Tips for a smooth bond refund for tenants

Welcome to the Talking Tenencies podcast brought to you by the Residential Tenencies Authority. I'm your host, Belinda Height. Join me as we explore everything you need to know about renting in Queensland with experts from the RTA and industry. We're here to help make renting work for everyone. Your teny has ended. You've vacated the property and now it's time to request your bond refund. How quickly you get through the bond refund process though can depend on various factors. Joining me today to share some tips to help the process go more smoothly is Mark Fidler. Welcome Mark. >> Hello Belinda. How you going? >> Good, good, good. Now, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role at the RTA? >> Yeah, thanks very much. Uh, so I've been with the residential tenencies authority for about 20 years now. Uh, majority of that time has been spent in our contact center and support team, but for the last four or five years, I've been a part of our education team and, uh, doing things such as these podcasts, uh, webinars, and also education around the state. >> Yes. If there's a question, you'll know the answer to it after these 20 years with us. So, thank you for joining us today. Now, uh we're talking about bond refunds, and I understand you're going to share some tips for tenants to help the refund process go more smoothly and efficiently. >> Yeah, that's right, Blinda. And I think it's a useful topic because let's face it, most people would like to get their bond money back and get it back as quickly as they can. >> They certainly would. So, what's your first tip here? So the first thing the legislation says is that the tenant must return the rental property in the same condition it was at the start less fair wear and tear. So when it comes to the end of the teny it's worth allowing some additional time uh at the end to uh do your cleaning and do a thorough check over of the place before you are ready to hand the keys in. So before you even start the bond refund process, I'd encourage tenants to discuss the vacate inspection and the bond refund with their property manager uh or owner and if possible try to come to an agreement how uh the bond is going to be distributed. So when it comes to that conversation, share information and documentation and try to come to an understanding about things like is there any money owing for rent or other bills like water? uh will these come out of the bond uh or will the tenant pay them directly to the owner or manager? Uh what's the condition of the property when they vacate? So is there damage caused by the tenant which needs to be repaired or items that haven't been cleaned properly. So have the conversation if these aren't rectified by the tenant uh the owner or manager may need to organize repairs and cleaning and then recover costs from the bond. So the other thing uh are there any other costs still owing uh that are payable by the tenant and whether these are going to come from the bond or the tenants's going to pay them directly. So if you can get that shared understanding from the outset then once the bond refund process starts it's more likely to be smoother and quicker. >> Talking to each other does so much and that's a great first tip. So what's next? So my next tip probably flows on from the first uh and that's to make sure that everyone who's on the bond is aware that they might be receiving important notices from us the RTA after the bond refund request is submitted. So it's really important to make sure that their contact details are up to date with the RTA. So when we talk about contact details that might be your forwarding address uh an email address or your contact numbers. So, if they're not up to date, then we really encourage people to update them by using our update your details web service or by sending in a paper update your details form. And that form is available to download from our website. Now, we have a couple of options for sending refund notices. So, we can either email them or we can post them. If a tenant hasn't previously told us that their preference is for notices by email or don't tell us before the refund process starts, then we'll automatically send notices by post. Now, that's obviously going to take longer to get to them. Um, >> so the other thing here is if they do opt into email notices, it's really important that they provide us with an accurate and current email address and one that they check regularly. So, if you've previously given it to us, maybe when you uh lodged your bond initially, um but have since got a new email address and aren't sure which one we've got, then we really encourage people to contact us and make sure that we've got the right details. >> Yeah, that's uh really important, isn't it? So, to make sure the RTA can contact you so that you don't miss anything and we can keep you up to date with what's happening. >> Yeah, exactly right. So, no one wants to miss a notice uh about the refund and more importantly, they don't want to miss the opportunity to let us know whether they agree or disagree with the way that the bond, you know, the claim that's being put in and how the bond's going to be distributed. >> Agreed. So, uh is there any other information that a tenant should make sure that they update with the RTA to help the bond refund process go more smoothly? >> Yeah, there is. Um so the tenant should along with those contact details also make make sure that we've got correct and accurate bank details. So if there is any money uh refunded to them we can do it straight away without having to contact them and ask for those details. So that just slows things down. >> So for any international students out there um it's important to be aware that we can only refund by direct transfer into an Australian bank account. So, please make sure that you keep your Australian account open until your bond refund is finalized and you've received any money that's going to be uh refunded to you. Now, I mentioned updating contact details earlier. So, the same web service or update the your details form can also be used to provide your bank account details. And again, that paper form can be emailed or posted to us. And I will add here too, Belinda, that if the tenant wishes to transact with the RTA online, so through the web service, that they will need a Queensland digital identity or a QDI for short, which verifies their identity. So the RTA knows who is signing off on a transaction. It's like a a form of a digital signature. >> Right. So tell us more about QDI for those people who might need to set one up. >> Yeah. So firstly, if you've already got a digital driver's license, then you will automatically have a QDI and you'll be able to transact with the RTA online. If you don't, you may need to register for one uh the first time that you use our web services. Uh or if you haven't used our web services since before uh the 7th of April 2025, um and this is when the RTA transitioned to QDI from our old verification system. So if either of those things need uh fit, then you'll need to create a QDI. So the system will guide you through what you need to do. Uh however, we really encourage you to make sure that you're prepared with suitable identity verification documents, but you can find out further information about what is accepted by visiting uh the Queensland government website. So that's qld.gov.au you and type in QDI into the search bar and it'll take you to where you need to go and let you know what you need to do. >> Yeah, that's really useful, Mark. Now, what's the next tip that you're going to share with us? >> Yeah. So, next on the list, make sure you respond to RTA notices within the allowed time frames. Now, these time frames will be stated on the notice. The time frames are extremely strict and if you don't respond to certain notices before the expiry then the RTA is required by law to release the bond according to the original refund request. So you should also make sure that you read all notices carefully to understand what is stated on them before you respond. So if you get for example a notice of claim then you're being informed that another party has started the bond refund process and the RTA needs to know whether you are going to agree to the claim as it was submitted or disagree with the way that the bond has been distributed or claimed to be distributed between the parties. So under the law you've got 14 days to respond to this notice uh either by indicating agreement or submitting a dispute resolution request if you don't agree. So, if we don't receive a bond dispute by the end of the 14-day time frame, then as I mentioned earlier, we'll release the bond as per the original request. So, the key here in short, never ignore notices that you receive. Read them carefully and in a timely fashion and make sure you take any required action before the due date. So, this includes any notices you received after a bond consiliation process if the bond is disputed. And what I also want to highlight here, Belinda, is that if you do agree with the bond allocation, then a fast response to the RTA to let us know that you agree may mean that we can progress the bond refund to the next stage quicker. >> Yeah, it's a lot quicker than it used to be, isn't it? If you agree uh online, these are all really important reminders uh for people. Don't ignore um what we send you because it usually is pretty important. Now, you mentioned bond disputes, and that leads me to the topic of disagreements and disputes. Do you have any tips for when the bond ends up in a dispute? >> Yeah, I certainly do. Look, first and foremost, communicate in a timely manner with your property manager or owner if there's a disagreement. Now, I know we say this a lot at the RTA, and certainly I've done a few of these webinars, and we talk about it here as well, but communication really is the key to resolving most disputes. Consider whether email, phone or uh SMS or even an inerson meeting is the best medium facil facilitating the discussion and share your documentation to help your property manager or owner understand the issue and support what you're saying. So again, make sure that you're respectful, focus on facts and the issue at hand rather than being a motive or bringing opinions or other issues unrelated to the dispute. The important thing here too is you can continue to have discussions and attempt to self-resolve the matter even if a dispute resolution form has been submitted to the RTA. So if you are able to resolve the issue before one of our dispute resolution team members picks up the phone um to deal with your dispute, then that's going to mean a quicker outcome for yourself and a quicker finalization of the refund. So, if you do self- resolve, remember to let us know so that we can advise what paperwork we'll need and get the fund uh the refund sorted out quickly. >> Self- resolution is always the best, isn't it? Now, you you've made some really great points here, Mark, and I believe we have some information about the bond refund process and tips for self-resolution on the RTA website, too. Yeah, our website has a lot of information relating not only to the bond refund process but other general teny topics and it's a great resource for tenants at any stage of their teny. So you can access short w uh short videos, webinars, uh fact sheets, form guides and of course the podcasts >> of course the podcast and it is a wonderful resource for both tenants and managing parties. It's been a pleasure as always, Mark, chatting to you and thank you for providing us with some great tips to help tenants get through the bond refund process more quickly and smoothly. >> Thanks, Melinda. Always a pleasure to have a chat. >> Thank you for listening to the Talking Tenencies podcast. For more information about the Residential Tenencies Authority, visit rta.qld.gov.au.