I’ve done over one hundred sits, and only on one (several years ago) have been asked to sign a ‘contract’ - a kind of disclaimer document (a few pages long!) in which I agreed to take responsibility for any damages/issues etc.
Thankfully this hasn’t happened since.
Have you guys every experienced this? What do you think about it?
I think my sits are on the THS terms that I have agreed to. A contract like you mention would be a no sit for me.
If at all considering it surely should be a balanced contract with the responsibilities for the host for damage that the host, the pets and possibly the home or other could inflict on me. I would probably want to flip the coin for every paragraph they wrote. 
Hi @Rhe
I’ve never experienced this on THS, but several years ago I backed out of a work exchange (unpaid work in exchange for board and lodgings) where the home owners wanted me to sign a similar sounding document. It also held me accountable for any vet bills that might arise as a result of injury to their animals whilst in my care, ie. potentially thousands, whilst showing no concern for my own welfare other than wanting proof that I had adequate travel insurance to cover being repatriated if needs be.
To be honest, I’m not sure how easy it would be for anyone to enforce a contract like the one you mention without dragging the whole thing through court, but why leave yourself open to the stress of potentially dealing with that sort of scenario? And who decides whether the eg. dishwasher was damaged before the sitter arrived or not? You then start going down a route that involves having a third party create an inventory stating the condition of the home before/after the sit.
Yes, inviting a stranger into their home involves a massive leap of faith for a home owner, but if they want to be able to hold someone accountable if things go wrong, then they should probably be using a house-sitting service that employs people, pays them for their services, and has adequate insurance in place to cover all eventualities.
Not signing a contract of any kind. The only thing we signed once was an agreement that we had borrowed the HOs car and had their permission to drive it. #notonyournelly
That would make it an easy “no” for me on any sit that asked for that.
Sometimes on AirBnB I’ll see similar with the host stating you’ll have to sign an additional contract about damages and rules. I pass any of those rentals right on by.
No, and o wouldn’t accept a sit on these terms.
20 years ago we did a house exchange with a family in Quebec. At one point when we were exchanging emails, the father said a friend told him that we should sign contracts. I said I thought that if we couldn’t trust each other it was pointless to exchange homes (and cars!) He was relieved because he felt the same way but this friend had instilled doubts. So no contracts and everything went smoothly.
We did a sit last year for a solicitor where he had drawn up a contract, we signed it because we knew we wouldn’t do anything on it, steal, have parties etc etc. He was obviously a risk averse person and it made him feel better lol.