• The stay

  Dates, check-in and check-out times, late check-out, a maximum number of guests and rules about visitors.

• Rent and money

  Rent by the day, week or month, paid directly or through a platform, a deposit, a cleaning fee and a pet fee or deposit.

• What is provided

  Amenities and furnishings, how the guest gets in, parking, breakfast, other services and internet.

• House rules

  Smoking and vaping, pets, quiet hours, parties, lost keys and rules in your own words.

• Notice, disputes and cancellation

  Notice to end without cause, addresses for notice, mediation or arbitration, an inspection report and your cancellation policy.

• The lessor's statements

  Your answers about lead-based paint and asbestos, written as statements, with a note for a lawyer to add any prescribed wording.

• A lawyer reviews it before it is used

  Your answers are prepared into a draft and reviewed by a qualified lawyer, rather than handed back to you as a finished form.

A short-term rental agreement sets out the terms on which a lessor lets a home or room to a guest for a short stay: the dates, the rent and how it is paid, any deposit and fees, check-in and check-out, what is provided, the house rules and how the stay can end.

This builder asks for a contract for a specific guest, or a template with the guest left blank. It then asks about the property and any license, the lessor and a property manager, the guests and the maximum number, the term, rent by the day, week or month and how it is paid, a deposit and cleaning fee, check-in and check-out times, amenities, access and parking, smoking, pets, quiet hours and other rules, notice, the lessor's statements about lead-based paint and asbestos, dispute resolution, lost keys, an inspection report and cancellation.

Every figure and period is one you give; none is suggested for you. The draft does not set out what the law of your state requires of a short-term rental, such as licensing, taxes or limits on the length of a stay, or any disclosure in prescribed wording. A lawyer should add those before it is signed.

Not sure? Talk to an attorney about your situation first.

These are separate documents, for different jobs.

• Residential lease agreementsSet the terms for renting a home.View document
• Roommate agreementsAgree how housemates share rent, bills and space.View document
• Security-deposit agreementsSet how a security deposit is held and returned.View document
• Rent receiptRecord a rent payment: what was paid, when, for which period, by whom.View document

• Letting a vacation home for a week
• Renting a furnished apartment for a month
• Hosting a guest in a spare room
• Setting the same rules for every booking

• Residential lease agreementsSet the terms for renting a home.View document
• Commercial lease agreementsSet the terms for renting business premises.View document
• Roommate agreementsAgree how housemates share rent, bills and space.View document
• Offer to leaseOffer to lease commercial space on stated terms.View document