Peace of Mind
Welcome to Guest Agreement
At Guest Agreement we have created a contract that is specifically designed for use with short-term vacation rentals. Created by an attorney, our agreement is written in plain English and is easy to understand. The agreement reflects the true relationship between the parties, is customized for each property you own or manage, including specific liability waivers, and includes state specific language regarding short-term rentals. Our agreement is easy to use, created and stored online and takes only minutes to complete.
Our Agreement is a License-to-Occupy
Our Agreement is a license-to-occupy, not a lease.
A lease is used when an owner rents a specific property to a tenant for long term use. The tenant usually provides their own furniture, is responsible to pay all of the utilities, and is granted exclusive use of the property. A license-to-occupy is used when the owner provides a guest with a completely furnished property for a short period of time (usually less than 30 days) and pays all of the utilities and other charges necessary to occupy the property.
Use of a lease usually creates a landlord/tenant relationship between the parties. The landlord/tenant relationship creates significant obligations on the owner and gives rights to the tenant. If the tenant refuses to leave at the end of the lease term, the owner must take them to court and have them evicted, which can take months to complete and cost the owner thousands of dollars. You could be required to forfeit legitimate renters while you are waiting for the court to evict the guests. There are many other legal obligations placed on landlords even if they do not appear in the lease document. Why take on these obligations just because you used the wrong type of contract?
A license-to-occupy gives temporary permission to use property that belongs to another. A license is revocable at the will of the licensor (owner), and creates no legal interest in the property. In a license relationship the licensor has the right to revoke the license (or permission) “at will” and to use “self-help” to remove a defaulting licensee from the licensed premises. This means an owner can usually remove a guest from his property without the necessity of going to court, if the guest violates any of the terms of the agreement.
There are specific requirements to create a license agreement as opposed to a lease. These include:
1) a clause allowing the licensor to revoke the use of the premises “at will”;
2) the retention by the licensor of absolute control over the premises; and
3) the licensor’s supplying all of the essential services required for the licensee’s permitted use of the premises.
Our Agreement contains the language necessary to create the licensor/licensee relationship.
Our Agreements are customized per property
Our Agreement is customized for each property you own or manage. You can create house rules that are unique to each property. Liability waivers will be automatically included for each situation/amenity that may create a dangerous condition on the property. Each custom contract is created, signed, and stored online.
Our Agreements are customized by state
Our Agreements also contain state specific language regarding short-term rentals. For example, vacation rentals in North Carolina are subject to the North Carolina Vacation rental Act, which governs the rental laws throughout the state. Hawaii law contains specific requirements regarding having on-site managers on the island where the rental in located. These requirements are automatically included in our contracts. We continually monitor these state requirements to make certain our agreements are up-to-date and in compliance with state laws.
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