Learn how rental agreements work in Hostaway, when they can be used, and find answers to common setup and guest-signing questions.

Rental Agreements

Setting Up Rental Agreements

1. Go to your Hostaway Dashboard > Listings > Edit > Guest Portal
2. To enable Rental Agreements for a listing, the toggle must be turned on
3. The agreement can include formatted text and dynamic fields
4. The agreement can be copied in bulk to other listings
5. Save

How to send Rental Agreements

To send a Rental Agreement to your guest through automation, you should follow the next steps:

1. Once you have created the Rental Agreement, the link to the signing page can be added to Message Automation
2. To create the automation go to Inbox > Automations > Click Create New
3. Within the default message, include the rental agreement using the dynamic field {{rental_agreement_link}}. The link is unique per reservation
4. Click Save
5. You can also set Additional Conditions to Message Automation - Rental Agreement. Options available are Signed, Not Signed, and Not Required

How to find signed Rental Agreements?

Once the agreement is signed, a PDF file with the agreement text, guest name, signature, IP address, and timestamp is generated. It is displayed in the attachment sections on the reservation page and the Guest Portal.

In Hostaway, signed agreements are reservation-specific, so to find them:

1. Go to your Hostaway Dashboard > Reservations
2. Select a reservation > Scroll to the bottom > Attachment
3. Click on the rental agreement under the attached files
4. You will open and download the agreement

You can see a dropdown menu for the Rental Agreement on the reservation page.

The possible statuses are:

1. Signed. When a rental agreement has been signed for this reservation

2. Not Signed. When the rental agreement toggle was ON for the listing when the reservation was created but the reservation did not have a signed agreement

3. Not Required. When the rental agreement toggle was OFF for the listing, when the reservation was created

4. The status can be modified manually through the reservation page
   
    

Rental Agreement FAQs

Can I set a different rental agreement per listing?

Yes, the agreement text is set on the listing level.

How do I make sure my guest signed the agreement?

Set up message automation with a link to the rental agreement, asking the guest to sign it. Once they sign, you will receive a notification about it (which can be controlled via the settings page). You can also filter reservations by signature status. Lastly, you can also set reminders to sign the agreement that is sent only if the agreement is not signed - use the Rental Agreement condition in the message automation to do so.

I want to share the exact listing address with my guests only after the rental agreement is signed. How do I do that?

Make sure that the automation that shares the listing address/guest portal link with the guests has the Rental Agreement condition in it. This works for direct channels only, as OTAs share the listing address upon reservation.

The guest already signed an agreement outside of Hostaway. How can I reflect that in Hostaway?

You can manually edit the rental agreement signature status in the reservation by editing the reservation and changing the status to signed.

Why is the rental agreement not showing on the reservation, even though I received an email saying it has been signed?

• The rental agreement is not displaying because the status on the reservation was changed to "Not Signed."
• To resolve this, please edit the reservation and change the status back to "Signed." Once updated, the rental agreement will display correctly.
• Please note: When the rental agreement status is set to "Not Signed," the rental agreement will not be displayed, even if one exists.

The rental agreement attachment is not attached to the guest portal even after it has been signed.

Before a reservation is fully confirmed (something is paid) the system does not show attachments. You will be required to update the reservation as paid or create an invoice so that the rental agreement attachment is available in the guest portal.

What does the Rental Agreement look like?

The signing page includes the rental agreement text, a mandatory checkbox where the guest marks they have read the agreement and agree to it, and a mandatory free-draw signature field. After signing the guest will be redirected to the Guest Portal.

What happens if a guest signs the reservation rental agreement more than once? Will multiple signed copies appear under Reservation > Attachments?

The rental agreement can only be signed once through the standard rental agreement workflow. After it has been signed, the system will not generate additional signed versions automatically, even if the reservation rental agreement field is edited from Signed back to Not signed and the guest accesses it again.

If a new or updated rental agreement is needed, the user can send a new rental agreement document to the guest via message, receive the signed version back, and then manually upload and attach that signed document to the reservation under Reservation > Attachments.

 

Is there a notification I can turn on to be aware when a guest signs?

Yes, they are for the Admin level only (not users)

Learn more about Notifications