Forgotten bonds redirected to help needy families

Queensland residential tenants and rental property owners are being urged to check if they are one of more than 42,500 people who have forgotten to get their bond refund.

Housing Minister Tim Mander said the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) was holding $9.35 million in forgotten bonds that had accumulated over the past 25 years.

“I want to encourage people who have forgotten their bond refund to contact the RTA and get their bond money back,” Mr Mander said.

“Although the vast majority of people remember to get their bond back when a tenancy ends, some people simply forget to claim their bond or don’t provide a forwarding addresses or bank details.

“The most common scenario is they claim their bond but then forget to cash the refund cheque.”

Mr Mander said that under current laws any bond that had not been claimed for more than seven years may be reinvested into affordable housing. As of April 2014, $3.68 million in unclaimed money had reached the seven-year mark.

“Any money that is not claimed after seven years will be reinvested in housing projects for some of Queensland’s most needy,” Mr Mander said.

“But tenants and landlords can rest assured they will keep their right to claim their forgotten bond at any time – whether the seven-year period has lapsed or not.

“It’s a win-win situation and allows us to deliver on our election promise of revitalising frontline services.”

RTA Chief Executive Officer David Eades said there were some bonds that had been unclaimed for 25 years.

“We have had several campaigns in the past to reunite people with their unclaimed bonds and we have worked hard to streamline this process making it easy for people to get their money back,” Mr Eades said.

“It is a waste to see this money sitting idle when it could be used to house needy families in new social housing.”

To claim a forgotten (uncashed) bond people need to provide their name and the address of the rental property as well as three other facts about the tenancy such as the landlord’s name, weekly rent paid, and bond amount.

Anyone who thinks they may have a forgotten bond can visit the RTA website (rta.qld.gov.au) or call 1300 366 311 for more details on how to make a claim.

[ENDS] 16 May 2014

Media contact: Janette Andrews 0414 248 982