Multi-Year Christmas Light Lease Agreement Template (2026)

The only multi-year holiday lighting lease template we could find for sale is a four-page Word document on Etsy for CA$7.21, with a table you lengthen or shorten by adding rows. Everything else in the Etsy results is a single-season contract, and LightQuoter's free template treats renewal as an optional paragraph. A lease is a different document: you own the lights for three or five seasons, you promise service, takedown and storage every year, and the price schedule, early exit and end-of-term ownership must be written down before anyone signs. Below is the full agreement we use, with three price schedules and every clause explained.

Plain notice before you copy anything. This is sample wording from a working installer, not legal advice. The company that puts its name on the agreement is the only party to it; GlowBid is not a party and does not give legal advice. Have the wording reviewed for your province or state before you use it, particularly auto-renewal, early-termination fees and liability caps.

The clauses at a glance

The three price schedules

Season 1 is the full quote, including any rush, minimum-job top-up and one-time hardware like a timer. Later seasons repeat only what recurs (runs, premiums, add-ons marked "every season"), then the schedule applies.

Both models exist in the market. Five Star Holiday Decor runs a three-year rent-to-own where year 2 is 80 percent of year 1, year 3 is 70 percent, and the lights become the homeowner's after season three. Midas Holiday Lighting sells a flat all-in seasonal fee with install, maintenance, takedown and storage included. You pick the schedule in clause 2.

The template

Copy the block below, replace the bracketed parts, and delete the options you do not choose in clauses 2, 4 and 12.

1. Parties, property, term and ownership

This is a [3]-season lease between [Company legal name], [address], [phone], [email] ("we", "us") and [Homeowner name(s)] ("you") for the property at [service address]. The term runs from the first installation in [month, year] to the takedown after season [3] in [month, year]. The lights, controller, clips, cords and hardware remain our property for the full term.

Why it exists. Ownership is the spine of a lease. Because the product is yours, you can take it down, store it, repair it and put it back, and if the homeowner leaves early you are collecting a fee, not arguing about who owns a controller.

2. Scope and price schedule

We will supply, install and take down the following each season, as shown on the attached drawing and mockup: [roofline x ft, peaks x ft, ridge line x ft, jumps n, ground and trees x ft, product, colour, spacing]. Prices are before tax.

Why it exists. Writing every season's price in a table is what separates a lease from a quote with a renewal paragraph. It also answers the season 2 question, "why is it cheaper than last year?": season 1 carried the timer and the rush premium, and those happen once. GlowBid computes this table from the signed quote and the schedule you choose.

3. Payment

The deposit shown on this agreement ($[amount], [30]% of season 1) is due to book, and the balance of season 1 is due on the day of the first installation. Each later season is invoiced [14] days before that season's installation and is due before the crew arrives.

Why it exists. Multi-year money arrives one season at a time, and the failure mode is forgetting to invoice season 2 until the truck is in the driveway. A fixed lead time, invoiced from the season's install job, fixes that.

4. What is included (choose each)

Product. [Included: we supply all lights, clips, cords and controller for the term. / Not included: the lease covers service on lights you own; see clause 4 of our seasonal service agreement.]

Maintenance. [Included: we repair or replace failed strands, bulbs and controllers at no charge for the term. / Not included: service visits are billed at $[amount] per visit plus parts.]

Takedown. [Included each season, in the takedown window in clause 8. / Not included: takedown is a separate visit at $[amount] per season.]

Storage. [Included: we store the lights between seasons. / Not included: lights are returned to you at takedown and you store them.]

Why it exists. These four switches are what the homeowner is paying for beyond the product, and each is a promise you keep for three to five years. In GlowBid each switch adds or drops the matching clause below, so a lease without storage never carries a storage cap it does not need.

5. Service response

Maintenance is included for the term: we repair or replace failed strands, bulbs and controllers at no charge. We respond within [48] hours of your report, and within [24] hours in December.

Why it exists. A dark run on December 20 is the whole reason people lease instead of buying a box of lights. Put a number on it. Forty-eight hours in November is routine; 24 hours in December is a real promise, so size your crew for it.

6. Storage liability

Off-season storage of the lights is included. Our liability for lights in storage is limited to replacement with equivalent product or $[500], whichever is less.

Why it exists. Storage is a promise to keep somebody's display safe for nine months. A cap in dollars, or replacement with equivalent product, whichever is less, keeps a burst pipe in your unit from becoming a claim at retail. "Equivalent product" covers what the homeowner actually expects: the house looks the same next year.

7. Roof and siding

We install with clips and fasteners suited to your roof and siding and take reasonable care. Our liability for damage arising from installation or takedown is limited to $[500] per incident. Pre-existing conditions and normal wear are excluded.

Why it exists. Same clause as the installation contract, but a lease means six or ten roof visits instead of two, which is why the cap is per incident. Have it reviewed locally and carry liability insurance regardless. Strandr's guide suggests naming your coverage in the agreement.

8. Weather and takedown window

Installation and takedown dates may move because of snow, ice, high wind, extreme cold or similar events. We reschedule at the earliest safe date and neither party owes a penalty for that delay. Takedown each season takes place in the takedown window, [January 2 to February 28], weather permitting.

Why it exists. Over a five-season lease you will hit at least one January where nobody should be on a roof for three weeks. The window, plus "weather permitting", covers it without a renegotiation. Say "earliest safe date" rather than a number of days you cannot keep in freezing rain.

9. Cancellation before the first installation

Written notice, and the deposit is refunded less the cost of any materials already ordered for your home.

Why it exists. Before the first install, the only sunk cost is product cut for their footage. Refunding the rest is fair. Check whether your province or state requires a cooling-off period with a full refund; many do, and it goes here.

10. Early termination after the first installation

Early termination after the first installation: a fee of [50]% of one season's price if more than half the term remains, otherwise [25]%. Seasons already installed are not refundable. On termination we take down and collect the lights in the next takedown window.

Why it exists. People move. A tiered fee is easier to defend than a flat one: leaving after season 1 of 5 costs more than leaving after season 4, because you priced the product over five seasons. Under a declining schedule, offering the clause 12 buyout instead of the fee is often what the homeowner wants anyway.

11. Renewal

Unless either party gives written notice at least [60] days before the end of the term, this lease renews one season at a time at the last season's price plus [3]% [or: plus the escalator percent in clause 2].

Why it exists. Renewal is where the lifetime value of the customer lives, and where consumer-protection rules are strictest. Sixty days' notice means the conversation happens in September, not November. One season at a time, not a new full term, is the version homeowners accept. Some jurisdictions require a reminder before an automatic renewal or limit it entirely; have this clause reviewed first.

12. End of term (choose one)

Return. At the end of the term the lights are taken down and returned to us.

Buyout. At the end of the term you may buy the lights for $[amount] [or: at the buyout price quoted at that time], or return them.

Keep. At the end of the term the lights become your property at no extra charge.

Why it exists. Disposition is what makes rent-to-own real. Declining schedules end in "keep"; flat schedules end in "return" so good product goes to the next house. "Buyout" sits between; write the number if you know it, because "quoted at that time" becomes a negotiation in year three.

13. Electronic signature and notice

By signing electronically you agree that your electronic signature is as binding as a handwritten one. Signed: [homeowner], [date and time]. For [Company]: [name], [date].

Sample terms notice (print under the terms). These terms are set by the company named on this document, which is the only party to the agreement with the homeowner. GlowBid provides sample wording as a convenience, is not a party to this agreement, and does not give legal advice. Companies should have their own terms reviewed for their province or state.

A worked example, three schedules

The two-storey from the installation contract example: 130 ft of roofline, 72 ft of peaks, three jumps, C9 LED, GlowBid's starter rate card. Season 1 is $1,910.20 before tax, of which $45.00 is a one-time timer, so $1,865.20 recurs.

Under the declining schedule with "keep", the homeowner has paid $5,099.69 over three seasons and owns the display. Under flat with "return", you have $5,640.60 and the product back for a fourth house. Which is right depends on your product cost and the value of reuse, a rate card decision rather than a contract one.

How GlowBid runs the lease after signing

The document is the easy part. The hard part is remembering, in season 3, that this house needs an install, a takedown and an invoice 14 days before the truck. When a lease is signed in GlowBid:

1. The signed agreement, the quote it was signed against and the per-season schedule are stored together.
2. One install job and one takedown job are created for every season of the term, each tagged with its season number. A 3-season lease creates six jobs on the day of signing.
3. Each season's jobs sit in the pipeline's Takedown and Re-book stages until they are scheduled, so the season 2 install is visible the following August without anyone re-entering it.
4. The later-season invoice is issued from that season's install job, at the schedule price, with tax at the rate card's rate.
5. The clauses above are the default library; any of them can be replaced with your own wording on the rate card page.

Mistakes to avoid

• Writing "lease" on a document that says the lights are the homeowner's. If they own it, it is a service agreement.
• Declining schedules with no disposition clause. The homeowner has paid down the product and expects to keep it; say so.
• A flat renewal price with no escalator on a five-season term. Your costs will not be flat.
• Promising 24-hour service and running one crew across two cities in December.
• Storing lights in unlabelled bins. The storage cap only matters when you cannot find the display.
• Auto-renewal with no notice period, or for a full new term instead of one season. This is the clause most likely to fail against a consumer.