General FAQ's
All bonds received by a lessor or agency are required to be lodged in accordance with the Act.
To enquire about a bond lodgement, provide the ACT Rental Bonds Office with the payment date, how the payment was made, and who made the payment to ACT Rental Bonds. Providing a copy of the transaction record will assist in locating the bond quickly, providing it has been lodged.
The tenant can contact the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) if there is a dispute regarding the bond lodgement.
Yes, although the process is a change to the tenants listed on the current bond, known as a co-tenant change.
Occasionally tenants move into a new property and would prefer that the bond automatically transfer to the new property. This can only occur if the property is managed by the same lessor or agent as the original property.
The tenant and the lessor or managing agent will need to complete and lodge a Transfer of rental premises form. The bond will then be transferred and the amount lodged will be applied to the bond for the new property.
Where there is a change in lessor/managing agent a Change of Lessor or Managing Agent form can be completed and emailed to rb@act.gov.au.
Property managers who represent an agency often change. In order to be aware of who has the authority to act on behalf of an agency relating to a bond, each agency is required to submit an Agent's Signature Authority form whenever there is a change in property management team. It is also important that each new Agent Signature Authority form is signed by an appropriately authorised person within the agency such as the principal.
Where there is a change in lessor the same Change of Lessor or Managing Agent form should be completed and emailed rb@act.gov.au.
Where a lessor wishes to revoke the rights of the previous lessor/managing agent they can complete a Revocation of Agency form, include a copy of a current rates notice and identification and send to Rental Bonds for processing. A lessor may revoke previous lessor/managing agents rights at any stage of a Bond.
If a tenant has been participating in the beta trial and was able to use their tenant online account with their previous agency, they will be able to continue using tenant online accounts with the new agency or lessor.
Please note: Tenant online accounts are currently in a Beta trial phase, which means we are rolling it out just to selected tenants and agencies first. Once the Beta trial is complete, we will let everyone else know when they can register for an online account.
Tenants contact details are provided to the Rental Bonds Office by lessors and agencies when completing the bond lodgement process. These contact details are used to send tenants their receipts and Bond Refund Notice.
Tenants not wishing to be contacted via email should submit a Change of rental bonds contact details form to opt out of receiving email correspondence and provide a postal address for the service of documents. It should be noted that it will take longer to complete processes where documents need to be posted.
If a tenant has changed their email address since their bond was lodged they should submit a Change of rental bonds contact details form to notify the Rental Bonds Office of their new email address.
A co-tenancy is where there is a tenancy agreement with more than one tenant listed on the agreement. Each tenant will be known as a ‘co-tenant’. For example, co-tenancies include share houses as well as couples living together where both members of the couple are on the tenancy agreement.
Further information can be found on the Factsheet Introduction to Co-Tenancies and on the Co-tenancy information page.