Abandoned Property Tenant Queensland: Form 15 and Goods Left Behind

A tenant stops paying rent, stops responding to messages, and the property looks empty. Or the tenancy ended properly but the tenant left a house full of furniture behind. Either way, you can't just walk in and start clearing out — Queensland law prescribes a specific process for both abandonment and goods left behind, and getting it wrong exposes you to compensation claims.

When You Believe the Property Is Abandoned

If a tenant appears to have left without notice — no contact, rent unpaid, property seemingly vacant — you have two options under section 355 of the RTRA Act:

Option 1: Serve an Abandonment Termination Notice (Form 15). The tenant has 7 days from the date the notice is issued to apply to QCAT to dispute it. If they do not apply, they are taken to have abandoned the property and the tenancy ends at midnight on the date stated in the notice. Serve it at the tenant's residence or place of business using the usual service method, such as by post or hand delivery.

Option 2: Apply directly to QCAT. You can file a Form 2 application asking the tribunal to make an Order Declaring Abandonment. This is the safer path if you're not certain the property is truly abandoned — a QCAT order provides stronger legal protection if the tenant later surfaces and disputes the termination.

In either case, do not take vacant possession, change the locks, or begin handling the tenant's goods until the Form 15 takes effect or QCAT makes an abandonment order. If you need to inspect the property before then, follow the ordinary entry rules.

Goods Left Behind: The Storage and Disposal Rules

Once a tenancy has ended — whether by abandonment, a notice to leave, or a QCAT termination order — the tenant's remaining belongings don't become the landlord's property. The thresholds below apply to tenancy agreements entered into on or after 1 September 2025; earlier agreements remain subject to the previous rules.

General tenancies:

• Goods valued under $2,500: May be sold or disposed of straight away only if they would be unhealthy or unsafe to store, lose value if stored, or cost more to remove, store, or sell than they are worth.
• Goods valued at $2,500 or more: Must be stored for 1 month. If the tenant does not reclaim them, they may be sold at auction after reasonable efforts to contact the tenant and notify them of the auction.

Rooming accommodation:

• Goods valued under $250, perishable goods, or goods unhealthy to store: May be disposed of.
• Other goods: Must be kept for 28 days. After that, goods worth less than $900 may be donated to charity; goods worth $900 or more may be sold. You may continue storing unclaimed goods.

The valuation is your reasonable estimate of the goods' second-hand market value, not their replacement cost or sentimental value.

Personal Documents Are Never Disposed Of

Personal documents and money left behind must be returned to the tenant. If the tenant cannot be contacted, personal documents must be given to the Public Trustee of Queensland within 7 days of the tenancy ending. The Public Trustee does not take passports, Medicare cards, driver's licences, or bank cards; return those to the issuing authority.

What You Cannot Do

Several common landlord responses to abandonment are statutory offences:

• Holding goods as security for unpaid rent. Prohibited outright under the RTRA Act, regardless of the debt owed.
• Disposing of high-value goods without the storage period. Even if the tenant clearly isn't coming back, goods over the threshold must be stored for the prescribed period.
• Entering the property without proper termination. Until the tenancy is formally ended — by Form 15 expiry, QCAT order, or the handover date on a notice to leave — you have no right to enter outside the normal entry provisions (Form 9, 48 hours' notice).

Costs of Storing and Disposing of Goods

If goods are sold, you can deduct reasonable removal, storage, and sale costs from the auction proceeds, then pay any remaining money to the Public Trustee. If you believe the former tenant owes any other amount, apply to QCAT. Do not hold goods because money is owed.

Document everything: photograph the goods, note their estimated value, keep receipts for storage costs, and record dates carefully. If the tenant disputes your handling of their belongings at QCAT, your evidence trail is what protects you.

For the full abandonment process alongside every other termination ground and the step-by-step QCAT filing procedure, see the Ending a Tenancy in Queensland guide.

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