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Short-term rentals

What to write down at a vacation rental

A short-stay record is a set of photographs taken at check-in before anything is touched and again at check-out from the same positions, plus the booking reference and every message sent through the platform — because a stay is short and both sides are describing a property neither of them will see again.

This page won't say who is responsible for a mark on a wall or what any platform will decide. Platform policies differ, they change, and the rules around a rental vary by state.

What it does say is what a record of a stay needs to contain, because a claim either way is looked at the same way: the condition at check-in, the condition at check-out, and what was said in between.

Both directions

This one has a guest and a host, and the record is genuinely the same on both sides. A host photographing after the clean and a guest photographing before unpacking are doing the same job from opposite ends. Where the two sets exist, the disagreement usually doesn't.

Write it down

The things to note, in your own words, while they are still exact.

  1. 01

    The booking reference and the platform

    Every later conversation is looked up by that reference. Written down once, it survives the app being uninstalled.

  2. 02

    Check-in and check-out dates and times

    Not just the dates. The hour matters when the question is who was in the property when something happened.

  3. 03

    The other party's name and contact

    Host or guest. Platforms remove access to a thread once a stay is closed, and the name goes with it.

  4. 04

    Anything already marked, stained or not working

    Noted on arrival, in your own words, room by room. A note made on the first evening reads very differently from one made after a claim.

  5. 05

    What was raised and when

    The date and time you reported something and the channel you used. In-platform messages are the ones that can be found again.

  6. 06

    What the inventory contained

    Remotes, keys, kitchen equipment, linen. Missing items are the most common disagreement and the easiest to settle from a list.

Save it while it exists

The things to capture before they are moved, cleaned, edited or deleted.

  1. 07

    Every room from the doorway, at check-in

    Before bags come in, before anything is moved. This is the frame you want to repeat at check-out.

  2. 08

    The same rooms at check-out, from the same spots

    Same doorway, same angle. Comparable photographs settle things that two descriptions never will.

  3. 09

    Appliances and electronics, working

    The TV on, the coffee machine running, the heating showing a temperature. "It didn't work" is hard to show after the fact.

  4. 10

    Any existing damage, close up

    Photographed on arrival, so its date is on the arrival side of the stay rather than the departure side.

  5. 11

    Every message, in the platform, in full

    Screenshot the whole thread rather than the one line. Threads are archived, hidden or lost when a booking closes.

Related

Prefer to do it on your phone? The same list, as an app.

Open Vacation Rental→

It saves to that device only, with no account and nothing sent anywhere. A new phone, a cleared browser or a lost handset loses everything in it. Export what matters and keep a copy somewhere else.

Reviewed September 12, 2026 · no statute cited · education on documenting, not legal advice