A house rules template you can use today.

Copy the starter rules and fee schedule below straight into your listing — no signup, no email wall. Then, if you want the rules to be a fee you can actually disclose and bill, we'll explain the one step a template can't do on its own.

Five rules that cover most disputes.

These five are the rules hosts most often need to point at after something goes wrong: smoking, parties, extra guests, pets, and late checkout. Paste the block into your listing's "Additional Rules" field, then edit the wording and the dollar amounts to match your property and your market.

House rules — starter template copy & paste
HOUSE RULES

1. No smoking anywhere on the property, including outdoor areas, porches, and balconies.
2. No parties or events. Quiet hours are after 10:00 PM.
3. Maximum occupancy is the number listed on the reservation. No unregistered overnight guests.
4. No pets unless approved in writing by the host before arrival.
5. Checkout is at the time listed on the reservation. Late checkout must be pre-approved in writing.

FEE SCHEDULE

- Smoking remediation fee: $500 per incident. Deep clean and air treatment if smoking is detected indoors or out.
- Unregistered overnight guest: $100 per guest, per night. Charged for any overnight guest not on the reservation.
- Unauthorized event / party: $300 per incident. Charged if a party or event is held without written approval.
- Late checkout: $75 per hour. Charged for departures past the listed checkout time without pre-approval.
- Unapproved pet: $150 per stay. Charged if a pet stays without prior written approval.

By booking this property, you agree to these house rules and the fee
schedule above. Fees are charged only where the rule was disclosed and
acknowledged.

The five starter rules

  • No smoking anywhere on the property, including outdoor areas, porches, and balconies.
  • No parties or events. Quiet hours are after 10:00 PM.
  • Maximum occupancy is the number listed on the reservation. No unregistered overnight guests.
  • No pets unless approved in writing by the host before arrival.
  • Checkout is at the time listed on the reservation. Late checkout must be pre-approved in writing.

A sample itemized fee schedule

Itemized fees — each with a label, an amount, and a unit — are far easier to charge and defend than a vague "additional fees may apply." Adjust the amounts to your costs.

Smoking remediation fee$500 per incident
Unregistered overnight guest$100 per guest, per night
Unauthorized event / party$300 per incident
Late checkout$75 per hour
Unapproved pet$150 per stay

Amounts shown are illustrative starting points, not a recommendation. Set fees to your actual remediation cost and what your market and platform allow.

Download the one-page PDF

A template is disclosure. It isn’t acknowledgment.

The template above gives you the first half of what gets a fee charged — the listing-side disclosure. The second half is acknowledgment: the guest confirming each rule and each fee individually, with a timestamp, before check-in. That second half is the disclosure–acknowledgment gap, and it's what most denied claims are missing. A static template can't close it — there's no record the guest read these specific rules and agreed to them.

A signed acknowledgment

  • Each rule and fee confirmed line by line
  • Timestamped before check-in
  • A drawn signature from the guest
  • An audit trail with IPs and a content hash
  • One PDF you can attach to a claim

A template alone

  • States the rules — disclosure only
  • No record the guest read them
  • No timestamp tying agreement to a date
  • No signature, no audit trail
  • Easy to write, hard to enforce

A signed acknowledgment is different from a notice.

A rule pasted into a listing tells the guest it exists. A signed acknowledgment is dated, IP-recorded, and tapped line-by-line — and produces an immutable PDF on file before check-in.

Both halves cover the Resolution Center pattern: the disclosure (your listing block) and the acknowledgment (this certificate). Same packet, both halves.

Page 1 of a PreArrive signed-acknowledgment certificate — vellum paper, double border, signed sample Open the sample certificate PDF

Same rules. Plus the guest’s signature.

PreArrive takes the rules and fees you just copied and turns them into a packet the guest signs in about ninety seconds, before check-in. They tap each rule and each fee to acknowledge it, draw a signature, and you get a PDF certificate — disclosure and acknowledgment, in one file. The template stays free either way; this is the step that makes it enforceable.

Keep the free template regardless

The house rules template and the PDF above are yours to use whether or not you ever sign up. Nothing here is gated. If you do want the signed version, the Free plan covers one property at no cost — see how it works.

Sign your first guest in 90 seconds — free.

Take these rules, drop them into a packet, send on every reservation. The Free plan covers one property — no card, no time limit.

Related, if you’re going deeper.