Short-Term Rental Agreement

1. The parties

This Short-Term Rental Agreement (the “Agreement”) is made on [date of signing] between [guest name] (the “Guest”), whose permanent home is at [guest’s permanent home address], and Walter Marchuk (the “Owner”), whose mailing address is [owner’s mailing address, on the signed copy].

The Guest can be reached at [guest email] and [guest phone]. The Owner can be reached at [email protected] and (540) 435-5624. Notices under this Agreement may be given by email to these addresses.

2. The home

The Owner lets to the Guest the furnished single-family home known as [the home] at [property address], in the Gran Paradiso community in Venice, Sarasota County, Florida (the “Home”). It has [bedrooms] bedrooms and [bathrooms] bathrooms, and comes furnished and equipped as shown on myakkahouse.com, including bed linen, towels and kitchenware. Parking is in the garage and on the driveway only.

3. Dates

The stay runs from [arrival date] to [departure date]: [number of nights] nights. Check-in is from [check-in time] on the day of arrival and check-out is by [check-out time] on the day of departure. Different times can be agreed in writing beforehand, and where the calendar allows the Owner will try to say yes.

4. Who may stay

No more than [maximum occupancy] people may stay overnight in the Home, and the Guest has told the Owner to expect [number of occupants]. The Guest is responsible for everyone they bring into the Home and the community. The Guest may not sublet the Home, assign this Agreement, or list the Home on any rental platform.

The rules of this particular home are:

• [house rules for this home]

Quiet hours are from 10:00 PM to 8:00 AM. The Guest and their visitors will respect the neighbours and the community’s own rules on noise.

5. Rent, tax and payment

The rent for the stay is [rent before tax]. Florida sales tax and Sarasota County tourist development tax, together 13% on stays of six months or less, come to [tax]. The total is [total]. There is no cleaning fee, booking fee or payment fee on top of this: the nightly rate covers cleaning, and the Owner pays the bank-transfer cost.

A deposit of [deposit], being the first thirty nights of the stay, is paid on booking and holds the dates. The balance of [balance] is due by [balance due date]. Both are paid by bank transfer (ACH) through the payment link the Owner emails, and the bank’s receipt is the Guest’s receipt. A bank transfer takes about four business days to clear, and the booking is confirmed when the deposit clears.

If the balance is not paid by its due date, the Owner may treat the booking as cancelled by the Guest on that date and the cancellation terms below apply.

6. No security deposit; damage

The Owner holds no security deposit. The Guest is liable for damage to the Home, its furnishings or its contents beyond normal wear and tear, for missing items, and for any cleaning beyond a normal turnover, including the cost of removing smoke or pet odour. The Owner will send an itemised invoice at cost, with photographs and receipts, within fourteen days of departure, and the Guest will pay it within fourteen days of receiving it.

The Guest will leave the Home in the state it was found in, allowing for the cleaning the rate includes: dishes done, rubbish out, furniture where it was.

7. Cancellation and refunds

If the Guest cancels more than sixty days before arrival, everything paid is refunded. If the Guest cancels between thirty and sixty days before arrival, half of the total rent and tax is refunded. If the Guest cancels within thirty days of arrival, nothing is refunded. Cancellations are counted from the day the Owner receives the Guest’s written notice. Refunds go back by bank transfer within ten business days.

There is no refund for a shortened stay or an early departure, whatever the reason, except as set out under Weather below.

If the Owner has to cancel, for instance because the Home becomes uninhabitable, everything the Guest has paid is refunded in full, and that refund is the Owner’s entire liability.

8. Transient occupancy

The Guest keeps a permanent residence at the address given above, and the Home is not and will not become the Guest’s sole residence. The parties agree that this is a transient occupancy under chapter 509 of the Florida Statutes, in the way a hotel stay is, and not a residential tenancy under part II of chapter 83. The Guest acquires no interest in the Home beyond the right to stay in it for the dates above.

A Guest who does not leave at check-out on the departure date, without the Owner’s written agreement, is holding over. The Owner may then ask the Guest to leave under section 509.141 of the Florida Statutes, and the Guest will owe the nightly rate for every night held over together with any cost of rehousing the next guest.

9. Gran Paradiso

The Home is in a gated community run by a homeowners’ association, whose rules bind the Guest as they bind the Owner. The association registers each guest before arrival and may ask for identification, vehicle details and its own registration fee; the Owner will tell the Guest exactly what is needed and by when, and the Guest will provide it in time. Gate access, amenity passes and any fobs are the association’s property and must be returned at check-out; lost ones are charged at replacement cost.

The pool, spa, courts, fitness centre, sauna, clubhouse and trails are community facilities, shared with the residents and used under the association’s rules and at the Guest’s own risk. They are not part of the Home and the Owner does not control their opening hours or condition.

Vehicles are parked in the garage and on the driveway. The Home may not be used for any business, commercial photography or event, and nothing may be done in it that would breach the association’s rules, the City of Venice or Sarasota County ordinances, or Florida law.

10. Pets, smoking and hazards

No pets. An assistance animal that Florida or federal law requires the Owner to allow is not a pet; tell the Owner before booking so the arrangements can be made.

No smoking or vaping of anything anywhere on the property, indoors or out. No fireworks, no open fires, no grills other than any the Owner provides, and nothing flammable or hazardous stored in the Home or garage. The Guest will tell the Owner at once if a smoke or carbon monoxide alarm chirps, sounds or is missing.

Illegal activity of any kind in the Home or the community ends this Agreement immediately, with nothing refunded.

11. Utilities and upkeep

Electricity, water and sewer, trash collection, internet and television are included in the rent for ordinary domestic use. The Guest will report anything broken, leaking or not working as soon as they notice it, so it can be fixed before it becomes expensive, and will not attempt repairs.

The Owner, or a contractor sent by the Owner, may enter the Home to inspect it or make repairs on twenty-four hours’ notice, at a reasonable hour, and without notice in an emergency. If the Home is put up for sale during the stay, it may be shown to prospective buyers at times agreed with the Guest.

12. Weather, hurricanes and travel insurance

Venice is on the Gulf coast and hurricane season runs from June to November. Weather is not a reason for a refund, with one exception: if Sarasota County issues a mandatory evacuation order that covers the Home, the rent and tax for the nights the order is in force are refunded, and the Guest will leave when the order says to. The Owner is not liable for anything else the weather causes, including travel disruption, power cuts or lost days.

The Owner strongly recommends travel insurance that covers cancellation and interruption of the stay, because that is what covers everything this Agreement does not refund.

13. Liability and insurance

The Guest uses the Home, its contents, the bicycles where provided, the community facilities and the pool at their own risk, and will indemnify and hold the Owner harmless against any claim for personal injury or loss of or damage to property arising from that use by the Guest or anyone the Guest brings in, except where the Owner is negligent. The Owner’s insurance does not cover the Guest’s belongings or vehicles; the Guest’s own policies do, if the Guest wants that cover.

Anything left behind will be kept for sixty days and posted back at the Guest’s cost on request. After sixty days it may be disposed of.

14. Disclosures required by Florida law

RADON GAS: Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that, when it has accumulated in a building in sufficient quantities, may present health risks to persons who are exposed to it over time. Levels of radon that exceed federal and state guidelines have been found in buildings in Florida. Additional information regarding radon and radon testing may be obtained from your county health department.

Lead-based paint: the Home was built after 1978, so the federal lead-based paint disclosure does not apply.

15. General

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Florida, and any dispute will be heard in the courts of Sarasota County, Florida. In any action to enforce it, the prevailing party recovers reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.

If any part of this Agreement is found unenforceable, the rest stands. This Agreement, together with the booking confirmation and the price shown on it, is the whole agreement between the parties about the stay, and replaces anything said or written before it. Changes are only binding in writing, and an email from both sides counts. The parties agree to sign electronically, and an electronic signature has the same effect as one in ink under Florida’s Uniform Electronic Transaction Act.