Since 1 July 2026 a Victorian renter has been able to move their bond from one rental to the next. No second bond, and no waiting for the first one to come back. The Portable Rental Bond Scheme is optional, the renter drives it, and it costs them $25. Three months in, the practical questions for a property manager are simple ones. What do I do at the new property? What happens to my claim at the old one? And does any of it touch the trust account?
The short answers are: pick the Renter Pay option, claim as you always have, and no. The longer answers are below, along with the eligibility rules that catch people out and the records worth keeping.
The short version
- Live since 1 July 2026. The renter opts in through the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA), pays a $25 fee, and pays any difference if the new bond is higher.
- At the new property you lodge the bond in RTBA Online with the Renter Pay option. The transfer happens on the RTBA’s side, and the money never enters your trust account.
- At the old property you claim exactly as before. If the claim succeeds, the State pays it and recovers the money from the renter.
- Eligibility is strict: the same renters on both bonds with details matching exactly, no claim or suspension on the old bond, and no Homes Victoria loan.
- A new tenancy with no bond receipt in trust is not a missing bond until you’ve checked the RTBA.
How the scheme works
The scheme sits in Division 3A of Part 10 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, added by the Consumer Legislation Amendment Act 2025. The detail is in the Transfer of Bond Guidelines and regulations that started on 1 July 2026. In plain terms:
- The renter signs the lease for the new property but doesn’t pay the bond.
- They tell the new agent they’ll pay the bond directly to the RTBA. The agent lodges the bond request in RTBA Online with the Renter Pay option.
- The RTBA emails the renter to review and complete the lodgement. If they’re eligible, they opt in, accept the terms and conditions, pay the $25 fee, and pay any shortfall if the new bond is higher.
- The RTBA moves the money from the old bond to the new one on the Secretary’s direction, and the renter and the new rental provider are notified.
If the new bond is lower, only the amount needed transfers. The balance stays on the old bond and goes through the ordinary claim process when that tenancy is finalised. Renters can’t choose to transfer part of a bond, and can’t merge two bonds into one. They can transfer as often as they move, provided they don’t owe the State money from an earlier transfer.
Who’s eligible, and who isn’t
Eligibility is assessed on the renter. The old bond must be held by the RTBA, unclaimed, not suspended and with no pending transactions. The same renters must appear on both bonds, and their details have to match exactly: spelling, contact details and date of birth. Both properties have to be in Victoria.
Some bonds are excluded outright: rooming houses, caravan parks and Part 4A residential parks, and bonds funded by a Homes Victoria bond loan. So are share-house renters heading to different properties, and anyone who still owes the State from a previous transfer.
The detail-matching rule is the one that bites in practice. If a renter has changed their surname or phone number since the first bond was lodged, the transfer fails until the old rental provider updates their details. The new agent may then have to cancel and resubmit the lodgement. It’s worth a quick check of the old bond record before you promise a moving date.
At the new property
Your job is smaller than it sounds. Lodge the bond as you normally would, but select Renter Pay rather than receiving the money yourself. The scheme only works where the renter pays the RTBA directly. If the renter hands you the bond instead, it’s a standard lodgement under section 406 of the Act. Into trust, then to the RTBA with the completed form within 10 business days. That one carries 150 penalty units, $31,365 at the 2026-27 rate.
Since 9 September 2026 a renter can also give you written notice that they’ll pay the RTBA directly, whether or not they’re transferring a bond. Under the new section 405A you then complete and sign the lodgement form and give it to the renter to sign, and the RTBA asks the renter for the money. A further section, 405B, will make it an offence to refuse a tenancy because the renter chose to pay the RTBA directly. It hasn’t commenced yet and is due by 1 June 2027 at the latest.
The practical risk is timing. A transferred bond isn’t lodged until the renter has opted in, paid any difference and passed the eligibility check. Agree the sequence with the renter before keys change hands, and check the bond status in RTBA Online rather than assuming.
If the new agreement turns out to be invalid, or ends before the renter moves in, the Secretary can direct the RTBA to return the bond to the renter and refund the $25 fee.
At the old property
Nothing about the claim changes. According to the Real Estate Institute of Victoria (REIV), the outgoing agent is told when a managed bond is transferred. The notice says the bond is now under government guarantee and the agent’s interest in it remains protected. You still inspect, still claim, and still go to Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria (RDRV) or the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) if the renter disputes it. You can claim up to the full amount of the original bond, whatever amount was transferred.
The difference is where the money comes from. An agreed claim is paid on the Secretary’s direction out of the Residential Bonds Investment Income Account. A disputed claim is paid once the VCAT order or RDRV settlement is final, in the amount ordered or agreed. Either way the payout arrives where your RTBA claim payments normally land. REIV notes the claim receipt and review summary may look a little different, showing the amount transferred and the balance left on the bond.
The renter then owes the State what was paid on their behalf. They get a notice by email and text, with eight weeks to pay and payment plans if they’re in hardship. A $12.80 fee is added if the debt goes overdue, and it can be referred to a debt collection agency if it stays unpaid. None of that involves you. As the Victorian Government’s own guidance puts it, no action is needed from the rental provider.
Where the trust account comes in
This is the part that matters for us. A transferred bond never passes through your trust account. There’s no receipt, no bond ledger entry and no lodgement to make. That’s the point of the scheme, and it’s also where a well-drilled office can trip over itself.
Don’t receipt a bond you never received. Some property management software assumes a bond is receipted into trust and then lodged. For a transferred bond, or any bond the renter pays the RTBA directly, record the RTBA bond number and amount against the tenancy and mark it as paid directly. A phantom bond receipt makes the trust ledger disagree with the bank, and that’s a reconciliation finding, not a rounding error.
A missing bond receipt isn’t a missing bond. If your month-end check flags a new tenancy with no bond in trust, look at the RTBA status before chasing anyone. We made the same point about NSW’s Smart Rental Bonds, and the logic is identical: the bond exists, it just never touched you.
The bond register still has to agree with the RTBA. Your auditor will expect the bonds your system says are lodged to match what the RTBA holds. A transferred bond shows on the new tenancy at the full amount and, if part of it stayed behind, on the old bond at the reduced balance. Make sure the claim on the old tenancy is against the balance that actually remains there.
Claim payouts are receipted as normal. When the State pays your claim on the old property, it lands like any other RTBA claim. Receipt it to the vacated tenancy as a bond claim, disburse to the owner and file the RTBA advice. There’s no separate government payment to account for.
Homes Victoria bond loans still work the old way. They can’t be transferred, so a renter on a bond loan pays a fresh bond at the next property and Homes Victoria recovers the first one. Nothing changes for you.
What changed on 9 September 2026
The Consumer Legislation Amendment Act 2026 made a run of small amendments to the scheme, all in force since 9 September. Most of them add “or former renter” wherever the Act said “renter”. That way the claim-payment, repayment and debt provisions clearly reach a person who has already left the property, which is who a bond claim is usually against. Recovered debts now go into the Residential Bonds Investment Income Account. None of it changes the process for agents. If you’re reading the Act itself, that’s why the section numbers run from 423A to 423ZC.
Where that leaves you
For most Victorian offices the scheme will show up as a slightly different bond lodgement a few times a month, and a claim payout that arrives from the same place as always. The work is in the records: an RTBA bond number on every tenancy, no phantom receipts, and a claim on the old property that matches the balance still sitting there. Our Victorian trust accounting page covers the rest of the state’s rules. If you’d like us to check that your bond records line up with the RTBA before your auditor does, get in touch.
Sources: Portable Rental Bond Scheme, About the Portable Rental Bond Scheme and How portable bonds work (updated 11 September 2026), Victorian Government; Transfer of Bond Guidelines, Department of Government Services (1 July 2026); Portable rental bonds are now here, Consumer Affairs Victoria (1 July 2026); Residential Tenancies Act 1997, Part 10 Division 3A and sections 405A to 407 (version 114, 9 September 2026); Consumer Legislation Amendment Act 2026; Portable Rental Bond Scheme, REIV. Dates current as at September 2026. This article is general information for agencies, not legal advice.