New bond lodgement and refund forms are now available from Tenancy Services to improve the bond process for both landlords and tenants.
The new forms have a number of improvements to help make the process of lodging and refunding a bond as smooth as possible. The changes include:
- names of each person contributing are clearly stated on the bond form,
- locating each person’s name and their signature together on the same part of the form,
- the ability to say how much each tenant has contributed to the bond,
- providing date of birth information,
- an extra ‘Additional tenants’ form, where there are more than 3 tenants to a bond.
If you are holding on to physical copies of the old forms, it is a good idea to replace them with the new forms. The updated bond forms are editable
PDF’s, where you can fill in the details and then print them out from your computer. You can download the forms to your computer and use them
as many times as you like.
Click
here to download the new bond forms.
Now, onto our three easy bond tips:
Tip #1: Top up the bond when you increase rent
When you increase rent lawfully throughout the tenancy, you are entitled to ask your tenant to top up the bond to reflect the new rent level. For
example, if you collected 4 weeks’ rent as a bond at the start of the tenancy and you are to increase rent by $10 per week then you can ask your tenant
to top up the bond by $40 and lodged using the new bond lodgement form.
Tip #2: Check for matching signatures
When you apply for a bond refund at the end of the tenancy make sure that you and your tenant’s signatures match that on the lodgement form. The
refund will be significantly delayed if any of the signatures do not match.
Tip #3: Sign a change of landlord form when you buy a property
From time to time you may buy a property and inherit the existing tenancy. When that happens make sure you and the vendor (/property manager) sign
a Change of landlord form so that you
inherit the rights over the existing bond. Make sure you also update the names on the tenancy agreement.
Do you have any great bond tips to share with your fellow landlords? Comment reply below:
Add Comment