Host – Belinda Heit – Digital Communications

Guest – Marc Fidler – RTA Education

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.  

When goods and documents are left behind in a rental property or room, they must be returned and disposed of according to specific rules. Joining me today to help us understand this topic is Marc Fidler from our education team. Welcome, Marc. 

Guest: Morning, Belinda. Thanks very much for having me. 

Host: Now, can you tell us about yourself and your role at the RTA? 

Guest: Yeah, so I've been with the Residential Tenancies Authority for about 20 years now, most of that time in our contact centre or support. The last three years I've been in our education team doing podcasts and providing information for the sector across the state. So, a fair bit of knowledge and experience over the years. 

Host: And congrats on your 20 years, Marc. 

Guest: Thank you very much. 

Host: Now today we're talking about the responsibilities of a managing party when dealing with goods left behind by a tenant or resident. And it's not as simple as just throwing them out, is it? 

Guest: No, it isn't. Look, under Queensland tenancy laws, there's a specific process and a set of rules that need to be followed with some aspects of the process differing depending on what type of agreement or the particular goods or belongings. So there's a few things we need to take into account, their value, the type of tenancy agreement, Whether it's a general tenancy, movable dwelling or a room accommodation agreement. So I'm going to break it down today into a step-by-step process and hopefully make it a little bit easier to understand whether you're a tenant or a managing party. 

Host: Amazing, because this can get complicated. So, what is the first thing a managing party must do? 

Guest: Yeah, so firstly, the managing party must make a reasonable effort to contact the tenant or resident about goods that have been left behind. So under the legislation, reasonable efforts include attempting to contact via phone, including text messages, sending an e-mail, a private message on social media, or using the emergency contact on the tenancy agreement if it's been provided, and/or an online newspaper or advertisement if it gets to the last step of the process, and we'll talk about that a little bit later. One thing with this, since the emergency contact on the tenancy agreement is one of the methods that I just mentioned, it's a good idea to make sure that these details are filled out on the tenancy agreement. That way, if you do end up in a situation where goods or documents have been left behind, you've got an option to make contact with the other party. 

Host: Okay, well, that all makes sense. Now, what's the next step for the managing party to consider? 

Guest: Yeah, so the next step is to deal with any personal documents and money that might have been left behind. So these might be documents like birth certificates, bank statements, or original family photos. Now, if the managing party has been unable to contact the tenant or resident, then they must give these personal documents to the Office of the Public Trustee within seven days of the end of the tenancy. Now, something to note here is that this doesn't include things like passports or cards, so your driver's licence or your Medicare card or bank cards. They actually have to be returned to the issuer. So your driver's licence, for example, would need to go back to the Department of Transport. 

Host: Gotcha. So if the managing party has made all reasonable efforts to contact the former tenant or resident and has had no luck, what should they do next? 

Guest: Yeah, so once you've sorted the documents and money out, then you need to look at what type of tenancy agreement have got, what's the nature of the goods and the total value of the goods that have been left behind. Now in a general tenancy situation, goods that are valued at less than $2,500 may be sold or disposed of straight away. If they're not safe to store, or if they would reduce in value if stored, or if the cost to remove, store and sell the goods would be less than that $2,500. Now, goods valued over that amount must be stored for at least one month. Now, the threshold values and criteria here for the sale or disposal of goods are the same for movable dwelling agreements. However, if it's a caravan and there are contents and other goods used for the occupation, these actually must be stored for two months. And there are some differences in the threshold values if the tenant was renting a site only. Now, that's a lot of information, but I'd encourage people to jump onto our website and look at the specifics around what agreement and what values and how long you need to store them for.  

Now, in a rooming accommodation agreement, it's different again. Goods may be sold or disposed of immediately if their value is less than $250, if they're perishable or unsafe to store. If they're valued at over $250, then they must be stored for 28 days.  

Now one thing I do need to emphasise here, Belinda, is that when we talk about the value of the goods, we're talking about the total value, not the individual value of an item. So for example, if the tenant has left behind a car valued at $4,000 plus a fridge valued at $600, you must store both items. You can't deal with them individually. 

Host: Gotcha. So my understanding so far is one, try contacting the tenant or resident. Two, give personal documents to the public trustee. Three, determine the total value of the goods to work out if you need to store them. I'm keen to know how the value of goods is determined or calculated though. Is that specified in the legislation? 

Guest: Yeah, this is a really good question and no it's not. The Act doesn't discuss it, but when it comes to making that determination, some of your options might be to reference online price listings for similar second-hand items in a similar condition, or to obtain quotes from a second-hand dealer. Now, the one thing that we do recommend through this is keeping records and photos of what goods were left behind, and then keep good records on how you determined the value of those goods. Keeping these records may assist if there's a dispute down the track. 

Host: Yeah, that's a good plan. Now, those are a couple of good options and really helpful information. One other quick question before we continue. Storage. Where must the goods be stored? 

Guest: Yeah, another really good question. Now, the Act states that goods must be stored safely for the prescribed period. It doesn't stipulate where the goods must be stored, just that they must be stored safely. Now it might depend on what's left behind. For example, small valuable items like jewellery, they could be stored in an office safe or a locked cupboard. Whereas a house full of goods might need a commercial storage unit if nowhere else is suitable to store them safely. 

Host: Yeah, so what happens to the goods after they've been stored for the minimum period if they haven't been claimed? 

Guest: So in a general tenancy or removable dwelling, the goods can be sold at an auction. However, again, the managing party must make reasonable efforts to contact the former tenant or resident to give them notice of the auction. And we talked earlier about what the Act says in relation to making reasonable contact. The other option is an application to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal, or what's known as QCAT, for the sale of or disposal of the goods. So you make your application and they will make an order letting you know that you can sell them.  

Now in a rooming accommodation agreement, goods that are unclaimed after the 28 day storage period may be donated to charity if the value of them is less than $900. If their value is more than $900, then they may be sold. So speaking of the sale of goods B (Belinda), the Act also has rules around what can and cannot be done with the proceeds from selling goods. And we really encourage people again to jump onto our website and look at the goods left behind fact sheet for details around those processes. 

Host: Yeah, that seems pretty simple to work through now. Let's talk about goods that are claimed. So can the tenant or resident be denied the goods or asked for payment to get them back? 

Guest: Yeah, so two parts. They can't be denied the goods, but they can be asked to pay for the cost of storage and removal before they're actually returned. So if the tenant does make contact with you and says, I want them back, that's great, and the best result probably for everyone. But you certainly can ask for the storage and removal costs before you need to return them to them. 

Host: Yeah, well, that's logical. I'd like to know though, because we know things don't always go smoothly during or after a tenancy and sometimes people end up in disputes. What should a tenant or resident do if they're not happy with how their goods have been dealt with? 

Guest: Yeah, look, you're absolutely right. If the tenant or resident is unhappy with the way that the goods have been dealt with, and that might be determination of the value of the goods or actually the process itself hasn't been done properly, firstly, we'd encourage them to talk to the managing party and see if they can come to an agreement about the steps that have or haven’t been taken in managing it, and whether or not compensation should be paid in that circumstance. So this is why we recommend to the managing parties to document the process. So,keep a record of the value and how you determined it and what was there, that sort of thing. If the tenant and the managing party aren't able to reach an agreement or a resolution, then you can apply to the RTA for dispute resolution or even make an urgent application to QCAT for consideration of the matter and compensation or other orders as appropriate. 

Host: Yeah, that's really useful information, Marc. Now, is there anything else our listeners should know about how to deal with goods or documents left behind? 

Guest: Yeah, so there is one thing that I'd like to add here. So there was recently an update to the Residential Tenancy and Rooming Accommodation Regulation that started on the 1st of September 2025. Now, it updated some of the threshold values and storage periods that we've spoken about today for goods left behind. And they're what I've talked about in today's podcast. And they apply to agreements entered into on or after the 1st of September 2025. For agreements entered into before the 1st of September 2025, the threshold values and storage periods specified in the previous regulations apply. That's the version of 2009. Now, we do have a podcast and a webinar recording about the 2025 updates to the regulation if people would like to hear more. And there are links to both of those regulations on our website if people are looking for those old values. 

Host: Yeah, that's good to know. Now, finally, you mentioned earlier that information on this topic is available on the RTA website also. 

Guest: Yeah, that's right. So as I just mentioned, there's a webinar recording and a breakdown of the process for general tenancies, movable dwellings and rooming accommodation on the goods and documents left behind webpage. Additionally, our website has plenty of resources and information on a variety of topics covering every stage of the tenancy process, from before you start renting to the end of the tenancy. 

Host: Wonderful. Well, it's been great chatting with you as always, Marc, and learning more about the goods left behind process. Thanks for joining us.  
 
Thank you for listening to the Talking Tenancies Podcast. For more information about the Residential Tenancies Authority, visit rta.qld.gov.au.