RTRA Act Bond Provisions Queensland Landlords Need to Know

Every bond-related obligation a Queensland landlord faces traces back to the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 — the RTRA Act. The legislation runs to hundreds of sections, and the bond provisions are scattered across multiple chapters. Failure to lodge a bond within 10 days can carry a maximum fine of $3,454.

Here is where the key bond rules actually live in the Act, and what each one requires of you.

The Core Bond Sections at a Glance

The bond lifecycle sits primarily in Chapter 2 and Chapter 5, Part 3 (Sections 110–155) of the RTRA Act. Failure to lodge a bond within 10 days can carry a maximum fine of $3,454. Missing other procedural deadlines can put the bond at risk. Three sections carry the heaviest consequences for private landlords:

Section 112 — Bond cap. The maximum bond for a general tenancy is four weeks' rent, regardless of the weekly amount. The September 2024 amendments abolished the old high-rent exception that previously allowed unlimited bonds on properties renting above $700 per week. Moveable dwelling tenancies are capped at two weeks' rent (three for a long tenancy if electricity is individually metered and billed in the lessor's name).

Section 116 — The 10-day lodgement rule. Every dollar of bond money must reach the RTA within ten calendar days of receipt. The clock starts on the date you receive the funds, not the date the tenancy begins. Breaching Section 116 carries a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units — $3,454 at the current 2026–27 rate of $172.70 per unit.

Section 145 — Receipt and record-keeping. You must issue a written receipt immediately upon receiving bond money. The receipt must record the date, amount, property address, and names of both parties. Retain copies for at least one year after the tenancy ends. Demanding a signed blank Form 4 at the start of a tenancy is an offence under this same section.

Sections That Govern Mid-Tenancy Changes

Section 154 — Bond top-ups. A top-up is permitted only after a lawful rent increase, and only if at least 11 months have passed since the tenancy started or the last bond increase. You must give at least one month's written notice, and the combined bond cannot exceed four weeks of the new rent.

Section 57B — Property-linked rent increases. Rent increases are limited to once every 12 months, tied to the physical property rather than the tenancy agreement. Since a bond top-up depends on a valid rent increase, Section 57B effectively controls top-up timing as well.

Form 6 (Section 113) — Changing bond contributors. When a co-tenant leaves and a new one moves in, a Form 6 updates the RTA's contributor register. The outgoing tenant gets their bond share through a private arrangement with the incoming tenant — the RTA does not pay it out separately.

End-of-Tenancy: Refunds and Evidence

Sections 125–135 — Bond refunds. Either party can initiate a refund using Form 4 or RTA Web Services. If both parties agree on the split, the RTA pays out immediately. If one party lodges a unilateral claim, the other has 14 days to respond with a Form 16 dispute — or the RTA pays the claim by default.

Section 136AA — The 14-day evidence rule. Since 30 September 2024, any landlord who makes a bond claim or disputes a tenant's bond refund request must deliver itemised supporting evidence to the tenant within 14 calendar days. This means entry and exit condition reports, dated photographs, repair quotes, receipts, and a rent ledger. The transitional period for older bonds expired on 30 September 2025, so this now applies universally.

Section 136B — QCAT filing deadline. If RTA conciliation fails and you receive a Notice of Unresolved Dispute, you have exactly seven calendar days to file a QCAT application and notify the RTA. Miss that window and the RTA releases the entire bond to the tenant automatically.

Penalties and Enforcement

Penalty unit values are indexed annually on 1 July. For the 2026–27 financial year, one penalty unit equals $172.70.

The RTA Investigations Unit can issue infringement notices for lesser amounts, but the court maximums above represent the worst-case exposure. Voluntary compliance after a breach reduces enforcement severity but does not erase the offence.

Keeping Track of It All

The challenge is not that any single rule is complicated — it is that the rules interact. A rent increase triggers a top-up window under Section 154, but only if Section 57B's 12-month property rule is satisfied. A bond claim under Section 125 triggers the 14-day evidence obligation under Section 136AA, which in turn determines whether you can survive a Section 136B QCAT deadline.

The Queensland Rental Bond Guide maps these dependencies into a single timeline with fillable logs for each statutory deadline, so nothing falls through the cracks between sections.

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