OwnerRez offers electronic signature functionality for legal and rental agreements. Users can create multiple legal agreements and send signing links at any time for guests to sign any agreement.
OwnerRez provides a default renter agreement that is automatically included during the checkout process for quotes and bookings. Additionally, a default Request Guest Sign Renter Agreement Template and Trigger is preloaded for all new Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo integrations.
For a complete review, read our Agreements Overview support article.
- Configure or Customize Agreement
- Multiple Agreements
- Request e-Signature from Guest
- Capture additional fields on booking and agreement signing
- Updated Agreement
- Download Renter Agreement
- Disable Renter Agreement
- Legal Implications
- Major Listing Channels and Rental Agreements
Configure or Customize Agreement
To create or update your own agreements, navigate to Settings > Branding & Legal > Legal Agreements. You can start from the default agreement and customize it, or do the following.
- Copy and paste the text of your existing agreement
- Upload your existing MS Word format agreement
- If your existing agreement is heavily formatted, it may be easier to paste the text only and format it directly in the OwnerRez editor.
Other agreement customizations include:
- Using the Insert Field button in the editor to include fields such as guest name, arrival and departure dates, etc. See our Theming Overview support article for more information.
- Create a header/footer for your agreements in the Settings > Branding & Legal > Theming section, including your logo, contact information, and other details. See our Theming Overview support article for more information.
When prefilled, the Default System Agreement lets you customize it to best suit your business needs in the OwnerRez editor.
Click the Preview button at the top to review the agreement with guest data included, giving you a sense of what guests will see.
Criteria
Since you can create multiple legal agreements, you can create agreements that apply only to specific properties or listing sites by using the Criteria section. To make an agreement apply only to Airbnb, Booking.com, or Vrbo bookings, select those as the listing sites.
Options
Priority: Add a number to this field to assign precedence when two or more agreements are assigned to the same property. Set the main rental agreement (the one that should always be signed) to have a high Priority number - say, 100. Make sure the other agreements have low Priority numbers or none at all. This will ensure that the main rental agreement is the one presented to guests to sign during the regular Booking process.
Status: Set the agreement to Active to ensure it is presented to guests during the booking process.
Print to PDF
OwnerRez can automatically generate a PDF of your Agreement that you can provide to potential guests or upload to Vrbo as an example. In the Print to PDF field, you can customize the intro text that is added to the example agreement to indicate that it’s a sample and not the actual agreement populated with guest information. Note that this field is not displayed to guests during the normal agreement signing process.
Description
The optional Description field lets you add descriptive text to help you identify the agreement later.
Multiple Agreements
It is possible to create multiple legal agreements for different purposes, such as optional amenities or pets. You can configure each different agreement as to when it will be used - only for specific properties, say, or for certain channels.
There are situations where you might want to have multiple different agreements used for the same booking - for instance, your normal rental agreement for a property, and also another agreement for the Jet Ski you are renting as an Add-On option. You can also use Tags and Tag Automations, to help facilitate sending an additional agreement to your guests.
- Create separate agreements and configure them for which properties they should be used.
- Using the Priority field, set the main rental agreement (the one that should always be signed) to have a high number in it - say, 100. Make sure the other agreements have low Priority numbers, or none at all. This ensures that the main rental agreement is presented to guests to sign during the regular Booking process.
- When a guest has made a booking and signed the regular agreement, you can manually go to their Booking > Legal tab > Request e-Signature, then select the correct agreement from the list. The email sent to them will include a link to the additional agreement.
- All signed agreements will be visible under the Legal tab of the Booking.
Request e-Signature from Guest
To send an agreement signing link after booking, go to the Legal tab of the booking and use the Request e-Signature button to send a link for a booking from a listing site, request signatures on additional documents, or request signatures from additional guests.
You can preview the process the guest will see, compose an email with the signing link, or copy the link to send to the guest directly.
When the signature link is used, the guest will be asked to enter/verify their contact info. This step will also include any booking custom fields you've flagged as optional or required at checkout, so the guest can enter those values even if coming from a listing site booking.
Adding Agreements to Email Templates
Create an additional message template for guests to sign a specific Agreement, such as a Pet Agreement for guests with pets, in addition to the default Agreement. To automatically send it, see the Booking Fields section of the Tag Automations support article. You can also manually send it via Booking > Legal tab, choosing the pet agreement from the Request dropdown, which generates an email link.
To insert a link to any other custom legal Agreement created, click on the Insert/Edit Link in the email template.Select {BULEASE} in the Type drop-down list and the specific custom legal agreement from the Agreement drop-down list, in this example, the Pet Agreement.
The linked Pet Agreement has now been added to the email template.
Users can add as many links to agreements as they like. When users click on the Preview link at the top of the page, the template Preview pop-up modal will appear.
Capture additional fields on booking and agreement signing
Users can also capture the names of all guests and government IDs by following the instructions on the capture additional fields on booking and agreement signing support article.
Updated Agreement
OwnerRez Rental Agreements, once e-signed, are legally binding and cannot be changed after signing. If a booking's details change—like dates or property—you should request a new Rental Agreement. Agreements are auto-filled with current info when signed, so any updates require a new signing to include the changes.
Download Renter Agreement
You can download or print individual renter agreements by navigating to the individual Booking > Legal, and from the dropdown menu to the left of your Signed Legal Agreement, select Download this agreement.
Want to download an example PDF of your Renter Agreement? Navigate to Settings > Branding & Legal > Legal Agreements, and from the dropdown menu to the left of your Signed Legal Agreement, select Download Example PDF.
Disable Renter Agreement
It is not currently possible to fully disable the signing of Rental Agreements. Your best option is to create a very streamlined renter agreement for guests who enter their details through the {BUFIXUP} Booking Clean-Up Link field code (the public link to collect any missing contact info, agreement signatures, or security deposit information for a booking) used in an email, channel, or SMS booking template.
Legal Implications
Note: we are not lawyers! Always consult an attorney who practices in your jurisdiction with any specific legal concerns.
Generally speaking, the OwnerRez rental agreements are accepted as real contracts because they include specific information as to the individuals involved (the owner and the guest), a specific period of time (the booking dates), a specific location (the property), consideration made (the rent paid), and specific obligations on both parties.
Our e-signing system is compliant with the Federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Signatures Act (ESIGN), and should be generally compatible with other equivalent legislation on other jurisdictions.
Major Listing Channels and Rental Agreements
For guests that found you and made a booking via a major listing channel such as Airbnb or Vrbo, they already have an agreement with that channel. But that doesn't mean your Rental Agreements aren't just as important - the guest's agreement is with the channel, not with you.
Their agreement is usually a weak online "check-the-box' contract. However, a properly configured e-signed OwnerRez agreement is a valid, enforceable contract between you and the guest, independent of the channel. While you can't force signing at booking, stating in House Rules that signing is required allows channels to enforce this by canceling the booking without penalty if they don't sign.
If you are using the Vrbo channel integration, you can generate a PDF file of your Renter Agreement that you can upload to Vrbo as an example for potential guests, which is displayed to the guest as they book.
Note that this isn't the actual agreement, as it lacks specific details like the guest's name or dates, but it provides a general idea of your rules and serves as supporting evidence in case of a dispute.