When a tenancy ends, a bond refund and any claims on the bond can be requested by submitting the appropriate form to the RTA. The Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (the Act) outlines the rules for the refund of and any claims against rental bonds in Queensland. 

It is an offence under Queensland tenancy law to knowingly give false or misleading information to the RTA.

When to request a bond refund

A bond refund request should be completed and sent to the RTA when the tenancy agreement has ended. 

The RTA cannot accept a bond refund request before the expiry date of the appropriate notice – such as a Notice to leave (Form 12), Notice of intention to leave (Form 13) or Abandonment termination notice (Form 15).

Important: Tenants/residents ending their tenancy due to domestic and family violence should request a refund using the Bond refund for persons experiencing domestic and family violence (Form 4a). Find out more on the Domestic violence in a rental property page or contact the RTA for help.

How to request a bond refund

Before lodging a bond refund request, tenants/residents and the property manager/owner for a tenancy should:

• discuss and agree on how the bond will be paid out
• check and update their details with the RTA, including forwarding address, contact details and bank account
• refer to the sections below about bond claims, agreed refunds and disputed refunds to help understand the process and possible outcomes.

Tenants/residents or property managers/owners can submit an online bond refund form via RTA Web Services or the paper-based Refund of rental bond (Form 4). The completed paper-based form can be submitted via: 

• RTA Web Services or
• post: RTA, GPO Box 390, Brisbane Q 4001.

Important: If you are unable to use RTA Web Services or post and need urgent help to submit a bond refund form, please contact the RTA for support.

If you have provided the RTA with an email address, we will send you updates on the progress of your bond refund.

Claim on bond by property manager/owner

If a tenant/resident owes rent or has caused damage to the property, the property manager/owner may make a claim on the bond to cover the costs. The process for refunds and claims will differ depending on whether the tenant/resident and the property manager/owner agree or disagree.

Evidence requirements for bond claims and disputes

Rental bonds lodged on or after 30 September 2024 require supporting evidence to be provided to a tenant/resident when a property manager/owner claims or disputes a bond refund request. This must be done within 14 days of the bond claim or dispute. Not providing supporting evidence to a tenant/resident when a claim or dispute is made against a bond is an offence.

For rental bonds lodged with the RTA before 30 September 2024, a 12 month transitional period from 30 September 2024 to 30 September 2025 applies. Evidence does not need to be provided for bond claims until after this period expires for bonds lodged with the RTA before 30 September 2024.

Failure to comply with these requirements may result in a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units.

Note: Evidence must be provided to the tenant/resident, not to the RTA. 

Agreed refunds

If a tenant/resident and the property manager/owner agree about how the bond refund should be paid (including any claims):

• one party starts the refund process by completing the online bond refund form via RTA Web Services
• the other parties will receive an email notification and can then agree to a fast-track refund via RTA Web Services.

Alternatively, everyone listed on the bond must sign the paper Refund of rental bond (Form 4) and submit it to the RTA, ensuring bank details are provided for all parties.

The RTA is committed to processing your agreed bond refund request on the same day it is received. However, please allow up to 3 business days for the funds to reach your bank account.

Disputed refunds

A disputed refund is when:

• not everyone signs the same bond refund form, and/or
• there is no agreement about how the bond should be paid (including any claims).

When this occurs the RTA:

• releases any undisputed amounts
• holds any disputed amount/s, and
• sends a Notice of claim to the people whose signature/agreement is missing from the request. They will have 14 days to disagree with the request or submit a Dispute resolutions request (Form 16) to the RTA.

If they do not respond within 14 days, the bond is paid in full as directed by the first bond request. If they do respond and dispute the claim, the bond refund request will go through the RTA’s dispute resolution process.

For further details about the bond dispute process, refer to the information on the Online Bond refund page.

Bond loans

The RTA is required to refund bonds directly to the Department of Housing and Public Works for any outstanding bond loan amount owed, with any remaining amount refunded to the contributor.

In cases where a tenant has a commercial bond loan, the bond will be refunded to the tenant. Any outstanding debt owed by a tenant to a commercial bond provider is a matter for the parties.

If you have a bond loan, please visit our bond loans webpage for more information.