Bond Lodgement and Management in Queensland: What Property Managers Must Do

A tenant hands over their bond on sign-up day. Ten days later, your agency still hasn’t lodged it. The RTA flags the delay, the tenant escalates, and you’re now explaining an offence under the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 to your principal. It’s an avoidable situation — and it happens more often than it should, usually because agents treat bond lodgement as an administrative afterthought rather than a statutory obligation with hard deadlines and genuine penalties.

Bond lodgement and management is one of the most tightly regulated parts of Queensland property management. The Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 prescribes exactly how much bond you can take, when you must lodge it with the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA), what happens at the end of the tenancy, and how disputes are resolved. Getting this right protects the landlord’s interests, protects the tenant’s money, and protects the agency’s licence. Getting it wrong — even through oversight — can mean penalty units, failed bond claims, and QCAT orders against you.

The Maximum Bond Amount: What Changed in 2024

From 30 September 2024, the maximum bond allowed to be taken is equivalent to four weeks’ rent, regardless of the weekly rent amount. It is a breach of the Act to take a bond exceeding four weeks’ rent, with a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units.

This is a significant shift from the previous framework. Previously, if a property rented for more than $700 per week, landlords could negotiate a higher bond. This exemption has been abolished. The four-week maximum now applies to all general tenancies, regardless of the weekly rental price. Agents managing premium properties at $1,500 or $2,000 per week who collected higher bonds under the old rules need to ensure they are compliant with renewed tenancies signed after that date.

The maximum amounts stated in the Act apply to all bonds, no matter what they are called — for example, a “pet bond” — or how many bonds are taken. It is an offence to take more than the maximum amount. This catches a common misconception: some agents and landlords believe they can charge a standard bond plus an additional amount for pets. They cannot. Landlords cannot charge a separate “pet bond” or an additional security deposit simply because the tenant has a pet. The total bond cannot exceed the four-week maximum under any circumstance.

If you are managing a tenancy that pre-dates the September 2024 reforms and the bond on file exceeds four weeks’ rent, that excess does not disappear automatically. If a tenancy is renewed after 30 September 2024, the RTA is required to refund excess bond to a tenant if they submit the excess bond refund form signed by all bond contributors, and if the bond exceeds the equivalent of four weeks’ rent based on the current weekly rent amount. This refund cannot be disputed. The moment the lease renews, the tenant has the right to reclaim that excess — and you have no grounds to object.

The 10-Day Lodgement Rule: A Non-Negotiable Obligation

If the property manager or owner takes a bond, they must give the tenant a receipt and lodge it with the RTA within 10 days. It is an offence not to do so. That is the entire framework in two sentences. No discretion, no extensions, no common-sense exceptions.

Typically, bond money is lodged with the RTA before keys to the rental property are provided. A person receiving bond money must generally lodge it within 10 days of receipt to the RTA for safekeeping during the tenancy. The practice of handing over keys before lodgement is processed does happen in busy agencies, particularly when keys are collected on a Friday afternoon. This is where the 10-day clock most often gets ignored — agents focus on the key handover and the condition report, and bond lodgement slips a day or two past the deadline.

The penalty for failing to lodge within time is up to 40 penalty units — the highest bond-related penalty in the Act. To put that in context, at the current Queensland penalty unit value of $143.75 (as at the 2024–25 financial year), 40 penalty units represents a potential fine of $5,750. For a principal whose agency lodges dozens of bonds per month, systematic late lodgement is an exposure that no PI policy will rescue them from.

Instalments and Special Circumstances

When a bond is paid in instalments, each instalment must be lodged with the RTA within 10 days of receiving it via RTA Web Services or by post using a Bond Lodgement (Form 2). The 10-day clock runs separately for each payment received. After the first instalment, the tenant and property manager will receive an Acknowledgement of rental bond from the RTA with the bond number, which should be quoted on the form when lodging subsequent instalments.

There are also mid-tenancy bond increase provisions. During a tenancy, the bond may be increased if it has been at least 11 months since the last bond increase or the start of the tenancy. Bond increases are often due to a rent increase. When the bond is to be increased, the property manager must issue a written notice stating the day by which the increase must be made. The increase must not take the total bond above the maximum amount allowed. The tenant must pay the increase by the date stated on the notice, which must be at least one month after the tenant received the notice.

Trust Account vs Direct Lodgement: The Critical Distinction

This is where property managers — particularly those newer to the role — sometimes confuse their obligations. In Queensland, a rental bond is not trust money that an agency holds indefinitely. It is money that must be passed directly to the RTA.

To protect tenants from financial misconduct, Queensland operates a centralised, government-managed bond system overseen by the RTA. Landlords cannot simply deposit bond money into their own bank accounts; they must abide by strict lodgement procedures governed by the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008.

In practical terms, bond money received by the agency must be receipted into the trust account first — pursuant to Section 16 of the Agents Financial Administration Act 2014 (Qld), an agent must, before the end of the first business day after receiving the amount, pay it into the agent’s general trust account. But it cannot sit there indefinitely. It must then be lodged with the RTA within the 10-day window, at which point the funds transfer out of the agency’s trust account and into the RTA’s custody for the duration of the tenancy.

Lodgement is typically done digitally via the RTA’s Web Services using a Bond Lodgement (Form 2). The RTA will hold the funds in trust for the duration of the tenancy. The critical point: once lodged, the bond is no longer in the agency’s possession. The agency has no claim over it, cannot access it, and cannot disburse it without an approved refund or claim process through the RTA.

The Agents Financial Administration Act 2014 (Qld) governs how trust accounts are operated. Approval processes involving high-risk activities, including receipting trust monies to ledgers, creation of new trust creditors, and receipt and disbursement of bonds, should not, where possible, be assigned to only one person. Over recent years, prosecutions and disciplinary proceedings undertaken by the Office of Fair Trading have highlighted the importance of licensees having internal controls. In situations where an employee or contractor has misappropriated trust money, the principal agent may be held jointly liable both legally and financially for the theft.

Principals should conduct regular reviews and check on bond lodgements with the RTA. This is not optional housekeeping — it is a risk management obligation.

Using the RTA Bond Lodgement Portal

You can use the RTA’s Bond Lodgement Web Service to lodge or increase a rental bond online. Agencies with multiple properties should be operating through this portal as a matter of course. Agents and managing parties acting on behalf of an organisation can use the Bulk Bond Lodgement Web Service to lodge bonds in bulk and pay for them in one easy payment via BPAY. For busy offices processing multiple new tenancies each week, bulk lodgement is a significant efficiency gain.

To use RTA Web Services, you will need to verify your digital identity through the Queensland Digital Identity (QDI). The QGov login system has been replaced, so agencies that have not updated their access credentials should do so immediately to avoid delays at the point of lodgement.

A new requirement that property managers must be aware of: from 6 June 2024, it is a requirement to include the date of the last rent increase for the property on your bond lodgement form. This applies to both online and paper lodgements. When lodging a bond, you’ll need to provide the date of the last rent increase for the property, unless the property is being rented for the first time or the property manager is an exempt lessor. Missing this field will cause the lodgement to fail or trigger follow-up action from the RTA.

Once lodgement is processed, an Acknowledgement of rental bond is sent to the bond contributors and property manager once the bond payment has cleared. If you have agreed to receive RTA notices by email, the Acknowledgement of rental bond is sent via email; otherwise, it will be sent via post. Save this acknowledgement. The bond number contained in it is required for any future transactions — top-ups, contributor changes, or refund processing.

Condition Reports: The Evidentiary Foundation of Every Bond Claim

You cannot run a successful bond claim without strong condition report documentation. The condition report is not a formality — it is the primary evidence that determines whether a deduction is legitimate or disputed.

Entry Condition Report (Form 1a)

Section 65 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act requires the lessor, agent, or property manager to complete and sign the Entry Condition Report and provide a copy to the tenant no later than the date of occupancy. The tenant must return the signed and completed entry condition report to the property manager within 7 days after the later of (a) the day they occupied the premises or (b) the day they were given a copy of the report.

Once you receive the tenant’s signed copy back, the property manager must send a copy of the signed and completed report back to the tenant within 14 days. That completed, counter-signed report forms the agreed record of the property’s condition at commencement. Any item not recorded on it cannot later be attributed to the condition at the start of the tenancy.

The penalty for non-compliance is up to 20 penalty units for each obligation you breach under Section 65. There are separate penalties for failing to prepare the report, failing to give it to the tenant on time, failing to return the finalised report within 14 days, and failing to keep a copy for at least one year.

Do not use a generic template or a condition report adapted from another state. You must use the approved form — a generic template or a report from another state does not satisfy the requirement for the “approved form” under Section 65(2)(a).

The REIQ recommends agents accompany the Form 1a with dated photographs. Best practice is to have a checklist for tenants to sign when they collect the keys, acknowledging the keys collected and confirming receipt of the Form 1a Entry Condition Report, and acknowledging any supporting photos taken by the agent. An undocumented verbal walkthrough will not hold up in QCAT.

Exit Condition Report (Form 14a)

The Exit Condition Report shows the condition of the property and any inclusions when the tenant leaves, and is an important part of the vacating and bond refund process. The Exit Condition Report is compared to the Entry Condition Report to determine if the property is in the same condition as when the tenant moved in, apart from fair wear and tear.

The tenant completes an Exit Condition Report and submits it to the property manager when returning the keys. The property manager reviews the tenant’s notes at the vacate inspection, makes any additional comments, and signs. The property manager sends a completed copy of the report to the tenant at their new address within three business days. That three-business-day window is tight. If the tenant vacates on a Friday, you have until Wednesday to complete the inspection, mark the report, and send it.

The RTRA Act requires the report to be kept for at least one year after the agreement has ended. In the event of a professional indemnity claim or civil claim being made against the agent or property manager, all documentation associated with the management of a premises should be retained for up to seven years.

What Can and Cannot Be Claimed Against the Bond

The bond exists to compensate the landlord for specific, provable losses arising from the tenant’s breach of the agreement. It is not a catch-all fund for any cost that arises after a tenancy ends.

Legitimate grounds for a bond claim include: unpaid rent, damage to the property caused by the tenant or their guests beyond fair wear and tear, cleaning costs where the tenant has not returned the property to the level of cleanliness recorded on the entry condition report, and costs associated with the tenant abandoning the premises or breaking a fixed-term lease early.

The tenant’s obligation is to leave the property in a condition that is, as far as possible, the same as recorded in the Entry Condition Report, fair wear and tear excepted. This phrase — “fair wear and tear” — appears throughout Queensland tenancy law and is one of the most common sources of dispute between landlords and tenants. Fair wear and tear generally means deterioration that results from normal, expected use of the property over time. A carpet worn thin after five years of occupancy is fair wear and tear. A carpet stained with pet urine six months into a tenancy is not.

What agents cannot do is claim against the bond for items that were already damaged or deficient at the start of the tenancy and recorded on the entry condition report, or for costs that represent normal property maintenance rather than tenant-caused damage. General repainting after a long tenancy, for example, may constitute fair wear and tear rather than damage. The entry condition report, the exit condition report, and the age and condition of affected items at the time of the claim all factor into how a QCAT adjudicator will assess the legitimacy of any deduction.

From 30 September 2024, there is an additional procedural obligation when making a bond claim. Rental bonds lodged on or after 30 September 2024 will require supporting evidence to be provided to a tenant when a property manager 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 when a claim or dispute is made against a bond is an offence.

Supporting evidence means invoices, quotes, photographs, and the comparison between entry and exit condition reports. An assertion in an email is not evidence. Agencies that have been processing bond claims without contemporaneous documentation need to update their end-of-tenancy workflow immediately.

The Bond Refund and Claim Process

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).

Both the tenant and the property manager/owner can submit a Refund of Rental Bond (Form 4) to the RTA. When both parties agree on how the bond should be distributed, a jointly signed Form 4 is the fastest path to resolution — the RTA processes it without requiring a dispute resolution step.

Where the parties do not agree, either party can submit their own Form 4, which triggers a Notice of Claim to the other party. If the party receiving the notice takes no action, after 14 days the RTA will refund the bond as requested on the first form received. This is a critical deadline for tenants disputing agent claims — and it is equally critical for agents to understand that if they do not lodge their claim promptly, the tenant’s refund request may be processed in full by default.

QCAT Bond Disputes: The Tribunal Process

When the parties cannot reach agreement through the RTA conciliation process, the matter proceeds to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT). If dispute resolution is requested through the RTA, a conciliator will contact the parties and help them come to an agreement. If no agreement is reached, they will issue a Notice of Unresolved Dispute, allowing the parties to apply to QCAT for a decision. There are tight time limits that apply.

Those time limits are not vague. If an agreement is not reached, a Notice of Unresolved Dispute is issued and the parties can go to QCAT. Once the notice is issued, the disputing party has 7 days to make an application to QCAT and advise the RTA of this application. Seven calendar days. Miss that window, and the RTA will release the bond according to the original refund request if QCAT dismisses a bond dispute hearing or the application is withdrawn. In practice, missing the QCAT deadline means the other party’s refund request is paid in full regardless of the merits of your position.

At a QCAT hearing, the adjudicator will assess the evidence presented by both parties — primarily the condition reports, photographs, invoices, and any other documentation related to the tenancy. It is a good idea to prepare an affidavit, which is a sworn written statement of your evidence witnessed by a Justice of the Peace or solicitor. Provide this to the other party and QCAT before the hearing.

The most common reason property managers lose bond disputes at QCAT is not that their claim was illegitimate — it is that they cannot produce adequate evidence to substantiate it. A poor-quality entry condition report, missing photographs, or an exit inspection that occurred days after the tenant vacated with no documentation trail will often result in a finding against the agent, even where the underlying loss was genuine.

Common Mistakes That Lead to Bond Problems

The patterns are consistent. Property managers who face bond-related complaints, OFT investigations, or QCAT losses typically made one or more of the following errors:

• Lodging the bond late, even by a day or two, and not having a documented reason for the delay
• Collecting more bond than the four-week maximum or attempting to characterise an additional amount as something other than a bond
• Providing the entry condition report to the tenant after the occupancy date rather than on or before it
• Failing to photograph the property thoroughly at both entry and exit, leaving claims unable to be substantiated with visual evidence
• Missing the 14-day window to provide supporting evidence to the tenant when claiming against a bond lodged after 30 September 2024
• Submitting a bond refund claim and then failing to follow up on the QCAT application within 7 days of the Notice of Unresolved Dispute

Each of these is preventable with a checklist-based workflow and a clear understanding of the relevant deadlines.

What This Means for Queensland Property Managers

Bond lodgement and management in Queensland is not complicated, but it is unforgiving of inattention. The Act’s requirements are clear; the penalties for non-compliance are real; and the evidentiary standard for a successful bond claim has increased materially since September 2024.

For property managers setting up a new tenancy: collect the bond after the tenancy agreement is signed, receipt it to trust immediately, lodge it with the RTA within 10 days via the RTA Web Services portal, include the date of the last rent increase on the Form 2, and provide the entry condition report to the tenant on or before their occupancy date. Photograph everything. Return the finalised entry report within 14 days of receiving the tenant’s signed copy.

For property managers managing exits: complete the exit condition report within three business days of the tenant vacating, gather invoices and quotes before lodging any claim, and provide that supporting evidence to the tenant within 14 days. If conciliation fails and a Notice of Unresolved Dispute is issued, apply to QCAT within seven days.

For principals overseeing a property management team: conduct regular reviews and check on bond lodgements with the RTA. Staff members who deal with trust monies and trust accounts should be trained to at least the minimum standard by completing the ‘Create and Manage Trust Account Processes’ course. Systematic auditing of bond lodgement turnaround times — not just compliance at the point of individual tenancies — is the only way to identify procedural drift before it becomes an OFT matter.

The bond is one of the most visible touchpoints in the landlord-tenant relationship. When it is handled competently, it goes unnoticed. When it is not, it becomes the centrepiece of a dispute that can damage your agency’s reputation far beyond the amount of money at stake.