Short-term rental agreement template: what to include, and what each state allows

A short-term rental agreement does three jobs: it says the guest is a transient occupant and not a tenant, it puts the money and the deposit in writing with a return date, and it repeats the rules you will enforce. On a plain Airbnb booking, most of it is moot, because Airbnb's own terms apply and most hosts cannot collect a deposit there at all. On a direct booking, on Vrbo, and on any stay long enough to look like a lease, it is the only document that decides who pays for the broken table.

This guide covers what the agreement has to say, where state law limits what you can ask for, and when to skip it. The short-term rental agreement generator builds the PDF from the same structure, with your state's deposit cap applied.

When you need one, and when Airbnb makes it pointless

Start with the platform, because it changes the answer.

Airbnb's security deposit policy is blunt: most hosts cannot charge a security deposit through Airbnb or outside it. Damage is handled through the Resolution Center, with a claim filed within 14 days of check-out and AirCover behind it. Some software-connected hosts are allowed to collect a deposit off-platform, and even they file the claim on Airbnb. So the deposit article of your agreement does nothing on a standard Airbnb booking. What still works there is the rules section, provided the listing tells guests before they book that a separate agreement will be required.

Vrbo lets hosts set a refundable damage deposit or offer damage protection, and a written agreement fits naturally under it.

Direct bookings have nothing behind them except the agreement and the payment processor. If you take even a handful a year, this is where the document earns its price, because a chargeback dispute without a signed agreement is a dispute you lose.

Stays of 30 nights or more are the last case, and the strangest. In several states, an occupant who stays past a threshold, often 30 days, starts to look like a tenant with notice rights and eviction procedure. The agreement's first paragraph, which calls the guest a licensee for a fixed number of nights, is your first line of defense. It is not a guarantee.

What the agreement has to contain

Eight sections, in the order a guest reads them.

1. The parties. The host, or the LLC that holds the property, and the primary guest by full name. One name on the guest side is enough; the occupancy clause covers the rest of the group.
2. The property. Street address and state. The state matters, because governing law and the deposit cap depend on it.
3. Dates and times. Check-in and check-out, with times. "Late check-out without approval is billed at one night" is the sentence that prevents most check-out arguments.
4. Money. Rent for the stay, cleaning fee, security deposit, pet deposit if any, and the total due. Say when the deposit comes back and what it can be used for. Fourteen days with an itemized statement is shorter than any state deadline we found, and it is what guests expect.
5. Occupancy and rules. Maximum occupants, registered guests only, quiet hours, no parties, smoking, pets, HOA rules. These must match the listing word for word. If the agreement and the listing disagree, the guest's reading wins.
6. Devices. Airbnb requires disclosure of exterior cameras and noise monitors in the listing; repeat the disclosure here. The smart lock and noise monitor guide covers what is allowed.
7. Cancellation, damage and early termination. The refund window, who pays for what, and the breaches that end the stay early without a refund: a party, unregistered occupants, smoking indoors, a police or HOA complaint.
8. Governing law and signatures. The state whose law applies, the county where a dispute is heard, a severability line, and two signature blocks with dates.

The generator switches each rules clause on or off, so an agreement for a downtown condo under an HOA does not carry a hot tub clause it does not need.

Security deposits: what each state allows

No state caps the deposit on a stay of a few nights, as far as our September 2026 check found. The caps in the table below come from residential landlord-tenant law, and most states exempt transient occupancy from that law. They start to matter when a stay runs a month or more and a court could read the booking as a residential tenancy.

Where a cap exists, it is expressed in months of rent. For a 45-night direct booking at $6,000, the monthly-equivalent rent is $4,000, so a one-month cap means a $4,000 ceiling. The generator does that arithmetic when you enter the dates and pick the state.

States with a statewide cap (residential leases, checked September 10, 2026):

Florida, Texas, Illinois, Washington, Ohio and the remaining states have no statewide cap, and several cities fill the gap: Seattle caps deposits at one month, Chicago has its own ordinance. Delaware caps at one month only on leases of a year or more.

Caps move. California, Maryland and Georgia all changed theirs in 2024. Check the statute before a long booking, and treat the table as a starting point rather than an answer.

How much to ask for on a normal stay

For a stay under 30 nights, the number is a business decision. Three patterns show up across US hosts:

A flat amount, $250 to $500 for an apartment and $500 to $1,000 for a house with a pool or hot tub. Simple to explain and simple to refund.

One or two nights of rent. Scales with the property without a separate table.

No deposit, and damage protection or a waiver fee instead. Common on Vrbo and on direct booking sites that bundle a damage waiver of $50 to $100 per stay.

Whatever you choose, refund fast. A deposit returned in three days with two photos does more for your direct rebooking rate than any clause. The security deposits and fees guide covers the pet fee and extra guest fee side.

Getting it signed

Send the agreement with the booking confirmation, before payment clears, and make signing a condition of the reservation. An e-signature service works; so does a PDF returned by email with a typed name, as long as the guest also confirms in writing that they read it. For a direct booking, keep the signed copy with the payment record. That pairing is what a card issuer asks for in a chargeback.

Then repeat the rules where the guest will read them again: the house rules in the listing, the digital guidebook they open on arrival, and the sign on the fridge. An agreement nobody reads after signing is still an agreement, but a rule repeated three times is one that gets followed.

Frequently asked questions