lease or contract - how do you send to guests?

[Donna16]

This is my first time hosting through Airbnb.  I typically rent my house through vacation rental sites like homeaway.com.  I cannot figure out how to anonymously send a lease agreement/contract to a guest who wants to book through Airbnb. Can anyone help me?

Thanks.

Donna

[Chad31]

I send my contracts through an online service called rightsignature.com guests sign online using an electronic signature. I it works well. There is a monthly fee.

[Douglas38]

Hi Chad -

This sounds like a great solution.

How and when do you send the contract via this service?  Asking because Airbnb seems to hide everbody's email.

Also, how/where do you indicate to prospective renters that you do things this way?

Thanks!

Doug

[Martha89]

My Airbnb description includes "a signed contract is required to complete the reservation".

When I receive the reservation I send a greeting note that includes "please send me your email address to send the contract, the Airbnb messaging system does not allow attachments". Once a booking is made, the messaging system will allow more personal information through, like an email address. 

[Dianne79]

HI Chad,

How do you send the link to rightsignature to your guest?

[Michele203]

I am new to airbnb also and your conversations are very informative.  I have a question. What is the difference in your customized contract and the one airbnb has for the tenants.  This is my first request and it's for New Years Eve. I am very nervous.  

[Paul4]

I'm not aware that Airbnb has a contract. The guest clicks that they accept Airbnb's terms of service and accepts your house rules. By using Airbnb's service you have agreed that in case of a problem or dispute, Airbnb's decision is final. In a worst case scenario you really have nothing. I rent out my vacation place too and it is a little scary. I find that having firm rules and my own contract and requiring the ID of the contract signer tends to keep people honest. You may want to look over other's listings to get some better ideas about your description and house rules. Also, unless you are meeting your guests when they arrive (or have a neighbor who can watch over), you may want to consider getting internet at your place and put up a security camera outside the front door. I have mine set to email me snapshots when someone comes to the door. Major peace of mind since I did that. Airhostsforum dot com is a very interactive place to get more info.

[Carla178]

Hi Paul, I'm also renting a room in my house for the first time for 6 months and would like to use an agreement. Do you mind sharing yours with me please. Can I contact you through Airbnb?

[Asia8]

I found an apartment to live in Jersey City on apartments.com and the home owner notified me that he uses airbnb seeing as though he lives out of state and that airbnb charges a $500 deposit and I will be refunded if I'm unsatisfied with the       apartment can anyone expound on this 

[Deborah233]

AirBnB collects guest payment for up to first month up front. Host does not get paid until after guest checks in for 24 hours to insure the listing is as advertised.

[Karen430]

Hi Everyone,

Here is the solution to your rental agreement issue:

Cut and paste the text from your agreement and put it in your message. That is what I do and I do it prior to approving the reservation request so that they are fully aware of my terms prior to renting. Once they agree through the message system, I approve their booking request and ask them to print it out and sign it and send it back to me. I give them my email address in a deconstructed manner (i.e. john smith at gmail dot com) so they can send it to me as an attachment. It's a simple solution that works.

[Teri809]

Karen that is a great solution. I just altered my pre booking message with a deconstructed email so that I can send lease prior to booking.  I may need to contact AIRBNB to confirm that is ok with them that I do that.

[Yax0]

Paul's comment has been really helpful, 

I just did this today. i downloaded a sample 'short term lease agreement' and took out most of the content to fit to two page, (2nd page for Signature). I'm planing to upload it somewhere with 'docusign' feature(Sign them online or via phone)   so i save some printing and guest can do ahead of time(probably not before booking since any url or email is blocked until booking is confirmed) , and i assume they can cancel it if they don't like the agreement, 

basically my agreement consist of following: 

1. Information about owner and guest, contract effective date(check in and check out time) 

2. House rules, like no smoking allowed, keep property and all funiture in good order etc. 

3. Parking rule 

4. (Most important to me), Home owner is not responsible for any injury, illness, or accident occurred in the premises. (i mean i don't want to be sued for 50$ room rental right) 

5.Signature. 

hope it helps

[Jennifer955]

We’ve done successful long-term leasing through Airbnb, when we lived in Austin, TX and could not get a short-term rental permit due to a cap on the number aloud in our area. Consequently we stated up-front 30 days or more only reservations accepted, and put 30 days in the minimum requirement for days stay.

Something to know: Any guest(s) staying 30 days or more is considered long-term. Long-term guests can be held to a month-to-month lease. I would always recommend a month-to-month lease over 6-months etc. You’ll be able to monitor what’s going on in your rental, at least monthly, and evict if necessary much quicker.

Write this statement or similar in your house rules: Long-term guests with a confirmed reservation are required to sign a long-term lease, (complete a rental application), and present a valid DL and copy will be kept on file, and will receive access only after these requirements are met. We reserve the right to have the guest cancel with Airbnb, with no financial cost or repercussion to the hosts for failure of tenants to comply.

If you’re up-front about your requirements chances are good they may even ask for it ahead of time to look over and sign it before they arrive; however, in any long-term situation, we ALWAYS, meet the guests in person, if possible. Otherwise, everything can be done via email. You just need to double-check they signed and completed everything appropriately otherwise, let them know they must comply or you will contact Airbnb and have them send the tenant your required docs. I hope this helps in some way.

[Richard-and-Isabel0]

Hi @Jennifer955 

I am about to relist our home now as a long term rental. have you had any problems with Airbnb considering your leasing requirements to be against their user/community guidelines?

is it ok with you if I like....PLAGIARIZED portions of your requirements for our listing?

Sincerely, 

Sleepless in Sonoma.... 

[Jennifer955]

Homeowners are bound by their counties, their deed restrictions, if/HOA’s & bi-laws, States, and then government if you have a business or an EIN. AirBnB can only enforce their business protocols. So NO issue with that. Just remember when you list long-term, it’s 30-days. You can specify month-to-month with automatic renewal or non-automatic renewal. Pros/Cons either way. You can also offer a 6-month, yearly, or otherwise lease. I’d recommend starting with month-to-month and non-automatic renewal with a maintenance visit each month written in your contract. Do a background check, I recommend Truth Finder.

Best landlord practices recommended by having a detailed  lease, mine is 16 pages. Do NOT provide access to the rental without having a background check, a rental application, a signed lease agreement, and a deposit with 1st months rent. Separate account for rental profit/loss, (Rent/Expenses).

Let me know how it’s going?