Free guide · Queensland · checked 4 October 2026
Getting your bond back in Queensland
Your bond isn’t in the agent’s account. It’s held by the RTA, and it only comes out when everyone agrees or a dispute is decided. Most bonds come back in full and fast. The ones that don’t usually come down to two things: the condition reports, and a deadline someone missed.
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The short answer: at the end of the tenancy, everyone on the bond agrees how it’s split and asks the RTA to pay it: online through RTA Web Services, or on a paper Form 4 that everyone signs. If you don’t agree, either side can claim alone; you then have 14 days to dispute the claim, the RTA’s free dispute resolution comes next, and QCAT after that if it’s still not settled.
Before anything: where your bond is
- It’s capped. From 30 September 2024 a bond can’t be more than 4 weeks’ rent.
- It’s lodged with the RTA within 10 days of being paid, and the RTA sends you its own acknowledgement. If you never got one, ask the agent for the bond number and check it with the RTA.
- Your best evidence is from day one. The entry condition report (Form 1a) and your photos from move-in are what the end of the tenancy gets compared against.
The fast way: agree, then refund
If you and the agent agree on the split (most often, all of it back to you), it’s quick.
Online (RTA Web Services). You sign in with a Queensland Digital Identity. One side starts the refund; everyone named on the bond is asked to agree, with 48 hours to respond. Once everyone has, it’s usually paid within hours. Each tenant on a joint bond needs their own email address.
On paper (Form 4, Refund of rental bond). Everyone listed on the bond signs it. The RTA processes it quickly once received. Allow a few business days for the money to arrive.
Never sign a blank Form 4. Agree the amounts first, then sign the form with the amounts written in.
What can be taken out of it
The standard is the condition the place was in at the start, less fair wear and tear. In practice, claims fall into four groups:
- Unpaid rent, including any break-lease amount, if you left early (see breaking a lease).
- Damage beyond fair wear and tear: chips from hanging things, knife marks on a benchtop, stains or damage from a pet (even an approved one).
- Cleaning, to the standard on the entry report. Dirt, grime and grease are cleaning, not wear.
- Other money owed under the agreement: water charges, if your agreement passes them on.
Fair wear and tear can’t be charged. It’s what happens to any home with normal use and age: paint or curtains faded by the sun, carpet worn along the walkways, small settling cracks in plaster.
Carpets and pest control. A lease can’t simply require you to buy a carpet clean or a pest treatment as a matter of course. Where there’s an approved pet, the approval can come with conditions such as professional carpet cleaning or fumigation at the end, so check your pet approval before you assume either way.
Moving out, in order
- Clean against the entry report, room by room. That’s the yardstick, not the cleanest the place has ever been.
- Fill in the exit condition report (Form 14a) and take dated photos or a walk-through video of every room.
- Return every key and remote, and note the date and who you gave them to. The agent completes their side of the exit report and sends you a copy within three business days.
- Start the refund online, or agree the Form 4 amounts in writing first.
- If they claim part of it, ask for the evidence, itemised. Since September 2024 the owner’s side must give supporting evidence for a claim within 14 days.
If you don’t agree
- A claim is lodged without your agreement. The RTA sends you a notice of claim.
- You have 14 days to dispute it. Do nothing and the RTA pays out as claimed. To dispute, lodge a dispute resolution request (Form 16) or follow the instructions on the notice.
- Free dispute resolution. An RTA conciliator works with both sides to reach an agreement. Bring the entry report, the exit report and your photos.
- Still not settled? The RTA issues a notice of unresolved dispute. For a bond, an application to QCAT has to be made within 7 days of that notice.
In our experience most disputes are settled at the conciliation stage, and settled by evidence: a clear entry report with photos does more than any argument.
What not to do
Don’t ignore a notice of claim. Fourteen days pass quickly, and silence is agreement.
Don’t throw away the entry report or the move-in photos. Keep them until the bond is back.
Don’t pay for a professional clean you weren’t required to have just because someone said it’s expected. Check your agreement and any pet conditions first.
Don’t sign a blank or partly filled refund form, on paper or by agreeing to an online request you haven’t read.
Moving on to the next place?
The move-in calculator adds up the bond, rent in advance and moving costs for the next one, so the money from this bond has a job to go to.
Work out move-in costs Application checklist