I have searched prior posts and the “world wide web” (as we use to call it) and am unable to find a contract template for short term rentals. We live in Virginia, USA. I am happy to customize it for our state laws, but a template would be greatly appreciated. Something that reviews: i agree to this payment, these house rules, and i wont sue you if i fall and break my ankle…
Thanks guys and gals. I find this site very helpful.
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This may not be enforceable as it is not literally signed, but it doesn’t hurt and may help: The host welcomes all and does not discriminate against any guest on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, immigration status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. [Edit to fit your own non-discrimination clause]
Guests are lodgers and acquire no rights of tenancy. Guests agree to comply with occupancy requirements of Arlington County Zoning Ordinance 2016-11, Sections 12.9.11 and 12.9.12 for Accessory Homestays, and other requirements established by law, rule or regulation as well as legally permissible conditions of the Accessory Homestay residence owner (host) and the below Guest Agreement, including the following:
Arlington County –
•Maximum of two lodgers
•Commercial meetings prohibited
•No individual lodger may rent lodging in the same dwelling unit for more than 30 days in one year
•There shall be no audible noise, detectable vibration or odor beyond the confines of the subject dwelling
Guest Agreement –
•The host/property owner is renting out an accommodation to you, the booking party, as the Primary Guest.
•Primary Guest is responsible for ensuring that the accommodation is left in the condition it was in upon check-in. Primary Guest shall be liable for any damages caused by his or her own acts and omissions (including without limitation failure to timely vacate the accommodation) and also for the acts and omissions of any individuals that Primary Guest invites or otherwise allows into the accommodation.
•Additionally, Primary Guest shall comply with the following requests and/or instructions:
Provide name of second guest, if any, to host prior to check in
Check in time is 2:00 p.m. or later unless modified by host in advance. Provide estimated arrival time to host 12 hours in advance
Check out time is 11:00 a.m. unless modified through host in advance
Lock all doors and windows and turn off lights and appliances before checking out
Maximum 2 people in the accommodation at one time
No additional visitors in the accommodation or on the property
No pets on the property
No smoking in the accommodation or on the property (indoors or outside)
No firearms on the property
•By booking a reservation, Primary Guest acknowledges and agrees to comply with this agreement.
Thank you.
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You can use an online site to create a short term rental agreement. Just stroll down to your state. There might be a minimal charge. https://legaltemplates.net/form/vacation-rental-short-term-lease-agreement/
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I do not use a written contract. I use AirBnb.
You can only rent on Air for 30 days per year? Was there a problem with party houses in Arlington?
She wrote that no individual guest could stay for more than 30 days, not that she could only rent a total of 30 days per year.
The county rule is that one particular individual cannot rent for more than 30 days cumulative in a given year. That’s so that owners who live on a residential property don’t get around the zoning and building code requirements for an Accessory Dwelling Unit, which is required for a long-term rental of an apartment on your property, by claiming someone is short-term, for example they leave one day every month then rebook. You could call your longer term inhabitant a roommate, but then you don’t get the protection of a rental contract, or, technically, Schedule E expense deductions (although the IRS would have no ready way to check that unless you got audited and they really dug around). It’s also illegal for more than 4 unrelated people to share a residence. As is usual in such circumstances, there are plenty of illegal apartments around, and they generally operate undisturbed unless someone complains.
Trying to stop rental of houses to dozens of congressional or public interest group interns? Or discrimination against student rentals?
i just found and reviewed my city codes. Im not in NoVa but mine are quite similar to these. Thank you for the details. i think i’ll paste the codes directly into the contract. I was not impressed with the legal zoom sites,. they dont really use templates you can customize, they make you plug info into a form and then charge you for what that form prints out.
All of the above plus hourly workers, often minorities, who live in this high-cost area, with limited low and mod income housing available, who have to rent as a group – so NIMBYism and Not-My-Property-Value-ism at its finest.