Open the Checkout chore checker →
Mostly no. For Airbnb reservations booked on or after Nov 20, 2026, home hosts generally may not ask guests to sign a separate rental agreement or hand over personal data like ID copies, email, or phone, except in a few listed cases. You can still check ID in person at check-in if your listing discloses it, but you can't keep a copy.
Reservations booked before Nov 20 stay under Airbnb's previous policy, even if the stay is later.
Rental agreements
A separate contract or rental agreement is allowed only if it is:
- Required by law or community association rules, such as HOA or building security rules.
- Needed for an optional amenity, like a golf cart rental.
- For a monthly stay of 28 nights or more.
- For a Luxe listing.
An allowed contract must follow Airbnb's policies and relate to the stay or the optional amenity. You must disclose its terms in the designated section of your listing, and Airbnb may ask for proof that it fits an exception. Contracts are publicly visible, so keep personal information out of them. Airbnb doesn't require guests to sign host contracts and doesn't help enforce them.
Personal data
With limited exceptions, you may not ask for personal data at any point during booking or the stay. Airbnb's list includes:
- Phone number, home address, or email
- Passport, driver's license, social security number, or photo
- Credit card or bank details, except as Airbnb's pricing policy allows
- Background checks or credit history
- Biometric or health data
ID at check-in. You may look at a guest's ID in person at check-in if you disclose that in the requests section of your listing. You may not keep a digital or physical copy unless an exception applies.
Exceptions. Data or registration is allowed when needed to follow a law or a documented HOA or building security rule, or to sign an allowed contract. You must say what you need and why in the requests section, collect no more than that, and store and dispose of it securely. Airbnb may ask for evidence.
Apps, Wi-Fi, and surveys
- Lock apps. You can't require a third-party app or another site's registration to get in or to use a critical amenity. A keyless entry app that needs an account is allowed, but you must give another way in if the guest asks.
- Optional apps. Apps like Sonos, Nest, or a concierge app are fine if optional.
- Wi-Fi. A Wi-Fi portal that asks for the guest's email or other personal information is not allowed unless the listing is a hotel or resort, or an exception applies.
- Surveys. You can't ask guests to review the stay or fill out a survey on another website unless the listing is a hotel.
- Side sales. You can't pressure guests into unrelated activity like a timeshare pitch. Recommending local businesses is fine if it's optional and you disclose any referral fee or ownership.
Airbnb may respond to violations with education, warnings, suspending or removing listings, or, for repeat offenses, suspending or removing the account.
Worked example
A made-up host of a beach house with a 4-night booking made after Nov 20 sorts each guest ask into keep, cut, or disclose.
- Rental agreement in the pre-arrival message. No law or HOA requires it, the stay is under 28 nights, and it isn't Luxe. Cut.
- Check-in form asking for email and a driver's license photo. Cut. If the HOA has a documented rule requiring ID, disclose it in Requests and collect only what the rule needs.
- Wi-Fi splash page asking for email. Cut. Use a plain password instead.
- Smart lock app that needs an account. Keep, with a keypad code ready if a guest asks for another way in.
- Post-stay email with an off-site survey link. Cut.
- Golf cart waiver. Keep as an optional amenity contract, and disclose its terms in the listing.
Result: two keeps, one disclose if the HOA rule exists, and the rest cut.
Steps
- List every place you ask a guest for something: agreements, forms, ID uploads, Wi-Fi login, lock apps, surveys, and scheduled messages.
- Mark each one keep, cut, or disclose using the exceptions above.
- Put any allowed contract terms and ID or data requirements in your listing's requests section.
- Give a backup entry method for any lock app.
- Switch Wi-Fi to a plain password.
- Run your messages and signs through the Checkout chore checker for the chore side. It does not check contracts or ID asks, so do those by hand.
- Finish before Nov 20.
For house rules, signs, and fines under the same date, see our guide to Airbnb's house rules policy.
Sources
- Airbnb Help: Contracts, personal data, and registration policy (article 4169)
- Airbnb Help: House rules and requests policy (article 4168)
Last checked Nov 2, 2026. This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Check your own platform terms and dashboard.