FAQ's for Real Estate Agents

An agency administrator is the person elected by an agency to register and manage the agency’s Portal account.

This person may be a director, principal, an owner or person responsible for the agency.

A property manager is an authorised user of the Agency’s Portal account and is able to lodge and apply for bond refunds online.

Yes, agency administrator's are able to update contact details for their agency, including bank details.  They are also able to set up accounts for property managers within their agency. In the event that a property manager leaves, the agency administrator can deactivate their account.

Once set up, property managers are able to update and manage their own account profile.

There is no limit to the number of property managers that an agency can have.

Each property manager must have an account set up by their agency administrator, with a unique email address.

If an agency administrator or property manager works across multiple offices that have separate Portal accounts, they will need to register a different email address for each account.

An activation email will be sent to the new user once their account has been set up.

If you have lodged a bond incorrectly or made a payment to an incorrect bond number, you should contact the Rental Bonds Office as soon as possible to notify them of the error. You can email them at rb@act.gov.au or telephone (02) 6207 0028.

If you have used an invalid BSB or account number the payment will be rejected by the Rental Bonds Office and returned to your account. Once rectified, you will need to make a new payment using the correct BSB and account details.

Yes, all bonds must be lodged online through the Portal, except for bonds with an ACT Housing Rental Bond Help Loan.

These bonds must be lodged online by ACT Housing officers. The bond will be linked to the related Agent account, so that it can be managed in the same way as any other bond through the Portal.

If you experience extenuating circumstances preventing you from lodging online, you should contact ACT Rental Bonds on (02) 6207 0028 or email rb@act.gov.au for advice.

Yes, once you have completed the bond lodgement process the bond will appear on the ‘Manage Bonds’ summary page. This page provides a complete list of bonds lodged by your agency via the Portal, and includes details of the property, tenants and bond status i.e. lodged, pending payment, refunded, unclaimed.

The Portal utilises internet based technology and has been designed to be compatible with the following browsers:

  • Google Chrome 23 or newer
  • Internet Explorer 9 or newer
  • Mozilla Firefox 17 or newer
  • Safari 6 or newer

Please enable:

  • Pop-ups
  • JavaScript
  • Cookies

The Portal provides mobile browser compatibility with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Safari. Standard capabilities across a defined range of form factors include desktop computers and tablets.

These requirements may be varied at any time by the ACT Revenue Office. Notification of all changes to requirements will be provided on this site prior to the change occurring.

Users will need to ensure they are using a browser compatible with the Portal. These browsers are free and readily available for download from the internet.

An Occupancy Security Deposits is where the property is not exclusively used by the tenant. For example: where a room is let in the owner’s principal place of residence. The Factsheet What is an Occupancy Agreement? provides further information about Occupancy Agreements.

Bonds with an ACT Housing Rental Bond Help Loan must be lodged online by ACT Housing officers. The bond will be linked to the related Agent or Lessor account, so that it can be managed in the same way as any other bond through the Portal.

If you have already raised a bond in the Portal and this was an ACT Housing Loan bond, please contact ACT Rental Bonds on (02) 6207 0028 or email rb@act.gov.au to cancel the bond.

Contact email addresses are required to complete the bond lodgement and refund request process via the Portal.

If you have been appointed by a lessor to manage their property, you will receive all correspondence on their behalf. You will still need to provide an email address for the lessor, but they will not be required to monitor it.

If a tenant does not have an email address, it is recommended that you speak with them about the possibility of creating one.  There are many benefits to tenants receiving correspondence via email, such as instantly receiving receipts and notifications of bond refund requests entered into the Portal.

If you are unable to obtain a contact email address you can have the lessor and/or tenants complete a Change of Contact Details form and check the box to indicate that they do not wish to receive correspondence via email. The Rental Bonds Office will then provide authorisation to use an alternative email address for the related bond and will post out all correspondence to the requesting party’s nominated postal 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.

Yes, co-tenants listed on a bond can be added or removed by lodging a Co-tenant change request.

The tenants will be responsible for notifying ACT Rental Bonds of the change. Visit the Co-tenancy information page for details.