Time frame to get your bond back?

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by Barny, 15th Nov, 2016.

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  1. Barny

    Barny Well-Known Member

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    Hey peeps, short story. Tenant caused damages. Insurance paid for most already, the bond covered the other damages but haven't received bond as yet.
    How long should it take to get that bond back from your rental manager?
     
    Barny, 15th Nov, 2016
    #1
  2. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    The bond is held by the bond board not the pm.

    Has the pm lodged the claim?
     
    Scott No Mates, 15th Nov, 2016
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  3. Barny

    Barny Well-Known Member

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    Yes lodged.
     
    Barny, 15th Nov, 2016
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  4. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

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    Here in SA, if there's mutual agreement on the bond amount, or a refund is ordered by tribunal as part of the eviction hearing, then the bond normally lands in the trust account within a couple of days.

    If there's disagreement about the bond, or the tenant has vanished, then it takes ages.

    So depends on where you are (each state has different processes) and what the situation is really
     
    D.T., 15th Nov, 2016
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  5. Barny

    Barny Well-Known Member

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    Tenant handed keys back after leaving with all damages.
    No contact has been made as not contactable.
    So pretty much a vanishing job.

    Any idea time frame in months? It's Adelaide.
     
    Barny, 15th Nov, 2016
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  6. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

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    This is one of the issues complained about here - SA PM's seek Parliament advice on issues

    Sounds like whats happened is :
    - PM lodges bond on the online bonds website (check they've done this).
    - A letter gets sent to the tenant by state govt informing them of the above. They have 31 days (plus postage time) to respond to this. Assume they haven't responded if they've vanished and didn't receive the letter
    - State govt then sends a letter to the PM saying justify your claim. This has a list of allowable expenses to come from it and documentation (such as lease, ledger, invoices/bills, etc) has to be attached. Check if they've done this part, or even reached this stage yet.
    - (Optional step if the tenant used a Housing Assistance cheque for the bond, the 2 state govt departments twiddle their thumbs and discuss it over a morning tea)
    - Once they send that back, state govt sends bond to the PM within a couple of days
    - PM can then disburse out to owner (some will do it as soon as they get it, some will include it in their normal disbursement run).
     
    D.T., 15th Nov, 2016
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  7. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    When tenants skip (in Qld anyway), it pretty much goes along the lines that D.T. says above. The process must be followed and that means lodging the bond release form without the tenant's signature. The authority sends a letter to the tenants at their last known address, which is the IP, because they have skipped without leaving a forwarding address. I know they won't even get the letter (because I collect it from the letterbox of the house they have skipped from and mark it "return to sender, no longer at this address").

    Assuming the tenant hasn't separately lodged their own form applying for the bond to be returned (with their own signature, and without the signature of the landlord or agent), then the authority waits out the time limit and then releases the bond as per the form submitted by the landlord or agent.

    I would doubt many tenants who skip would bother to lodge a form claiming their bond, so it generally comes down to waiting for the time limit to pass before it is released to the landlord to partially cover the loss and/or damage.
     
    wylie, 15th Nov, 2016
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