Good Contrivance Farm Rental Agreement

Your Name: if you accept the rental terms (see below), this entry serves as your signature

Name/s of Additional Guest/s
Only the persons listed as Guests may live in the apartment during the rental period.

Your Phone Number

Your Email

Who to contact in an emergency: name and number?

TERMS of RENTING the Writer's Retreat:

General: The rules for renting the apartment, as outlined on our website and on our rental listings, are incorporated as part of this lease.

Payment: Please be aware that we cannot guarantee your reservation until we receive payment, as follows.

For rentals up to 6 nights in length, payment in full for rent and $150. security deposit is due within 48 hours of agreeing to rent.

For rentals of 7 nights or more, ½ the cost of rent and security deposit ($150.) is due within 48 hours of agreeing to rent, and the other ½ is due no less than 30 days prior to arrival. If fewer than thirty days remain before the reserved time, then payment should be tendered in full.

Upon receipt of payment (or of the first ½ in the case of longer rentals), the dates you have chosen for rental will be reserved for you. No allowances will be given if all or part of the desired stay dates are no longer available. We accept credit cards and Paypal. Guests wishing to pay by check or money order must let the owners know this at time of initial communications.

Check In & Check Out: Check-in is between 12:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m; check-out is by 11:00 a.m.

Maximum Occupancy: A maximum of 4 persons may sleep on the premises. As only 2 beds are provided, guests who need/require additional beds may bring sleeping bags and/or air mattresses to supplement.

Usage and Visitors: Guests may use the premises only as lodging; they are not to have parties, gatherings or events on the property. Nor may guests invite visitors to the property.

Children: Children under 12 are not permitted, due to safety hazards inside and outside the apartment.

Smoking. No smoking is allowed inside the apartment, inside the barn or inside any building on the property. Smoking is allowed 10 feet or more from the door of barn. Smoking materials must be extinguished in a safe manner.

Parking: Parking is allowed only in designated areas, including in the parking area between the house and the barn, and on the ramp to the barn. Vehicles must not block the farm lane that runs to the back of the property.

Access: The guests are invited to walk the property, excepting the areas close to the house (where the owners reside). Guests are not to enter any buildings other than the barn, except by permission. Access is not allowed onto the surrounding farmland (outside the fence) as it is a separately-owned property. Access is also not allowed into the fenced-in area where the bees are kept.

Vegetable Garden, Fruit Trees, Nut Trees, Eggs, and Flowers: Guests may not pick or gather fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs, or flowers without permission. Guests staying 1 week or longer may be offered items in season if the owners have a surplus.

Farm Animals: The owners’ dogs and barn cats may be petted outside, but must not be let into the apartment. Please respect the barn cats’ space—some of them are friendly, but others are skittish. Please, keep a respectful distance from the bees and (once we have them) the chickens.

Pets: No pets are allowed. If you have a service animal, please contact us for terms.

Noise: This is a quiet farm and must be respected as such.Please confine loud talking, music, video games and TV to inside the apartment. The owners will respect your need for quiet and peace as well; however, as this is a working farm, you may hear farm machinery and power tools as well as animals.

Bathtub and Bathroom: Currently there is an antique clawfoot tub in the bathroom. Your signing of this agreement means you understand this and are able to use the tub safely. All the shower curtain liners must be inside the tub and closed when showering. As the bathroom floor is made of unsealed barnwood, all splashed water must be cleaned up as soon as you exit the shower.

Right of Entry: The owners have right of entry at any time to inspect the apartment property due to emergency, suspected emergency, needed repairs, utility outages, and/or suspected violation of the lease by the guest.

Security Deposit & Condition of the Premises: There is a $150 security deposit for rentals of two nights or more. Refund of the deposit will be made upon inspection of the premises for damage, extra cleaning, and/or improper TV use. Guests are expected to leave the premises in the condition in a clean and sanitary condition, in as good condition as when the lease initially was entered into (normal wear and tear excluded). Guests are to remove ALL personal property, including food and beverages. Dishes are to be done, and trash is to be placed in the trash bins.

Damage includes but is not limited to: broken glass; broken furniture; torn rugs or upholstery; broken appliances; lost or broken keys; irreparable stains on rugs or upholstery, walls, woodwork, or furniture; stolen or missing items; leaking, staining or warping of the bathroom floor due to water.

The guests shall take good care of the premises and its appliances and furnishings, and shall maintain them in good order and condition, ordinary wear and tear excepted. The cost of such repairs shall be deducted from the damage/security deposit. If the cost of repairs exceeds the Deposit, the guests shall be responsible for immediate payment for all damage. The owners have the right to make repairs during the guests’ stay to any and all damage to the premises resulting from the misuse or negligence of guests.

Repairs: If repairs need to occur during the tenancy of the guests, whether due to the misuse or negligence of the guests, or due to emergency or other reason, there shall be no allowance to guests and no liability on the party of owner for inconvenience or annoyance arising from the making of repairs, alterations, additions or improvements to the premises or any portion of the building in which the premises are located.

Smart TV, Wifi, and DVD Player Use: Guests are permitted to use Wifi within the legal limits of the law. Guests are not permitted to use the Wifi or TV to view or download illegal materials. The TV is a Smart TV, and guests are allowed to use our Netflix account for viewing of regular programming. Guests may use their own Amazon Prime, Hulu, or other accounts on the Smart TV. Any guests who wish to watch shows that incur an additional fee (i.e. pay-per-view) must pay that fee on their own. Any such charges on our account incurred by the guests will be charged against the security deposit. A DVD player and selection of DVDs are also provided for viewing.

Short Term Rental Cancellation Policy (1-27 Nights): Guests must cancel 5 or more full days prior to the first day of the lease to receive 100% refund. Cancellations made less than 5 days in advance the first night is non-refundable, but 50% of rental fees for the subsequent nights will be refunded. Guests who arrive but decide to shorten their stay will not receive a refund for the next night, but will receive a refund of 50% of the rental fees for the subsequent nights.

Long Term Rental Cancellation Policy (28 Nights+): If the guests cancel before the start date, the first month’s rent is paid to the owners in full, and the remainder of the rent is refunded. If the guests decide to shorten the stay, the guests are required to pay the rent for the 30 days after the cancellation date, or for the remainder of the stay if less than 30 days remain.

Traffic, Weather, and Inconveniences: No adjustment in rental rates or any other compensation or allowance will be made for bad traffic, bad weather, need for snow plowing, etc. It is the guests’ responsibility to be aware of such circumstances and to make plans accordingly.

Fire and Condemnation: In the event the leased premises are totally destroyed by fire, rain, wind or other cause beyond the control of the owners, or are condemned and ordered torn down by the properly constituted authorities of the State, County, City, or other authority, then in either of these events the lease shall cease and terminate as of the date of such destruction or condemnation. Guests shall then be responsible for rents up to the time of such damage, taking or destruction of said premises, and the owners refunding the rents collected beyond said date.

Utilities: As this is a farm, this property is subject to more exigencies that cause failures of utilities, including heat, A/C, water, electricity, gas and Wifi. In the event that one or more of these utilities malfunctions or ceases to work, the guests must contact the owners immediately. The owners are required to make repairs in a timely fashion. The owners shall in no event be liable for damages to the guests’ property, or for the guests’ inconvenience incurred because of stoppage of heat, A/C, electricity, gas, Wifi, or water due to conditions beyond the owners' control.

Personal Property: All personal property placed in the leased premises, or in any other portion of the barn or elsewhere on the property, is placed there at the risk of the guests, and the owners shall in no event be liable for the loss of or damages to such property. Any personal property left behind without contact of the owners regarding such property within 48 hours becomes the property of the owners. If the guests contact the owners within the 48 hours about such left-behind property, arrangements will be made to hold the item(s) up to 1 month and/or for mailing it to the guests. All mailing costs are the responsibility of the guests.

Attorneys’ Fees: The guests will pay a reasonable attorney’s fee in the event the owners employ an attorney to collect any rents, damage, or other charges due hereunder by the guests, or to protect the interest of the owners in the event the guests are adjudged bankrupt, or legal process is levied upon the personal property of the guests upon the premises, or upon the interest of the guests in this lease or in said premises, or in the event the guests violate any of the terms, conditions, or covenants herein contained.

Personal Injury: As this is a farm, the guests understand that care must be taken while walking anywhere on the property, as there are holes, rocks, uneven floors and pavements, thorns, downed branches and trees, poison ivy & other irritating plants (such as stinging nettles), and wild animals, including snakes, insects, and various birds and mammals. Sensible shoes are a must at all times while outside the apartment, thus high heels and bare feet are prohibited while outside the apartment.

The guests agree to hold the owners free and harmless from any and all liability for claims for damages, or other claims for personal injury, or death, sustained by guests, or sustained by any other person, while on the leased premises or adjacent thereto during the terms of this lease as the result of negligence, or other conduct, on the part of the guests or the owners.

Lease & Right of Modification: The rules and regulations printed on this lease are specifically assented to and accepted as a part of this contract of lease. The owners shall have the right to change or modify such rules and regulations whenever in the opinion of the owners it is necessary or advisable to do so. The guests, when given written notice from the owners of such change or modification, shall comply.

I have read and I do accept the terms of this lease at Good Contrivance Farm

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