The bond should be returned to the tenant or resident at the end of the lease, if there are no claims by the landlord or proprietor for cleaning, outstanding rent or other costs. Bond guarantees will be returned to SA Housing Trust. The tenant or resident will need to pay back SA Housing Trust for any bond claimed.
Requesting a refund
All tenants who have contributed to the bond and the managing party, such as the landlord, agent or organisation managing the rental property, must agree on the refund amount before any money can be released.
Once an agreement has been reached, either party can lodge a refund request through their Residential Bonds Online (RBO) account. Funds are released through either a direct bank transfer or cheque in the post, if there are no bank account details listed.
RBO account
You can set one up quickly and easily to start the refund process.
For people who are unable to set up an RBO account, forms are available to process your bond refund. Please note that refunds processed via forms will take longer than refunds processed in RBO.
You can begin the refund process using RBO
Difficulty reaching an agreement
If an agreement can't be reached about the amount each party should receive from the bond, it is in dispute.
Unclaimed bond money
When a bond refund is processed and CBS Bonds doesn't have the tenant’s banking details to pay their claim, the funds will be held by Consumer and Business Services (CBS).
Money will sit in a holding account for 90 days with an ‘Approved Refund’ status pending CBS receiving bank details.
If the money remains unclaimed after 90 days, it will move to an ‘Unclaimed’ status.
Visit the Unclaimed Bonds webpage for more information, or to check if you have any unclaimed bond money, visit CBS Bond Status Search.
Bonds that have remained unclaimed for more than 15 months are eligible for transfer to the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF). Bonds transferred to DTF will appear with an ‘Unclaimed Treasury’ status and the money transferred will appear on its Register of Unclaimed Money.
For more information, visit 'How to claim unclaimed money'.
