A short-term rental agreement books nightly or weekly lodging without creating a tenancy — house rules, a damage deposit and a checkout time do the work that a lease’s tenancy protections would otherwise do. Download the ready-to-fill template below, or read the field-by-field checklist first.
A complete, ready-to-fill PDF — 10 clauses, blanks for every detail, and a signature block for both parties. Free, no email, no account. Read it and adapt it before you use it; the cover page explains what it can and cannot do for you.
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This document is a general-purpose template provided for information only. It is not legal advice, it does not create a lawyer–client relationship, and nobody has reviewed it against your situation.
Laws differ by country, state and province, and they change. A clause that is standard in one place can be unenforceable — or illegal — in another. Terms that are ordinary between two businesses can be void in a consumer or employment context.
Read every clause before you use it, fill in every blank, and delete anything that does not apply. For anything high-value, unusual, or that you could not afford to lose a dispute over, have a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction review it before it is signed.
This kind of document is regulated differently almost everywhere. Many places require specific notices, disclosures or statutory wording, and some make clauses like these unenforceable outright. Treat this template as a starting point to take to a local lawyer, not as a document to sign as-is.
These are the fields and clauses a short-term rental agreement needs. Leaving one out doesn’t necessarily void the booking, but each gap is a spot where you and your guest can end up disagreeing about what you actually agreed to.
Host & guest names
Full legal names (or a registered business name for the host) for both sides — who the booking actually binds.
Property address & what’s included
The full address, plus what comes with the booking — parking, wifi, linens — so nothing is assumed.
Booking dates & rate
Check-in and check-out dates and the nightly or weekly rate, giving a total accommodation charge for the stay.
Payment schedule
What’s due at booking versus before arrival, any additional fees or local occupancy tax, and the accepted payment method.
Damage deposit
The amount, exactly what it can be used to cover, and the timeline for returning it after checkout.
Cancellation policy
What’s refunded depending on how much notice the guest gives, and what happens on a no-show.
Check-in & checkout
Arrival and departure times, how keys or access codes are handled, and inspection after the guest leaves.
House rules
Maximum occupancy, visitor hours, quiet hours, smoking and pets — the terms a booking is actually enforced against.
Licence, not a tenancy
A clause stating plainly that this is a short-term booking, not a lease, and doesn’t hand the guest tenancy rights.
Signatures & date
Both the host and the guest sign and date it. It isn’t binding until both have signed.
A lease rents residential premises to a tenant. The tenant gets exclusive possession, a right to notice before being asked to leave, and a set of statutory protections that come with tenancy — regardless of what the parties call the document. A short-term rental booking is meant to be something else entirely: a temporary licence to occupy for a defined, short period, on the same legal footing as a hotel or serviced-apartment stay.
The gap between the two is not just a label. A landlord-tenant court or dispute doesn’t only read the title of the document — it looks at what actually happened: how long the guest stayed, whether the host retained access and control, whether the guest was treated like a resident tenant rather than a paying guest passing through. A booking agreement with no clause addressing this, or one that quietly runs on for months with no defined end, can end up litigated as a tenancy no matter what it says at the top.
The template above handles this with a dedicated clause: it states in plain terms that the guest holds a personal licence to occupy for the Booking Period only, with no right of exclusive possession and none of the notice-to-quit rights a tenant has, and that the licence ends automatically when the Booking Period ends. House rules, the damage deposit and a stated check-in/checkout time carry the weight a lease’s entry-notice and holdover clauses would otherwise carry — because this document is built for a stay measured in nights, not a tenancy measured in months.
Fill in the template above and send it to your guest for signature with a free Evenseal account — 3 documents a month, no card required. Only need your own copy signed? Self-sign for free with no account at /sign-pdf.
Not legal advice — for high-value bookings or unusual terms, have a local attorney review your agreement.