Thousands of rental bonds have been forgotten or forgone in Queensland since 1990, and the collective sum has now accumulated to a whopping $56 million.
Most of the 120,000 outstanding bond payments are worth about $465 and the refund can be claimed at any time.
The uncollected sums account for just 4.5 per cent of the total bonds held by the Queensland Government’s Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA).
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Most of the unclaimed payments were made in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, followed by Morton Bay, Sunshine Coast, Logan, Cairns, Townsville, Toowoomba, Ipswich, and Mackay, but renters are owed rental bonds across the state.
“In Queensland, all rental bonds must be lodged with the RTA during the tenancy. This applies to all residential bonds. It also includes bonds paid by boarders or lodgers … (and bonds paid for) on-campus university accommodation,” Tenants Queensland said.
The sum of unclaimed bonds held by RTA has shrunk since July 2023 when the authority launched a statewide campaign for Queenslanders to reclaim their outstanding payments.
“Since this time, the largest outstanding rental bond returned was $25,000 in New Farm,” an RTA spokesperson told 7NEWS.com.au.
“The oldest outstanding bond returned was from 2006 in South Gladstone.”
There are a number of reasons why a renter’s bond might be held by the RTA, be it simple forgetfulness, a costly typo, or a failure to update the authority database with new contact details.
“We understand the end of a tenancy can be a busy time for many people, which is why we continue to raise awareness that bond monies are held with the RTA and are waiting for their rightful owners to claim at any time,” the spokesperson said.
“Sometimes bond refunds are not successful due to missing or incorrect details provided.
“The RTA encourages Queenslanders to keep their contact and bank details up-to-date during a tenancy, and claim any unclaimed rental bond amounts.”
To find out whether you are owned an unclaimed bond payment, see how much you are owed, or claim a payment, visit the RTA website here.