Forgetful tenants leave millions in rental bonds behind

We may be in a rental crisis but forgetful tenants are leaving behind millions in bonds when they move out, the biggest as much as $25k and the oldest dating back to 1990. SEE TOP SUBURBS

Sophie Foster

@SophieFoster

2 min read

July 13, 2023 - 3:30PM

News Corp Australia Network

Ending a tenancy can be a busy time for all involved, RTA CEO Jennifer Smith said, which might explain why some bonds go unclaimed.

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We may be in the midst of a rental crisis now but forgetful tenants are leaving behind millions in bonds when they move out, the biggest as much as $25k and the oldest dating back to 1990.

Residential Tenancies Authority data showed the smallest rental bond payment still being held for a tenant is 1c and the largest is $25,796.09, with the number of bonds unclaimed by tenants surging 168 per cent in almost a decade - up from 42,500 in 2014 when $9.35m was forgotten in RTA’s coffers.

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The top suburbs where Queensland renters have forgotten to collect their bonds were on the Gold Coast – in Surfers Paradise and Southport.

Over 114,000 tenants have left behind rental bond payments with the Residential Tenancies Authority in Queensland alone, amounting to over $51.8m, new data to the end of June shows.

RTA chief executive Jennifer Smith said almost half of those bonds (46 per cent) were worth more than $300 – 31.5 per cent at $100 or less, 22.5 per cent between $101 and $300, 46 per cent between $301 and $5000 and 0.1 per cent valued at $5000 or more.

“While it’s hard to imagine forgetting to claim a rental bond, ending a tenancy can be a busy time for all involved,” Ms Smith said. “Our oldest outstanding bond payment dates back to 1990, so if you’ve forgotten to claim your rental bond, regardless of how long it’s been, this campaign is your reminder to check in with us.”

RTA manages over $1.13b in bonds on behalf of tenants, property managers and property owners.

“In most cases, when a tenancy ends, the RTA will issue a bond refund to relevant parties to the bank account details provided. Sometimes these refunds are not successful, due to missing or incorrect customer details.”

More than a third of Queensland households rent, with the RTA holding over 620,000 bonds valued at $1.13billion on behalf of tenants, property managers and property owners.

Ms Smith said it was easy to check if you’re one of those owed bonds back, by submitting an online enquiry via the RTA website rta.qld.gov.au/bondpayments.

“The average value of an outstanding bond payment is $454.99, so it does pay to keep your details up to date with the RTA, as this ensures that you will be able to receive these funds quickly.”

More than a third of Queensland households are made up of renters.

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The online enquiry form would ask customers to provide information relevant to their tenancy and other key identification details, Ms Smith said.

“Our goal is to not only reconnect as many people with the money they’re owed now, but we’re also partnering with key sector groups to raise awareness of this campaign so we can reduce the volume of future forgotten bonds held by the RTA.”

The Gold Coast had the top two suburbs with the most forgetful tenants when it comes to bond pick-up: Surfers Paradise led with 1,814 bonds waiting to be claimed, followed by Southport (1,410).

Brisbane had the biggest number of forgotten bond payments among LGAs with almost 40,000 unclaimed, followed by the Gold Coast with over 15,000.

Top 20 LGAs with the most outstanding (forgotten) bond payments in Queensland:

LGA | Count of payments

Brisbane 39991

Gold Coast 15440

Moreton Bay 6330

Sunshine Coast 5861

Logan 5347

Townsville 5076

Cairns 5013

Toowoomba 4042

Ipswich 3969