What is a Short Term Rental Agreement in Florida?
Florida short term rental agreements are typically used in situations where an owner or first tenant of a residential unit in the state of Florida wishes to retain a certain amount of control over their real estate property, but does not necessarily wish to rent it out on a long-term basis. This basically means that such agreements are not used on shopping centers and retail establishments, but rather on residences such as single family homes or condominiums. The length of the lease is usually less than a year, hence the name short term tenancy. These agreements are regulated at the state level under the existing Florida landlord-tenant laws. Basically, short term tenancy works like most other kinds of leases and rental agreements in the state, with the same sort of provisions for things like rent, damage deposits and other considerations.
Despite being a short form of tenancy, Florida short term rental agreements allow high levels of access to a residential property because they are designed to be specific about the terms of use and reiterate basic laws about what kind of property rights a tenant may or may not exercise while occupying the residence. For many Florida property owners , short term rental agreements are a good way to maintain a certain amount of control over their property while still extracting economic value from it. Many commercial property owners in Florida prefer that a tenant would buy the whole property or have long term tenancy rather than simply occupy it for a shorter time period, but in some markets this level of control is not possible, so using Florida short term rental agreements is a good way to ensure that a tenant retains the minimal rights over the property.
As a state in the U.S., Florida relies on general landlord-tenant laws to apply to many of the provisions of Florida short term rental agreements. In most cases, property owners, like other analogous relationships in rental property agreements, are expected to follow certain local property codes and industry standards about the maintenance and upkeep of real estate. Short term rental agreements allow an owner or landlady to follow through with all of these provisions while retaining the ability to keep the property from being damaged or misused by short-term tenants. The distinction between a rental and a leasing agreement is simply in the scope of the agreement – in Florida, the legal environment is similar for both, and the official government websites for consumer information about Florida rental and lease agreements also refer to them both as lease agreements.
Most Important Elements of a Short Term Rental Agreement
Whether you are renting out your home for the first time, or have been doing so for years, it is crucial that you have a short term rental agreement that obligates the tenant to a strict set of terms and conditions. It’s not enough to simply rent out your property "as seen" and hope for the best. At the end of the day, a solid written agreement is your best line of defense against a bad tenant. The following are essential components to include in a Florida short term rental agreement: Property Information Your rental agreement should include all relevant information about the property. The property description should include things such as the location, number of guests permitted, amenities, activities, etc. This way, when potential guests have questions, you can just refer them to that section of the agreement instead of having to answer the same questions over and over. You should also include information about check-in and check-out times, parking, and any emergency contact numbers. Rental Term You should clearly define what the rental term of the property is in the agreement. However, since short term rentals are by definition ‘short’, the term should be no more than 30 days. In most cases, the rental term can be decided upon by the host and guest when booking a stay. Payment Terms It is important to clearly outline both the rental rate and payment terms for the property. This should include things like when the full rental payment is due (typically before check-in), whether the booking is confirmed after the full payment has been processed, whether payment plans are available, and whether deposits and/or fees are required. Cancellation and Travel Insurance Most short term rental platforms offer travel insurance for a section fee. Travel insurance is an important tool for guests, and thus should be discussed in your rental agreement. You should inform guests if they are required to purchase travel insurance. You should also provide information about what to do if they must cancel their stay. Terms Regarding Pets Depending on your own policy, pets may or may not be permitted in the property. You can outline your policy in the rental agreement and inform guests if there are fees for bringing a pet on the stay. Pets often attract a pet or damage fee that can be added on to the security deposit. You should also inform guests if there are any breed or size restrictions for pets that they need to be aware of. Deposit Terms Security deposits are a good way to protect your property from damage. Make sure you clearly outline security deposit terms in your rental agreement. Items to consider for your agreement include how the deposit amount is calculated, when it is collected from the guest, whether the deposit is refundable, and under what conditions a full or partial refund will be issued.
Short Term Rental Agreement Legal Requirements in Florida
Short term rentals in Florida, as in many parts of the country, must comply with both local and state laws. These can include restrictions on how many days a rental property can be occupied by a single tenant, even if they have not been disclosed in the rental agreement.
While the State law does not specifically regulate the number of days a rental can be offered for, short term rental properties need to check with the County and City for applicable restrictions. A lack of restrictions does not necessarily mean that there are no restrictions. There could be restrictions that are written in the rental agreement itself or restrictions that have been passed by the County and City ordinances.
There are two important documents each landlord needs to have:
Renters in Florida are entitled to a drawer or other storage area within the room in which they are sleeping. They are also entitled to clean towels and linens, including toilet paper and soap for each full bathroom. If the vacation home has more than one bathroom, there must be one that is fully functional with a shower in good working order.
Landlords must ensure that all structural elements and appliances are in safe and working order. There should be proper occupancy limits and the facility should be free of drugs and illegal activity.
Every landlord must also provide renters with complete and accurate contact information in case of an emergency. Not providing this at the outset is a violation of the law and can have serious legal consequences.
Florida Short Term Rental Agreement Pdf File
In today’s digital age, landlords and tenants can easily find and download a multitude of Florida short term rental agreement templates as PDFs on the internet. When searching for the right template for their needs, landlords and tenants should first make sure that the template they’re downloading is actually from Florida, and that it meets their specific needs in terms of length of occupancy, number of tenants, whether a deposit is required, overall costs, and so on.
Secondly, a landlord or tenant should avoid purchasing any template that requires a fee. The Florida Bar provides a free PDF short term rental agreement template that can be downloaded on its website. Smaller towns and local governments in Florida also sometimes put out free PDF rental agreements, or you can find a free template from a solo or small firm attorney in the area where you’re renting. If you do need to purchase a rental agreement template and aren’t able to get it from Florida Bar, you should go to a well-known legal document website (like LegalZoom or LegalMatch), or another popular source, rather than a random website that didn’t get picked up by one of the other trusted sites.
When downloading a new rental agreement from the internet, instead of printing out a new copy every time you have a new tenant, be sure to save an electronic copy of the template on your computer. Some rental agreement templates are offered on Microsoft Word or Microsoft Notepad, which allows you to customize the template to suit your needs, while other templates are offered in PDF format, which require you to fill out the form fields online.
How to Edit Your Rental Agreement Template
After a downloaded PDF is opened in any of the widely available PDF applications, the file can be edited and a rental agreement template tailored to a specific vacation property can be created.
It is strongly advisable that this new document be carefully examined to ensure that all provisions are perhaps more specific than the documents received on the home computer. The first step is to be very thorough, word for word, to ensure that the document of the downloaded vacation rental agreement is exactly the same as the one from where the rental agreement template was downloaded . The second step is to take the specific verbiage of the vacation property and make the necessary changes to ensure that the rental property is correctly represented in the rental agreement template. The final step before printing is to review the rental agreement template again to ensure that no changes were overlooked and the rental agreement template now meets all the expectations of the property owner.
Some Common Pitfalls
One common mistake landlords make in Florida is to use a short term rental agreement that is not tailored to their particular property and situation. Some landlords download a generic form from the internet, use a site like Craigslist to obtain a signed agreement, or copy a friend’s lease that they think was successful for them. While these tactics may be adequate for a long term rental agreement, they expose a landlord to unnecessary risk in a short term rental agreement because the terms of these documents are often inadequate to insure against issues that short term tenancies typically encounter.
Risks are often underestimated by landlords who make another common mistake: being too trusting. Even with long term tenancy, you need a real security deposit as opposed to collecting the $200 damage deposit typically used in the hospitality industry. The industry standard is also to allow a modest hold on funds in the checking account from which payments are made, but requiring this could make even the most trustworthy customers uncomfortable. While there is no law in Florida that requires written proof of purchase, it is far easier and less risky to require a tenant to pay in advance than to attempt to collect after the fact. You will hear often that breaking the lease causes the entire contract to become void, but courts have held that the landlord can treat the contract as still valid, and rent out the premises to someone else without violating the contract.
Many landlords don’t recognize that their rental unit must comply with all local safety and zoning regulations under many circumstances, even when they are short term rentals. The right zoning for short term rentals should be discovered before a contract is signed to avoid any conflict, particularly when the short term rental is in a residential area and would not be acceptable for short term rentals there. Note that this includes not just any restrictions on zoning, such as restrictive covenants, but also any building or safety issue that could arise with allowing short term stay in a property.
Advantages of a PDF
For those looking to distribute their Florida short term rental agreement, there is no better format than the Portable Document Format (PDF). First, it will ensure all readers have exactly the same version as every possible reader will be viewing the exact same file. In addition, a PDF file allows you to easily fill in or modify certain fields such as the names of the parties, dates, prices and other miscellaneous information, a major benefit to those distributing an agreement where the only changes are the names or dates of a particular booking. Making individual changes to a file (Word document, for example), can lead to inconsistent agreements. Also , a PDF does not allow the reader to change any portion of the document they are not authorized to alter without the proper permissions/passwords, thus ensuring the reader will always have the original agreement as created by you, the author.
Some PDF readers such as Adobe Reader (available for free on most platforms) even allow you to digitally sign the agreement so that you may electronically send the agreement without the need of printing/taking a photo of your signature. If you use an outside service to procure rentals, some of these services may even allow you to upload the PDF document directly into their system and they will automatically notify the tenant on your behalf, further increasing your efficiency.