My landlord wants to keep my bond. What do I do?

You’ve cleaned your rental to perfection. You could eat food off the freshly-mopped floors. There’s not a speck of dust in sight and yet, you haven’t received your bond back at the end of your tenancy.

What do you do?

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Claiming your bond back

Before you hand your keys back, Fair Trading NSW advises you to contact your agent or landlord to arrange a final inspection.

Here you’ll go over the property to see if there is any damage or anything that needs to be cleaned, and your landlord will complete an official condition report.

If everything is hunky-dory, your landlord will refund you your bond in full.

But, if they believe you owe them money, they’ll make a claim against your bond.

Why haven’t you been refunded your entire bond?

If your landlord or agent believes you owe them money, they can make a claim against your bond if:

• You broke the lease early, and have not paid the break fee or other compensation payable;

• You still owe any rent or have unpaid water usage bills;

• You didn’t hand back all the copies of the keys you were given and the locks need to be changed; or

• You caused damage or did not leave the premises in a reasonably clean condition compared to the original condition report, apart from ‘fair wear and tear’.

What’s fair wear and tear?

Fair wear and tear can mean:

• Faded curtains or frayed cords;

• Furniture indentations and traffic marks on the carpet;

• Faded, chipped or cracked paint;

• The kitchen bench top is worn (but not burnt through or dented);

• Loose hinges or handles on doors or windows and worn sliding tracks;

• Cracks in the walls from movement;

• Water stains on the carpet from rain caused by a leaking roof or bad plumbing.

My landlord made a claim against my bond. What do I do?

If your landlord or agent wants to make a claim from the bond without your agreement, they need to give you a copy of the condition report completed at the end of the tenancy agreement, as well as copies of estimates, quotes, invoices or receipts for work they are claiming, according to Tenants.org.au.

They must provide these to you within seven days of making the claim.

Then, Fair Trading will issue you with written notice that the landlord/agent has made the claim.

To dispute the claim, you need to apply to the Tribunal for an order to pay all or part of the bond to you via the Rental Bond Application form from the Tribunal, and given written notice to Fair Trading that you’ve made the application.

You can still claim your bond even if you and your landlord disagree on the amount of bond to be returned to you.

Tenants.org.au says you should fill in a ‘Claim for Refund of Bond Money’ form from Fair Trading with the amount that you want paid, and return the form to Fair Trading – you can do this even without the landlord’s/agent’s signature.

Fair Trading will give your landlord written notice that you have made a claim, and if the landlord doesn’t dispute it, Fair Trading will pay your claim after 14 days.

If your landlord does dispute your claim, they must apply to the state’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal within 14 days of receiving the notice, and tell Fair Trading in writing that they’ve done so.

Then, the Tribunal will decide how the bond will be paid out.

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