FAQs - Tenancy Advice and Referral Service

FOR TENANCY ADVICE CALL QSTARS ON 1300 744 263
The Law
The Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld) is referred to as the RTRA Act and can be found here.
The Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Regulation 2009 can be found here.
The Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation (COVID-19 Emergency Response) Regulation 2020 (Qld) can be found here.

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You have 14 days to dispute a bond claim (s136 RTRA Act), also refer to the RTA Dispute Resolution Request form.
For more details check out the QSTARS website here.
A rental bond does not include rent paid in advance (s111(2) RTRA Act), but some or all money from your bond may be claimed for owing rent, damaged premises, or not leaving the place clean and in a similar condition to the beginning of the tenancy (fair wear and tear excepted).
For more details check out the QSTARS website here.
Yes, the person receiving the bond (lessor/agent) must within 10 days pay the bond to the RTA and provide them with a notice, in the approved form, about the rental bond (s116 RTRA Act).
For more details check out the QSTARS website here.
Your lessor or agent must on or before the day you move into the premise prepare a signed condition report and give you a copy.
You as the tenant must within 3 days return a signed copy to the lessor or lessor or agent (and mark anything you don’t agree with).
Then the lessor or agent must make a copy of your returned form, send you a copy within 14 days of receiving yours and keep their copy for at least 1 year.
For more details check out the QSTARS website here.
- Goods with a collective value of over $1500 must be stored for a minimum of one month. Exceptions apply for goods which are too difficult to store or to value.
- The tenant can claim the goods back at any time during that month, so long as they pay reasonable storage costs.
- Documents (including personal ID and money) must be returned to the owner within 7 days, or if the ownership is unknown/the owner cannot be found, to the public trustee.
Yes, you can find a summary list on the QLD Government website here.
Yes, you can find the Tenants Queensland definitions and common terms here.
No. The lessor or lessor’s agent must not conduct open house or on-site auction without your written consent (s204 RTRA Act).
You should issue a Notice to Remedy Breach (Form 11) with a minimum timeframe of 7 days (but you can lodge it earlier). If the issue is not fixed you can submit a Form 16 to the RTA. The RTA will contact you and the lessor/agent to organise a time for a free mediation over the phone. If an agreement cannot be reached in this mediation, you can apply to QCAT for an order that the maintenance be performed, and a rent reduction for the period of time the issue was not fixed.
The QCAT Residential Tenancy Dispute form 2 can be downloaded from the QCAT website here.
The RTRA Act s409 states that for any claim for compensation, the application must be made within 6 months of becoming aware of the breach of the agreement. Note that this date is difficult to determine in many cases.
For more details check out the QSTARS website here.
No. Section 203 of the RTRA Act states “Unless the lessor or lessor’s agent has the tenant’s written consent, the lessor or agent must not use a photo or other image of the premises in an advertisement if the photo or image shows something belonging to the tenant”.