As a Host where do I enter my rental agreement, short term lease, for the guest to sign

[Thomas3004]

I would like my guest to sign a rental agreement.  Where is the rental agreement entered in the airbnb site?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Thomas3004 I don't believe you can attach a rental agreement. What you will have to do is put in your house rules that the guest must sign the rental agreement before/when they arrive and then copy the entire agreement into the rules. 

Its not pretty (or easy) so it begs the questions

1) Do you really need the agreement?

2) If yes then is Airbnb really the right platform to use.

[Thomas3004]

thank you for your response to my question, something to ponder.

[Alex8588]

Check the number of reviews this guest has, and if there are none and you're in a desperate modr, tell them they'll be signing a rental agreement upon checking in. 

[Lorna170]

@Thomas3004  I have a detailed rental agreement, and the AirBnB website has no specific place to post or attach this for guest review, let alone signing and returning.

(VRBO does allow you to post your rental agreement for guest review but does not provide the means for a guest to sign it.)

What I would suggest is that you make it clear in your AirBnB listing that a rental agreement will be provided and that the guest must sign it prior to receiving the access instructions.  I send my rental agreement to the guest immediately upon booking. 

Fortunately for me, my state (NC) has a Vacation Rental Act that states that as long as I provide the rental agreement, the guest is presumed to have signed it by having paid for the reservation.  I do not know if there is such a proviso for vacation rentals in New Jersey.   Your attorney may be able to clarify this.

[Tyler-And-Lisa0]

Lorna, we are brand new to this and renting 30 day minimum and wanting guests to sign an agreement to protect us from squatter laws.   How do you get their email to send it since we are not supposed to take the convo off of airbnb?  or do you provide a link to Docusign or something like that? 

Also wondering if you are willing to share how you craft the lease agreement since airbnb takes the payment(s).

Anything else you can offer up as advice or recommendations? 

[Lorna170]

@Tyler-And-Lisa0   I don't rent for more than 2 weeks on AirBnB as I do not want any guest to be able to claim residency, so I do not have any issues with payment through AirBnB.

Use the professional tools to be able to accept a guest and then obtain their email link via the AirBnB website.  You can then send your docusign rental agreement to the guest via your personal or business email and they can send it back to you.  I would then copy any and all conversations into the AirBnB message board.

My lease agreement was written with the assistance of a lawyer in my rental state.  I would suggest that you do the same to be assured that you have a binding legal document.  

Please note that AirBnB will only take the first month's rent at booking -- all subsequent months are paid at intervals -- and guests have been known to reneg or disable their credit card accounts.  Be wary.

[Tyler-And-Lisa0]

Thank you for replying and sharing.  We want the rental agreement sign for the same reason.

We do have a lease written according to our state laws.  

I must have overlooked the professional tools🤔 where can I find them?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tyler-And-Lisa0 to switch on pro tools go into your account (not listing) and you will find an option there.

[Kimberly879]

Hi Lorna170,

I do not see email addresses and I'm using professional tools. I did an online search about that and results said that Airbnb doesn't share emails at all. It says you can share links in the messages once they are booked.

So how can we share a rental agreement that way? A Docusign link?
Also, Airbnb says you have to share the terms of the contract in the listing description, that doesn't make sense to me. It would make the listing too cumbersome to view.

Do you share the rental agreement once they've booked and let them know if they do not agree to the terms they can cancel without penalty if done within 48 hours?

Thanks

[Acacio18]

@Kimberly879 I think using a Property Management System (PMS) with good Airbnb integration, such as Guesty or OwnerRez, greatly simplifies getting guests to sign a rental agreement. They take some time to set up, but once you do, you save a lot of time with automation. For example, my PMS automatically sends guests a rental agreement once a booking is completed; all the guests need to do is sign it electronically. About 70% of all guests do this very quickly, and the other 30% need reminders. But even the reminder can be automated in your PMS. PMSs are well worth the investment for what they cost (some good ones as low as $40 per month), as they will save you lots of time and headaches.  My two cents. 

[Kimberly879]

@Acacio18 Hi, thank you for the detailed reply! This is very helpful and I appreciate you taking the time to share your "two cents" 🙂

[Josh-And-Regina0]

I’m in NC and trying to figure out the best way to provide the vacation rental agreement.

How do you provide the entire agreement before they book? 

[Lorna170]

@Josh-And-Regina0  There is no way to provide the agreement prior to the guest booking, even when you are sent an inquiry, as AirBnB has removed the guest email and does not provide the means to attach a PDF to the message response system.  You could, in theory, take pictures and send the pictures of your contract to the guest who has inquired or booked, but this is not a real solution.

Make it clear in your description (preferably in the first paragraph) that the guest will be asked to review, sign and return your rental agreement.  Fortunately, as the NC Vacation Rental Act states that payment constitutes acceptance, once you are able to send the guest the actual document -- you have to ask them to provide their email address and send it from outside the message system -- the guest would then be responsible for either accepting your terms or cancelling their reservation.  I have had zero push back from guests about this process.  

[Josh-And-Regina0]

Thank you for the info. And it hasn't affected your bookings? Or do you get a bunch of complaints or questions? I feel likes its another impediment that leads people to book elsewhere.