Bonds

You should only pay the bond after:

• You’ve signed the lease (officially called a rental agreement)
• The community housing provider has given you its completed and signed condition report

If you need advice, this page has information on how to get help.

Your community housing provider must lodge your bond with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA). The RTBA holds your money until you move out.

You have 2 options for paying the bond. You can:

• Pay the bond to your community housing provider so they can transfer it to the RTBA, or
• Pay the bond directly to the RTBA

If you have to pay extra bond money for modifications to your home that must be removed when you move out, this will need to be paid and lodged as a separate bond.

Paying the bond to your community housing provider

If you choose to pay your bond to your community housing provider so it can transfer it to the RTBA, follow these steps:

1. You (and any other renters) pay the community housing provider. Make sure you get a receipt, especially if you pay cash.
2. The community housing provider lodges your bond with the RTBA within 10 business days of receiving it.
3. The RTBA sends you (and any other renters on the bond) an email and text with a link to review the bond lodgement details. If you don’t respond within 14 days, the lodgement is cancelled.
4. You review the bond lodgement details. If something is wrong, you can update it. If you update anything other than your contact details, the changes are sent to the community housing provider for review. You then get another email and text with a link to the updated bond lodgement details.
5. If all the details are correct, you can accept the bond lodgement.
6. The RTBA emails you a receipt. If you don’t receive a receipt within 15 days of accepting the bond lodgement, contact the RTBA on 1300 137 164.

If your community housing provider does not lodge your bond with the RTBA within 10 business days of receiving it, you can report the community housing provider to Consumer Affairs Victoria. If you want to send a letter first, Tenants Victoria has a template letter you can use to tell the community housing provider that you will take further action if it does not follow the law and lodge your bond with the RTBA. Download our template letter: Letter to landlord about lodging bond [Word].

Paying the bond directly to the RTBA

If you choose to pay your bond directly to the RTBA, follow these steps:

1. Tell your community housing provider that you want to pay the bond directly to the RTBA. You will need to provide an email address and mobile number for each person to be listed on the bond.
2. The community housing provider starts the bond lodgement process with the RTBA.
3. The RTBA sends you (and any other renters on the bond) an email and text with a link to review the bond lodgement details. If you don’t respond within 14 days, the lodgement is cancelled.
4. You review the bond lodgement details. If something is wrong, you can update it. If you update anything other than your contact details, the changes are sent to the community housing provider for review. You then get another email and text with a link to the updated bond lodgement details.
5. If all the details are correct, you can accept the bond lodgement.
6. You receive a second email with a link to the payment page. If you are the only renter, the link will expire 48 hours after you have accepted the bond lodgement. If there are other renters on the bond, the link will expire 48 hours after the last renter has accepted the bond lodgement.
7. You can pay by BPAY, debit card or credit card. The bond must be paid in full in a single payment. If you are renting with others, you can collect contributions from each renter, but only one person should make the full payment to the RTBA. If you are paying by debit card or credit card, you must pay the bond within 48 hours, before the link to the payment page expires. If you are paying with BPAY, you have 8 days to pay the bond and can pay after the link to the payment page has expired.
8. The RTBA emails you a receipt. If you don’t receive a receipt within 15 days of lodging the bond, contact the RTBA on 1300 137 164.

Note: If you are renting with others, we strongly recommend you keep a written record of how much each person contributed to the bond. The RTBA does not record individual contributions. If too much is paid or a duplicate payment is made, contact the RTBA to request a refund of the excess amount.

Your bond number

When you accept the bond lodgement, the RTBA sends you a receipt with your bond number. Keep your bond number somewhere safe in case you need it to change your contact details on the bond or to claim your bond back at a later date. You can go to the RTBA website to look up your bond.

The Consumer Affairs Victoria website has more about lodging the bond with the RTBA.

If you need assistance, this page has information on how to get help.

The condition report says what your place was like when you moved in. Your community housing provider must give the report to you before you move in, either as an electronic copy or 2 paper copies.

A detailed condition report with photos can help protect your bond if the community housing provider says things have been damaged when you move out.

You have 5 business days from the move-in date on your lease (officially called a rental agreement) to check the property and return your signed report. Store your copy safely in case you need it when you move out.

You don’t have to agree with what the community housing provider says in the condition report. If you don’t comment, it is assumed you agree with what is in the report.

You can protect your bond by:

• Having a good look around the property and adding plenty of detail to the report
• Making notes in the report if you disagree with what the community housing provider has written
• Taking lots of photos (both when you move in and when you move out)
• Sending photos to the community housing provider if you think there are big differences between what it says in the report and what you say

This short video from the Redfern Legal Centre has tips on completing your condition report.

Find out more on our page about condition reports.

You can claim for your bond to be:

• Paid to you
• Paid to someone else, either partly or fully
• Divided between you and the community housing provider
• Paid in full to the community housing provider

To start your claim, go to the RTBA website and look up your bond.

You can also update your contact details, such as your email address, on the RTBA online form.

When you make a claim:

1. The RTBA lets the community housing provider know, as well as anyone else on your lease (officially called a rental agreement) not included in your claim. If someone wants to stop the bond being paid out, they need to apply to Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV).
2. If, after 14 days, no-one has told the RTBA they have applied to RDRV, or everyone has said they are fine for it to be paid out, the RTBA pays out your bond.

If you and your community housing provider agree about how the bond should be repaid, you can put in a joint claim. You can do this at any time, even before your tenancy ends. But if the community housing provider is getting any of your bond as part of the claim, it cannot be made earlier than 14 days before the end of your tenancy.

The only claim your community housing provider can make to the RTBA without you is one that says all of the bond is to be paid to you. It can make this sort of claim at any time, even before your tenancy ends.

If the community housing provider wants any of your bond, and you disagree, it will need to apply to Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV) to resolve the dispute. Find out more on this page about what to do if your bond is disputed.

Your community housing provider may apply to Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV) if they want part, or all, of your bond for things like:

• Cleaning, if you haven’t left the place reasonably clean. But the community housing provider cannot expect you to leave it cleaner than when you moved in
• Repairs, if you or your visitors have caused any damage. This doesn’t include everyday wear and tear
• Rent or other costs that are your responsibility
• Removing any modifications to the property that you made without asking the community housing provider, or that you did not remove when you moved out, after you had agreed to do so

If your community housing provider wants any of your bond, and you disagree, it can apply to RDRV to help resolve the dispute. It must apply to RDRV within 14 days of your bond claim to the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) – this stops the RTBA from paying out your bond until the dispute is resolved.

Once it has applied to RDRV, your community housing provider must give you a copy of its application and any documents or evidence attached to it.

An RDRV resolution coordinator will contact you to find out your perspective on the dispute, and may then invite you to participate in dispute resolution at RDRV. For more on the RDRV process, see our page about going to RDRV (Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria).

If you think further negotiation won’t help or that your community housing provider is being unreasonable, you can choose not to participate in RDRV. You can tell the resolution coordinator that you want the dispute to go straight to a formal VCAT hearing.

Find out more about defending your bond at RDRV and VCAT on our page on disputing bond and compensation claims.

If you reach an agreement at RDRV

If you and your community housing provider participate in RDRV and reach an agreement on how the bond is to be paid out, make sure you get it in writing.

You can ask for your written agreement to be formalised in a consent order issued by VCAT, which is a legal document to confirm an agreement between parties.

The written agreement or VCAT consent order can be given to the RTBA to pay out the bond.

For more on what to do if you reach an agreement and tips for drafting agreements, see our page about going to RDRV (Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria).

If you do not reach an agreement at RDRV

You do not have to reach an agreement at RDRV. If you and your community housing provider cannot resolve all the issues through RDRV, or if either side does not wish to continue with RDRV, you can ask the resolution coordinator to refer the dispute to VCAT for a formal hearing at any time.

When there is a dispute between a renter and a rental provider (like a community housing provider), VCAT can make the final decision. It is not a court but its decision must be followed.

If your bond dispute is not resolved at Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV), it may go to a formal hearing at VCAT. You will not have to pay any fees to go to this hearing. The resolution coordinator will help you understand what to expect and get yourself organised.

VCAT will let you know the time, date and location of the hearing. The hearing may take place in person, by phone (teleconference) or by videoconference. Hearings about bond claims are usually held within 4 weeks of the community housing provider applying to RDRV.

The community housing provider must have applied to RDRV no later than 10 business days after your lease (officially called a rental agreement) ended. If the community housing provider applied any later, you can ask VCAT to dismiss the application. However, the community housing provider can also ask VCAT to allow the delay, and VCAT may grant it an extension. If VCAT does not grant an extension on the bond claim, the community housing provider can still make a new application to RDRV for compensation.

If you reach an agreement before the hearing

Before the VCAT hearing, you and the community housing provider can continue trying to reach an agreement, even outside of RDRV. If you reach an agreement, the hearing will not go ahead.

Make sure you get any agreement in writing. You can also ask the resolution coordinator to organise for your agreement to be formalised in a consent order issued by VCAT, which is a legal document to confirm an agreement between parties. For tips for drafting agreements, see our page about going to RDRV (Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria).

You or the community housing provider can give the written agreement or VCAT consent order to the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) to pay out the bond.

The community housing provider must prove to VCAT why it should get any of your bond

If the dispute goes to a formal VCAT hearing, the community housing provider must prove to VCAT why it should get any of your bond. It must show that:

• It has suffered financial loss or property damage
• The loss or damage happened because you breached your lease or Victoria’s rental laws, the Residential Tenancies Act 1997
• The amount it is claiming is reasonable

Defending your bond at VCAT

At the hearing, you can tell your side of the story and present your own evidence. For more on preparing for a hearing and defending your bond at VCAT, see our page on disputing bond and compensation claims.

While you may feel stressed about the hearing, VCAT is less formal than a court and you can get help from Tenants Victoria and other organisations. This page has information on getting help.

You can also find out more on our page about going to VCAT.

VCAT usually decides on the day of the hearing how the bond is to be paid.

If you don’t go to the hearing, VCAT can still make a decision about your bond. For this reason, it is good to attend the hearing if you can. If you are there to tell your side of the dispute, you may get a better result.

After the hearing

If VCAT agrees that you should get your full bond back, it will make an order authorising the RTBA to release it. You can then give this order to the RTBA to get your money.

If VCAT decides someone else is entitled to all or part of your bond, it will order the RTBA to pay the amount to that person. Any remaining bond money will go back to you. You, and anyone getting a share of your bond, can use this order to claim the money from the RTBA.

If you are approved for a bond loan, DFFH will tell you when your loan is approved and email the bond loan voucher directly to the community housing provider. It will then use the voucher to lodge the bond with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA).

If the loan covers some of the bond money and you pay the rest, your community housing provider must lodge the amounts as 2 separate bonds with the RTBA, even though they are for the same property. See more on this page about the steps for paying your part of the bond.

We recommend you do not inform the community housing provider that you intend to use a bond loan until you have been accepted for the lease (officially called a rental agreement).

If your community housing provider doesn’t want any of the bond when you move out, you or the community housing provider can make a claim to the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) for the bond loan to go back to DFFH, and a second claim for any bond money you paid to be returned to you.

If the community housing provider wants part, or all, of the bond when you move out, and you agree, you can make a joint claim to the RTBA for the money to go from the bond loan or from an amount you paid, or both. If the community housing provider gets any of the bond loan money, you will need to repay that amount to DFFH. In some situations, DFFH may make an exemption and waive your debt. Or it may offer another bond loan, allowing you to pay your debt for the first bond loan at a later date. The HousingVic website has more on repaying a RentAssist bond loan.

If no-one makes a claim to the RTBA, DFFH will not know the lease (officially called a rental agreement) has ended and the loan will remain against your name.

Find out more on this page about getting the bond back when you move out.

If your community housing provider wants any of your bond and you disagree

If your community housing provider wants part, or all, of your bond when you move out, and you disagree, it can apply to Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV) to stop the RTBA paying out your bond until the dispute is resolved. RDRV is a free service that helps resolve rental disputes without needing to go to a formal hearing at VCAT.

If you and the community housing provider cannot reach an agreement at RDRV, you may need to go to a formal VCAT hearing. At the hearing, VCAT will decide how the bond is to be paid out.

If you paid part of the bond and a bond loan covered the rest, VCAT will generally deduct money for the community housing provider from the part of the bond you paid before deducting any money from the bond loan amount.

If the community housing provider gets any of the bond loan money, you may still need to repay the loan to DFFH at some point in the future.

Find out more on this page about what to do if your bond is disputed.

If you need support in dealing with bonds, help is available.

There are step-by-step guides, self-help tools and other resources to assist you with bonds.

The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 is Victoria’s main law for renting. It describes the rights and duties of renters and rental providers (such as community housing providers) in numbered sections.

The sections in this list relate to bonds in community housing. Click on a link to see the section in the Act.

• Section 406 – Bond must be lodged by community housing provider
• Section 419A – Application to VCAT for bond
• Section 411 – Claims for rental bonds
• Section 411A – Notice of claim by RTBA
• Section 411AB – Rental providers claims
• Section 411AC – Bond refunds – no disputes
• Section 411AD – Disputed claims
• Section 411AE – Repayments to other persons
• Section 425 – Notice must be given to RTBA of tenant transfer

The Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021 provide more detail and definitions, and specify updates to the Residential Tenancies Act.

These other Acts and regulations also apply to bonds in community housing:

• Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998: Section 120 – Re-opening an order on substantive grounds
• Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Rules 2018: Reg 8.07 – Documents required to be included with certain applications