Rental bonds, minus the mystery
By Ted — founder, Rumy · Updated 27 July 2026
The single most important fact about bonds in Australia: your bond is not supposed to sit with your landlord or head-tenant. Every state runs an independent authority that holds it — the RTBA in Victoria, Rental Bonds Online in NSW, the RTA in Queensland — and lodging it there is generally the property side's legal obligation, not a favour.
Almost every bond scam and most bond disputes break one of the rules below. Five minutes here is the cheapest insurance a mover can buy.
Before you pay a cent
A legitimate bond follows a signed agreement and an inspection — in that order.
- Inspect in person (or live video with someone you trust) BEFORE any money moves. "Pay to hold the room" is the classic scam opener.
- Bond is typically capped around four weeks' rent for most share-house situations — treat bigger asks as a red flag to verify with your state authority.
- Get the payment traceable: bank transfer with a receipt naming the property, the amount and the date. Never cash, never gift cards, never crypto, never wire services.
- In an existing share house, ask WHO holds the bond today — if a head-tenant "keeps it aside", ask for the lodgement number instead.
Where the bond legally lives, state by state
Search the authority's name directly — always use the official state site, never a link someone sends you in chat.
- VIC — Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA). You should receive lodgement confirmation with a bond number.
- NSW — Rental Bonds Online (RBO), run by NSW Fair Trading.
- QLD — Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA).
- WA — Bond Administrator (Consumer Protection). SA — Consumer and Business Services. TAS — Rental Deposit Authority. ACT/NT — their respective rental bond offices.
- No lodgement confirmation within the state's window? Chase it in writing — unlodged bonds are the #1 source of end-of-lease losses.
The condition report is your bond's bodyguard
Getting the bond back is decided months later by evidence you create in week one.
- Complete the entry condition report line by line, disagree in writing where it's wrong, and keep your copy.
- Photograph everything on day one — dated photos of every room, every existing mark, inside appliances.
- At the end: same photos, same angles. Fair wear and tear is not damage, and the authority — not the landlord — arbitrates if you disagree.
- Claims and refunds go through the state authority's process; you don't need anyone's permission to apply for your own bond back.
How RUMY fits in
RUMY never touches bond money and never will ask you to pay anything outside the app. Every listing is risk-screened, hosts show verification status, and chat warns you the moment payment talk starts before an inspection. If someone on RUMY asks you to pay a bond before you've inspected — report the conversation; it takes two taps.
Rumy matches you with households that fit how you live — AI compatibility matching across behavioural domains, before anyone messages.
Find your people