Residential Tenancies Bond Authority

This page has information about the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA), including advice on how to access rental bond information and lodge or claim your bond.

Viewing or changing rental bond details

Landlords, tenants and residents can view or change their rental bond details, arrange a refund or transfer their bond through the RTBA Online website. To sign-in, you will need the:

bond number, and
family name of one of the tenants or residents.

Note: You can find the bond number on the receipt provided by the RTBA. If you do not have the bond number, view the Forgot your bond number? page on the RTBA Online website.

Bond transactions

All bond transactions are processed as:

an electronic transaction, or
a paper form submitted to the RTBA.

Electronic transactions

Electronic transactions are completed through the RTBA Online website and can be used for lodging, claiming or transferring bonds.

They can be completed by estate agents and landlords who are registered with the RTBA as a 'Property manager'. Registered property managers can view and undertake transactions on the bonds they manage. Register through the Property manager login panel on the RTBA Online website.

Paper forms

Bond transactions can also be completed using paper forms generated through RTBA Online. Once the required information is entered, the paper form must be printed, signed by the relevant parties and lodged with the RTBA. Forms should only be used for one transaction, and cannot be copied for multiple use.

Note: Blank forms are not available for download because the lodgement, claim and transfer forms are pre-numbered, to allow tracking in our system.

For information on how to prepare and complete rental bond transactions, view the following pages:

Lodging bond forms

Completed bond forms with cheques, money orders and other required attachments, such as VCAT orders, should be posted to:

RTBA

Locked Bag 007

Wendouree VIC 3355

Cheques and money orders for bond lodgements should be made payable to the 'RTBA'.

Note: Bond forms cannot be lodged via email or fax.

Landlords and agents who receive a bond from their tenant or resident must lodge the bond with the RTBA within 10 business days. Landlords and agents also have 10 business days from when the tenant leaves the rented premises to finalise the bond claim process.

After the bond form is lodged

Processing time

The RTBA processes all bond transactions within two business days of receipt.

Bonds are repaid either as agreed by the landlord/agent and tenant, or owner and resident.

Rejection of a form

For transactions on paper forms, the RTBA compares the signatures on claim, transfer and retained repayment forms to the signatures held by the RTBA from the lodgement form or an earlier transfer. If the signatures do not match, the transaction will be rejected and returned to the landlord, owner or agent.

If a paper form has not been correctly completed, a rejection notice will be sent to the landlord/agent. This notice will indicate the issues and possible remedies. If the tenants provided a mobile phone number to the RTBA, the RTBA will notify the tenants of the rejection by SMS.

Electronic transactions do not require signatures, because the transaction is conducted through a secure login through the RTBA's portal. The link to this portal is provided in an email sent to each tenant listed on the bond.

Disputes about bonds

If there is a dispute about the bond - for example, the landlord/agent wants to claim some or all of the bond to cover damage, but the tenant believes they are not responsible - either the landlord/agent or tenant must apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for a hearing on the matter. There are no application fees for bond claim hearings. For more information, visit the Renting a home section of the VCAT website.

About us

The RTBA holds all Victorian residential tenancy bonds, including those for rented premises, long-term caravans, rooming houses (buildings where one or more rooms are available to rent, and four or more people in total can occupy those rooms) and caravan sites under site agreements.

The RTBA holds bonds in trust for landlords/agents and tenants, or owners and residents, giving all parties equal say in how bonds should be repaid when a rental agreement ends.