Where a Bond is Closed but the RTBA is unable to make a repayment due to a lack of details of where the repayment is to be sent, the RTBA keeps the money as a Retained Repayment.
Retained Repayments can arise for various reasons, including:
Retained Repayments relate to closed bonds. The RTBA can make the outstanding repayment upon identifying the party. This identification is usually through the matching of signatures to the records held by the RTBA. The approval of the agent or landlord to the former bond is not required.
Where a Retained Repayment is held in joint names, the whole retained value may be claimed by a request signed by all the parties for which the Retained Repayment is held. Alternatively, each party can submit separate requests for repayment of an amount not exceeding an equal share of the total retained value. For example, if $600 is held on behalf of three tenants, each of the tenants can request up to $200 without needing the signature of the other two tenants.
Repayments which remain retained for more than one year are paid to the Victorian Registrar of Unclaimed Money.
These Repayments are then removed from the RTBA listing available through this search.
The Victorian register of unclaimed money can be searched through the unclaimed money search facility on the State Revenue Office website.
The search of RTBA Retained Repayments relates only to authorised repayments retained by RTBA after a successful bond repayment claim. The search does not cover Current bonds held by the RTBA. To release a Current bond, the RTBA requires a Repayment Claim.
Before using the search facility, you should be aware of the limitations which can be viewed in Search Tips.
If your search is successful, a Retained Repayment Request form will be offered to you. This form should be completed and then submitted to the RTBA.
By using the Retained Repayment Search, the user agrees that they will: