Agreement PDF, one part of the form at a time. Open the form, start on page 1 and work down the pages in order. You can fill in the downloaded PDF with the FormsPal PDF editor or print it and write the details by hand. Where a choice has a small Initial box, tick it for the option you pick. Keep the Host's and the Guest's details handy before you begin.
The screenshots under each step show the FormsPal Short-Term Rental Agreement template filled with sample entries in blue, so you can see where each answer goes. The names, addresses, dates and amounts are examples only.
Open the form on page 1 and fill the opening line: the date of the contract, the Host's name and the Guest's name.
In Section 1, type the name of the Host the guest should contact during the stay.
On the next line, type the phone number or numbers where the Host can be reached.
Type the Host's email address, then move to Section 2 and write the Property's street address and a short description on the lines provided.
For the address line, give the full street address with the unit or floor number, city, ZIP code and any landmark that helps the guest find it.
Write directions to the Property on the lines under Directions to the Property, so the Guest can find it.
If you will send the address and directions later, check the box after OR. Then fill in the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and the number of people the Property sleeps, and add the website with photos and details.
Page 2 gives two Access boxes. Check the first and write how to open the door and get in, or check the second if the access instructions will come separately.
Check one Wi-Fi box: write the password on the line, or choose the box saying it will be provided separately. In Section 3, fill in the booked days, the check-in time and the latest check-out time.
For check-out, give both the date and the time the guest leaves the property.
In Section 5, list everyone who will stay at the Property, with the ages of any children, and fill in the maximum number of guests.
On page 3, fill in how many days before arrival payment is due. Then write each amount: rental charge with its date range, cleaning fee, security deposit, any Other lines with their explanations, and the total due before arrival.
For Section 6, write the following payment details:
Under Cancellations, the Host checks the box that applies. The choices are a refundable amount with the date it is refundable through, a fully non-refundable rental charge, or other non-refundable fees with an explanation.
State law can bar or condition these choices, so check whether your state's code reaches a vacation stay before you tick one. Under 25 Del. C. § 5311, a landlord shall not charge a tenant any nonrefundable fee as a condition for occupancy, except an optional service fee for actual services rendered. Under Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5, a lease or rental agreement shall not call any security nonrefundable. Under Wash. Rev. Code § 59.18.285, if any money is paid to the landlord as a nonrefundable fee, the rental agreement shall be in writing and clearly specify that the fee is nonrefundable.
![Short-Term Rental Agreement: Cancellations [Host to check the applicable box], filled with sample entries](https://formspal.com/data/DHTMLImages/Image/630101.webp)
In Section 8, write how the Guest should leave the Property on the lines provided, and note on the Key line how the key is returned.
On the Key line, say where the key goes and how: a lockbox, a drop at a front desk or a hand-over to the Host.
On page 5, in the mediation paragraph of Section 12, write the county and state where a mediation hearing would take place.
Read paragraphs A to D of Section 12.
•Blank 1: Write the county where a mediation hearing would take place.
•Blank 2: Write the state where a mediation hearing would take place.
On page 6, complete the Host block and the Guest block: party name, By (signature), Name and Title. The form has no notary or witness lines.
Sign the short-term rental agreement after you choose a format and read the standard clauses on the pages that have no blanks. Keep a signed copy for both the Host and the Guest.
The agreement looks simple, but its clauses protect both the host and the guest. Hosts of short stays are more hands-on than long-term landlords, and a signed agreement keeps each booking's terms clear from check-in to check-out.
A short-term rental agreement typically lasts between one and 30 days. Some statutes use their own measure: in Massachusetts, the rules of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 15B do not apply to a rental of one hundred days or less for a vacation or recreational purpose.
It depends on the platform's current terms and on your state. Read those terms to see whether they limit outside agreements or off-platform deposits. Under Wash. Rev. Code § 59.18.260, no deposit may be collected by a landlord unless the rental agreement is in writing and a written checklist or statement is provided to the tenant at the commencement of the tenancy, if that code reaches your stay. Under N.M. Stat. Ann. § 47-8-20, the owner shall provide a written rental agreement to each resident before occupancy begins, if that code reaches your stay.
Without a signed agreement, the host and the guest have only messages and memory to settle a dispute. The agreement sets out in advance who pays for damage, what the deposit covers and what happens after a late cancellation. State law can limit what a deposit covers: Tex. Prop. Code § 92.104 says a landlord may not retain any portion of a security deposit to cover normal wear and tear. That bar may not reach a vacation stay: Tex. Prop. Code § 92.102 ties a security deposit to a lease of a dwelling, and Tex. Prop. Code § 92.001 defines a dwelling as one or more rooms rented for use as a permanent residence.
Select Create My Document at the top of the page and answer a few simple questions. Then save your progress and download or print the finished document.
Yes. Use the PDF file link under the form preview near the top of the page, then fill it in on your computer or by hand. The signing section above also lists Microsoft Office (.docx) and Open Office (.odt) versions.
Start with the date, the Host and the Guest on page 1. Then work through the steps above in order.
General information, not legal or tax advice.
