Bond claims that hold up: itemising deductions defensibly at end-of-tenancy

What a bond is and what it isn't

The bond (also called the rental bond, security deposit, or tenancy bond) is money the tenant paid at the start of the lease, held by the state bond authority — not by the landlord — as security against breaches of the agreement.

It is not a free pool of money for the landlord at end-of-tenancy. To claim against it, you need to show:

1. The tenant breached a specific obligation (damage beyond fair wear and tear, unpaid rent, cleaning shortfall, water charges owed, etc.) 2. The amount you're claiming is reasonable and supported by evidence.

The bond authorities — RTA in QLD, NSW Fair Trading rental-bonds service, Consumer Affairs Victoria's RTBA, and equivalents in WA / SA / TAS / ACT / NT — release the bond on either:

• Both parties signing the refund form with the same split (fast — settles in 7–10 business days).
• A dispute path — if you and the tenant disagree, the bond is held while you each lodge your own form, and the matter goes to the relevant tribunal (QCAT, NCAT, VCAT, etc.) for adjudication.

The strategy here is simple: itemise defensibly, share the proposed split with the tenant before lodging anything, and try to land at "both sign". The dispute path costs you weeks and sometimes more than the bond is worth.

Fair wear and tear vs damage

This is the line every contested bond comes down to. The principle is consistent across all Australian states:

• Fair wear and tear = deterioration that arises from normal use over time. Carpet wearing in high-traffic areas. Paint fading from sun. Hinges loosening. Light scuffs from furniture. The landlord wears these costs.
• Damage = deterioration beyond what would normally occur. Carpet stains. Holes punched in walls. Paint with crayon or spray paint. Scratches from a pet's claws. The tenant wears these costs.

The grey zones are where disputes live. A few examples that have gone to tribunals:

• Picture hooks left in walls — generally fair wear and tear. The tenant doesn't have to fill and paint over them unless the lease specifically required no hanging.
• Worn carpet — fair wear and tear over a 5-year tenancy in heavy-traffic areas. Damage if it's stained, burnt, or gouged.
• Scuff marks on walls — fair wear and tear.
• Marks at child-height of crayon, food, etc. — generally damage; can be claimed.
• A tap that's now dripping — fair wear and tear (washers wear out).
• Garden overgrown — depends on the lease. If "tenant to maintain garden" is a special term, it's a breach; otherwise, fair wear and tear of fast-growing grass over 12 months is fine.

Tribunals are generally pragmatic. They expect the landlord to claim only the actual loss, not the cost of bringing the property to a brand-new state.

How to itemise a defensible claim

Three things make a claim hold up:

1. The entry condition report is your baseline. When the tenant moves in, both parties sign an entry condition report describing the state of every room. At end-of-tenancy, the exit condition report is compared against it. Without an entry report, you'll struggle to prove damage — the tenant can simply say "it was already like that". (See our [entry condition report guide](/guides/entry-condition-reports).)

2. Each line item needs evidence. For each thing you claim:

• A short factual description ("carpet stain in master bedroom NE corner — approximately 30cm circle, brown, did not respond to professional steam clean").
• Before/after photos with timestamps where possible.
• A quote or invoice (quote if work isn't done yet; invoice if you've paid for the fix).
• The line item amount.

3. Apportionment for partial losses. If a 10-year-old carpet is stained beyond cleaning, you can't claim the full cost of replacing it with new carpet — the carpet was already 10 years into its useful life. Apportion: if a typical carpet has a 15-year life, and this one is 10 years in, you can claim for the 5 remaining years' worth of value lost.

Common claim categories

| Category | What's reasonable | What gets disputed | |---|---|---| | Cleaning | Tenant didn't clean the property; you paid for end-of-tenancy clean | Inflated quote vs market rate, or claim when property was returned reasonably clean | | Carpet cleaning | Always reasonable when pets were on the property; sometimes required by lease | Claim without lease term + no visible reason | | Damage repair | Holes, breaks, stains caused by the tenant | Things that were on the entry condition report; fair wear and tear | | Rent arrears | Unpaid rent at the date the tenant vacated | Calculation errors; rent paid but unrecorded | | Water charges | Water usage owed under the agreement | Charged when the property isn't water-efficient (in QLD, must meet the standard); when not provided for in lease | | Garden / lawn | Overgrown garden when "tenant to maintain" was a lease term | Generic "garden tidy" without a special term in the lease | | Replacement keys / locks | Locks changed because tenant didn't return keys | Standard re-keying that would happen between tenancies anyway |

The proposal-and-share workflow

The conversation that resolves most bond disputes happens before anyone lodges a form:

1. Do the exit condition report with the tenant present, walking through it together if possible. Note disagreements on the report itself — you don't have to agree at this point, just document. 2. Get any quotes you need (cleaners, tradespeople). 3. Email the tenant with your proposed split. Plain English: "Here's the bond, here's what I'm claiming and why, here's what comes back to you. Reply to confirm or push back on any line item by [date]." 4. If they agree, both sign the refund form with the matching split; lodge; settle in 7–10 business days. 5. If they push back, negotiate. Most tenants will accept a fair claim once you walk them through the evidence. If you can't agree on a line item, drop it (it's often not worth the dispute), or proceed to the dispute path.

What this means for you

The bond is the simplest part of self-management to handle well, and the easiest to handle badly. Done well, it's a 30-minute job at end-of-tenancy: walk through with exit condition report, propose splits, both sign the refund form, money settles.

Done badly — claims unsupported by photos or quotes, claims for fair wear and tear, no entry condition report — it ends up at QCAT/NCAT/VCAT, takes 6–12 weeks, and the landlord usually gets less than they would have negotiated direct.

Property Journal's Bond refund wizard itemises charges with category, description, and amount, computes the per-tenant split, generates a printable claim form linked to the official state bond-refund form, and saves it to the property documents. Combined with the inspection module's per-room photos (which double as before/after evidence), this is the path of least resistance to a defensible claim.

> Not legal advice. This guide is general; specific bond rules differ slightly by state. Verify with the relevant bond authority for your property's state before lodging.