Hello everyone

My family is coming to visit me for a week and I thought it would be a great idea to rent a apartment in the New York City area or Brooklyn or Queens through VRBO.com for that week.

What advice could you give me in order for me to protect myself.

I do not want the owner suing me for a stained rug or a broken window or other damage after my stay, which we did not cause.

Please give me all the legal advice I should know about before I sign or pay anything to anyone.

Thank you.

Quite frankly I don't see why you would want to rent an apartment which would absolutely mean mega bucks even if you do have that kind of money to spend. Depending on the time of year, why don't you rent something outside of NYC such as a cabin (dont know how many people are in your family) which would be far more casual, relaxing and cheaper and enable you to travel in for events already planned in advance. Go on line and find something like this. There is a lot out there right now to rent in the boonies. Of course, a cabin has a more liberal liability clause then an apartment would have. The apartments are furnished and usually owners don't want it damaged in any way, or you replace.

But the same rules as in any rental, take complete photos before and after, require the landlord to do a walk though before and after and have the complete rental in writing