Host – Belinda Heit – Communication and Education

Guest – Cassie Chow – Education

Host: Welcome to the Talking Tenancies Podcast, brought to you by the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA). 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. For a property manager or owner, taking steps to make sure a bond refund process goes smoothly can help to save time and stress. It can also help to reduce the likelihood of a dispute.  

Joining me today to share tips for a smooth bond refund process is Cassie Chow. Welcome, Cassie.

Guest: Thanks, Belinda. It's great to be back here with you again.

Host: Yes, we always love having you here with us. Now, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your role at the RTA?

Guest: Yes, of course. So currently I'm a senior community education officer, and that means that my responsibility in my team is to organise and deliver events that help to educate the community about their renting rights and responsibilities. And I also have a bit of experience in our quality and training team, helping to train and coach new staff, as well as in our contact centre, which is actually where I started.

Host: And you have such a wealth of knowledge, so we're so glad you're with us today. Now, you're sharing with our listeners some tips for property managers and owners to help with making a bond refund process smoother and quicker.

Guest: Yes, I am. And with 70% of the disputes received by the RTA during the 2024 to 25 financial year being related to bond refunds, I do think it's a timely and useful topic for discussion.

Host: Yeah, it certainly is. So what do you have for us?

Guest: We know a tenant must return the property in the same condition as it was at the start, less fair wear and tear.

So my first tip is to have a discussion with the tenant about your vacate process early and then how the bond is to be distributed before you submit a refund request to the RTA. If you have these discussions up front, it can save time later and help the rest of the process to go smoothly.  

Now, to facilitate this discussion, make sure you have information and documentation on hand to share with the tenant. And this might be about things like rent, utilities, or other costs payable by the tenant that are still owing at the end of the tenancy, and whether the tenant would like these costs to be taken from the bond, or whether they'll be paying them directly to you.

Also have a discussion about the condition of the property at the end of the tenancy, and whether there's damage caused by the tenant or items that aren't as clean as they were at the start of the tenancy, which you, as the property manager or owner, would now need to address.

Now, these, of course, should be based on the entry and exit condition reports. And remember, photos also help to support as a visual of any damage or cleaning in the reports.

Host: Oh, photos are so valuable. And those are really good points to start with. And I like that you highlighted to have information and documentation on hand.

Guest: Yeah, the documentation and supporting evidence is important if you're going to claim anything from the bond. And that's not only because property managers and owners are required to provide evidence to the tenant within 14 days after claiming or disputing a bond, but because it does help the tenant to understand the issue or concern, which can assist with a more meaningful discussion.

Host: Yeah, of course. And for you to provide evidence to the tenant within those 14 days for any bond claims or disputes, made by a managing party is an offence under the Residential Tenancies and Room Accommodation Act 2008, isn't it?

Guest: Yeah, that's correct. And on a side note, we do have a podcast about the rules around provision of evidence for bond claims on the RTA website. I think we had that discussion a few months ago. If any of our listeners would like further detail or guidance in relation to particular scenarios. We also have some web pages with information about it.

Host: Yeah, this is all good info for people now. What is your next tip?

Guest: Well, next would be to make sure your tenant is aware that they may receive notices from the RTA once the bond refund process has started. And these may require a response or action by the tenant.  

As these notices contain important information, and some of them have strict timeframes for response, they should make sure they open them in a timely manner and read them carefully. And of course, it's important that you as the managing party are aware of and do all of this too. Failing to respond to certain notices may result in the bond being released by the RTA according to the original refund request. And that may not be a good situation to be in if the tenant started the refund process and you weren't in agreement with the allocation.  

Now on the other hand, if you and your tenant do agree with the bond allocation on the original request, then a fast response to the notices will mean that the bond refund can progress to the next stage more quickly. And that helps with getting money paid out more quickly to you.

Host: And getting money back quickly is always a positive thing.

Guest: It is. I want to add too that given the RTA may be sending a few notices, it's important for you and your tenant to check the RTA does have up-to-date contact details, and if not, then to update them by using the RTA's update your details web service or sending in a paper form.  

Also, the RTA only refunds via bank transfer, so make sure the RTA has your bank account details. That way, when the bond refund process is finalised, we can pay out the money more quickly. We will contact you to ask you for your details though, if we don't have them for that particular bond refund. However, if you're proactive about it, then that will save some time.

Host: Yeah, now that all makes sense. So after that, what are some useful actions for a property manager or owner to take?

Guest: Well, Belinda, my final tip for today is to communicate respectfully, clearly, and in a timely manner with the tenant if any disagreement or dispute arises. We do talk about this a lot as it's important in any situation or dispute, whether it's in relation to a bond or any other tenancy matter.

Good communication helps with resolving disagreements more effectively and quickly. Now when discussing the issue, be ready with your supporting documentation and information to help with getting everybody on the same page and with a shared understanding of what's going on and what you're trying to say.

I'd recommend keeping the discussion focused on the facts and core issues and avoiding topics that aren't relevant. And also remember that the RTA is always here to help you, whether you need some clarification about the legislation from our contact centre or some help with discussions and negotiations from our dispute resolution team.

That said, it's important to remember that you can still continue discussing the matter and attempting to self-resolve a dispute with your tenant after a dispute resolution request has already been submitted to the RTA. And that's because you may be able to resolve it before one of our dispute resolution team members picks up the dispute for conciliation.

Just remember to let the RTA know if you do manage to reach a resolution so we can guide you through the required paperwork.

Host: Yeah, those are really good tips. And we have a webpage about self-resolution on the RTA website too.

Guest: We do. Our website has lots of information about the bond refund process, and that includes some fact sheets as well, forms, webinars, and other podcasts about a range of topics.

Host: Yeah, it's a really great source of information to help people with their tenancies. Cass, it's been really great chatting with you as always, and thank you so much for sharing your tips for managing parties to help everybody get through the bond refund process more smoothly.

Guest: Absolute pleasure, Belinda.