BondShieldNSW

Last updated: 2 July 2026

The NSW Bond Recovery Checklist

For renters ending a tenancy in New South Wales. This is general information, not legal advice — for advice on your situation, contact the Tenants' Union of NSW. One thing worth knowing before you start: most bonds are returned to tenants in full.

Four weeks before you move out

  1. Give your notice in writing, keep a copy, note the date. Notice periods depend on your lease type and why the tenancy is ending — check the current table.
  2. Dig out your original condition report and move-in photos. Everything gets compared against this baseline. Never received one? Note that too — it matters at the Tribunal.
  3. Re-read your lease for cleaning clauses. You must leave the place reasonably clean — but blanket “professional cleaning” clauses aren't automatically enforceable, and professional carpet cleaning can generally only be required in limited cases (for example, where you kept pets with the landlord's permission) or where it's genuinely needed.
  4. Book any cleaning early — end-of-lease cleaners fill up at month-end.

Final week

  1. Clean to the condition report, not to “spotless”. Your obligation is to return the property in the condition it was in at the start, fair wear and tear excepted. Photograph as you go.
  2. Fix only what you damaged. Fair wear and tear is not yours to pay for — worn carpet in walkways, faded paint and minor scuffs are the classic disputed examples.
  3. Take timestamped photos of every room, empty, matching your move-in angles where possible: walls, floors, ceilings, inside ovens and cupboards, gardens, meter readings.

At the final inspection

  1. Attend if you can. Note everything raised. Don't sign anything you disagree with.
  2. Hand back all keys, fobs and remotes and get written acknowledgment — your tenancy generally isn't over until the landlord has possession back, and rent can be claimed up to that point.

Claiming your bond

  1. Don't wait for the agent — you can lodge your own claim through Rental Bonds Online as soon as the tenancy ends. If the landlord wants to dispute your claim, they must apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) within 14 days — otherwise the bond is paid to you.
  2. If the landlord or agent claims first, you'll get the Notice of Claim by email and SMS with 14 days to respond. If you do nothing, the bond pays out according to their claim. To dispute it, apply to NCAT within those 14 days — a small application fee applies (roughly $50–60; check NCAT's current schedule).
  3. After applying to NCAT, log back into Rental Bonds Online before the “due for payment” date to tell Fair Trading you've lodged a dispute — this freezes the bond pending the hearing. Miss this step and the money can move anyway.
  4. Ask for itemised evidence of any deduction. A landlord claiming without your consent must give you the end-of-tenancy condition report and copies of estimates, quotes, invoices or receipts. “General cleaning” with no invoice is not a claim — it's a hope.
  5. Already paid out? You can still challenge a bond payout at NCAT for up to six months afterwards.

If it goes to NCAT

  1. Build your evidence pack: both condition reports, dated photos, all correspondence, receipts for anything you paid for, the itemised claim and its gaps — organised chronologically. The party with the better records usually wins.Want this assembled for you? The Bond Back Pack turns your photos and paperwork into an organised, tribunal-ready pack.
  2. The landlord must back their claim with evidence, account for fair wear and tear and depreciation, and take steps to minimise their losses.
  3. Before the hearing, call the Tenants' Union of NSW or your local Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Service — free, independent, and they know the Tribunal cold.

Last updated 2 July 2026. Sources: NSW Fair Trading, Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW), Tenants' Union of NSW.

Prefer it as a PDF?

Optional — everything is readable on this page. Leave your email and we'll give you the printable PDF version. No newsletter, no follow-up sequence.

In a dispute right now?

If you're facing eviction, have an NCAT hearing scheduled, or need advice on an active dispute, contact the Tenants' Union of NSW first. Their advice is independent, renter-side and free of charge.

Tenants' Union of NSW — get advice

BondShield prepares documents. It is not a substitute for advice on a live dispute.