Host – Belinda Heit – Communication and Education

Guest – Cassie Chow – Quality and Training

Host: Welcome to the Talking Tenancies Podcast, brought to you by the Residential Tenancies Authority. I'm your host. Belinda Heit. 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. 

Further changes to Queensland's tenancy laws commenced on 30 September 2024. These included changes relating to maximum bond amounts, supporting evidence for claims or disputes on a rental bond by a managing party, rent payment methods, utility bills, relating costs and compliance changes. Today's expert from the RTA to step us through the changes relating to evidence for bond claims and disputes is Cassie Chow. Welcome, Cass.

Guest: Thanks, Belinda. It's great to be here.

Host: Now, can you tell us about your role at the RTA and what you're responsible for?

Guest: Absolutely. My current role at the RTA is team leader of the in-house Quality and Training team. Previously I worked in the Housing Legislation Implementation team as a senior community education officer, ensuring the community receives information and education about rental law changes through avenues such as in person events, webinars and podcasts. My previous roles have also included working in the contact centre to provide information and assistance to our customers.

Host: And that’s why you’re here with us, you're such an all-rounder.

Guest: I do work a little bit in all different teams.

Host: You do! Now, tell us what's new in the legislation relating to bond refunds and disputes.

Guest: Well, from the 30th of September 2024 there's a new requirement for managing parties to provide evidence to a tenant within 14 days of a bond claim or dispute. The purpose is to substantiate the claim or dispute reason and amount and penalties do apply for failure to comply.

Host: Oh, that's interesting. Does this apply to all bonds?

Guest: Well, for bond lodged before the 30th of September 2024, there is a 12 month transition period and this allows people time to adjust to the change and ensure their systems and processes are operating smoothly. However, for bonds that are lodged after the 30th of September 2024, supporting evidence to a tenant will need to be provided when a managing party claims or disputes a bond.

Host: So I'm curious, what's considered adequate or appropriate evidence?

Guest: That's a very relevant question and it is one that I know is of interest to people. The legislation doesn't provide a specific definition of supporting evidence for a bond claim or dispute. However, it does provide examples which include receipts, quotes to repair damage or records of unpaid rent. You might notice that these examples are monetary in nature and help to verify the amount that is being claimed.

Host: I did notice that. So, what actions could a tenant take if they believe the evidence provided by a managing party is inaccurate or not suitable as evidence?

Guest: We would encourage parties to communicate with each other openly and in a timely manner if there is a dispute about the suitability of the evidence provided. Communication is often the key to resolving disputes quickly whilst maintaining a positive relationship with the other party, which I know that we do say a lot. If attempts at self-resolution aren't successful, then the RTA’s dispute resolution service may be of assistance. Our conciliators will help to facilitate the conversation between parties and try to help them come to an agreement about the matter.

However, it's really important to be aware that nobody at the RTA is able to make a determination about whether the evidence is accurate or suitable. If parties can't come to their own agreement with the assistance of our dispute resolution team, then parties can make an application to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which is also known as QCAT, for a determination.

Host: It's good to know that the parties have a few options. Now can you please explain the timelines? Does the 14 days to provide evidence align with the 14 day time frame for the notice of claim, what's the difference?

Guest: That's another great question for our listeners out there who don't know what a notice of claim is. It's a notice that gets sent when a managing party or tenant makes a claim on a bond without the other party's signature or agreement. The RTA sends this notice, called a notice of claim, to the other party to ask them to indicate whether they agree or disagree. They have 14 days in which to respond to the notice. The notice of claim period and the 14 day period for providing evidence to a tenant are two distinct processes and they should be considered or calculated separately. 

So, to illustrate, let's talk through an example timeline for a bond that's lodged after the 30th of September 2024. So, in this case, the tenant submits the bond refund request, it’s processed by the RTA on the 6th of December 2024 and the managing party disputes it on the 10th of December 2024. In this example, a notice of claim period would start on the 6th of December, whereas the period within which the managing party must submit evidence to the tenant would start on the 10th of December.

This is because the notice of claim period is factored around the day the bond refund process starts, regardless of whether it's a tenant or a managing party who submits the request. Whereas the 14 days for providing evidence starts from the day the managing party either claims the bond by submitting a refund request or disputes the bond. Therefore, the time frame to provide evidence may or may not line up with the notice of claim period. And again, I emphasise that they are two different things and should be considered separately.

Host: That makes complete sense now that you've explained that. Thank you for that. Something else that interests me, what can a managing party provide for evidence if they can't get a repair done or a quote for a repair within 14 days.

Guest: That's something we've heard a few times, and we can appreciate that sometimes there might be a shortage of tradespeople, which you know, makes it difficult to get a quote or repair done.

Remembering that the RTA can't provide legal advice and that QCAT adjudicators are the only people who can decide if a particular piece of evidence is suitable or not, there is generally a need for the managing party to do everything that they can to get a quote or a repair completed. For instance, if they have a usual tradie that they use for repairs, but that tradie is too busy, consider using a different repairer, even if it's just to get an accurate quote.

Or perhaps another option might be to share a quote that's been received in the past for work of similar nature. And of course, to communicate with the tenant about it, or even yet another option might be to take a photo of the damage that needs to be repaired and send it to a tradie for a quote if they're not able to attend the property in person to provide it.

Host: Those are some good notes. Now, are there any exceptions for circumstances like these?

Guest: No, there aren't.

Apart from the 12 month transitional provision for bonds lodged with the RTA prior to the 30th of September 2024, there are no exceptions to this requirement to provide evidence. The only other factor that I will note is that if a manager or owner has not been able to contact a tenant within 14 days of the bond claim or dispute to provide the evidence, then the requirement for that evidence to be provided doesn't apply. This means, though, that they should have the evidence first, and have made reasonable efforts to contact the tenant to give the evidence to them, not the other way around.

Host: So again, now I'm interested in the term ‘reasonable efforts’ what does this mean?

Guest: Well, whilst the Act isn't prescriptive about what counts as reasonable efforts, it does discuss that it includes attempting contact via phone call, text message, email or private message on social media. It also mentions attempting to contact an emergency contact listed on the tenancy agreement.

Host: So, what happens if the managing party doesn't manage to provide evidence to the tenant? Or does not provide it within 14 days of making a claim on the bond. Does it mean the tenant will automatically get their bond back?

Guest: No, it doesn't. The bond refund process remains unchanged. For this reason, I'd remind tenants that they don't need to wait for the managing party to provide evidence before disputing a bond claim. There is a short window within which a bond can be disputed, so it's important to submit your dispute before the deadline if you don't agree with the bond refund. What I will remind our listeners about too, is that penalties apply for non-compliance with the requirement to provide evidence for a bond claim or dispute within 14 days. Therefore, if a tenant submits an investigation request to the RTA and the managing party is found to have not complied with this legislative requirement, then there may be consequences for the property manager or owner, such as a fine.

Host: Hmm. Speaking of investigations, what happens if the matter goes to an investigation? Can you tell us more about what can or cannot be investigated in relation to evidence for a bond claim or dispute, and how somebody can request an investigation?

Guest: Yes, for sure. Firstly, the RTA can't investigate whether the evidence supplied to a tenant is suitable, appropriate or accurate. As I've mentioned before, the penalty provision relates to the requirement to provide evidence within the legislative time frame of 14 days. So, what we can investigate is whether the evidence was provided within the 14 day time frame. To request an investigation, a person can complete the online investigation request form. Or otherwise download the PDF investigation request form. There are pages on the RTA website with further information about the investigation process.

Host: Well, I am glad you mentioned the website Cass. It's a great place to find information and other resources, isn't it?

Guest: It certainly is.

Speaker: Yeah.

Guest: I highly recommend visiting it. There's plenty of information about not only the recent rental law changes, but a wide variety of topics related to renting in Queensland. There's also a variety of types of resources from fact sheets and helpful guides to short videos and webinars. In addition to this, there are some frequently asked questions about the recent rental law changes that people might like to read too.

Host: And of course, podcasts like this. There's definitely a lot on our website. Thank you, Cassie, for joining me today to talk about the requirement for evidence for a bond claim or dispute.

Guest: My absolute pleasure, Belinda. It was great to be here.

Host: Thank you for listening to the Talking Tenancies podcast. For more information about the Residential Tenancies Authority, visit rta.qld.gov.au.