Rental agreements signed before the door code goes out
Direct bookings are where hosts keep more of the money, and also where nobody else's terms protect you. A signed rental agreement sets the occupancy limit, the quiet hours and what happens if the hot tub cover ends up in the lake. SignMaster gets it signed on the guest's phone before you share the door code, and keeps the owner and cleaner paperwork alongside it.
Updated November 5, 2026 · 4 min read
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What hosts ask guests and partners to sign
- Short-term rental agreementDates, guest count, check-in and check-out times, cancellation terms and the damage policy. Start from the vacation rental agreement.
- House rulesNo parties, quiet hours, parking, pets and trash day, each with an initials box so nobody can say they missed it. See the house rules agreement.
- Pool, hot tub and gear waiverKayaks, bikes, a fire pit or a pool without a lifeguard. Have every adult guest sign, not just the person who booked.
- Guest IDAn Attachment field on the agreement lets the guest add a photo of their ID from their phone while they sign.
- Owner management agreementFor co-hosts and managers: your commission, who pays for cleaning and repairs, and the weeks the owner keeps for themselves.
- Cleaner and handyman agreementsTurnover standards, rates and what to report, plus a W-9 from each contractor you pay.
A direct booking, start to finish
- 1
Fill the agreement in one sentence
Open your rental agreement template and tell Alana, the AI assistant: “Fill this for Priya Nair, June 12 to 16, six guests, and add her as the signer.” She fills the dates and names wherever they appear. You check it and press send.
- 2
The guest signs on their phone
Priya opens the email link, reads the agreement, initials each house rule, uploads her ID and signs. No account, no app. Add each extra adult as a signer if you want them on the waiver too.
- 3
Set a deadline
Give the envelope a sign-by date a few days before arrival and let automatic reminders do the nudging. You can also make the link expire, so an old booking's link can't be reused.
- 4
Share the code when it's signed
When everyone has signed, you and the guest both get the sealed PDF with its certificate of completion. That's your cue to send arrival instructions.
In SignMaster, each send is an envelope: one or more documents going to one or more signers. The rental agreement, the house rules and the waiver can travel together as one envelope, so the guest signs once and you file one record per stay.
Booked through a platform?
Booking platforms have their own terms and their own rules about extra agreements and collecting guest information. Read your platform's policy before adding a signing step, and say in your listing that guests will be asked to sign house rules. For repeat guests who come back to book direct, the agreement becomes the whole contract, so it's worth having a lawyer look at it once.
Long stays
In many places a stay of a month or more can give the guest some of a tenant's rights. If you take monthly bookings, check your local rules and consider a separate agreement for those stays.
For co-hosts managing several homes
When the season changes your fee or your cleaning rate, the owner agreements all need re-signing. Put the details that differ by owner, like the property address and your commission, in labeled text boxes on the agreement, list your owners in a spreadsheet, and bulk send it. Each owner gets their own envelope with their own numbers printed in it, and you see who's signed in one list.
Guests from abroad can read the signing page, emails and consent in any of 6 languages and switch whenever they like. The agreement text stays the version you uploaded.
What it costs a host
Free includes 3 envelopes a month, enough to try it on your next few bookings. Solo is $15 a month with unlimited envelopes and bulk send, which covers most hosts. Co-hosting teams with a cleaner coordinator or a second manager can use Crew at $49 a month for 5 people. New workspaces get 14 days of Crew free, no card. Compare plans.
What SignMaster doesn't do
- It doesn't take payments or hold security deposits.
- It doesn't sync calendars or connect to booking platforms.
- It stores the ID photo a guest uploads but doesn't verify the ID is genuine.
- It emails the signing link. To reach a guest by text, copy their link and send it yourself.
Questions? Answers.
Is a vacation rental agreement signed online binding?
For most rentals, yes. The federal ESIGN Act and state e-signature laws treat an electronic signature like ink. Local short-term rental rules still apply to what the agreement says. See are electronic signatures legal.
Can I collect a photo ID with the rental agreement?
Yes. Add an Attachment field and the guest can take a photo or pick a file while signing. It's kept with the envelope. See collect a photo ID with a contract.
Do all adult guests need to sign?
That's your call. Add each adult as a signer and choose whether they sign in order or all at once. Each person gets their own link.
Can I reuse the same agreement for every booking?
Yes. Save it as a template once. For each booking, fill the guest's name and dates, or ask Alana to, and send.