Victoria: an RTBA email arrived. What should you check before accepting?

1Does the email ask you to accept, or to pay?

Work that out before you click anything.

A bond is the money you pay at the start of the agreement. The RTBA (Residential Tenancies Bond Authority) is the Victorian Government body that holds rental bonds. Your rental provider or agent starts the lodgement on the RTBA website, not you. Once they submit it, each renter on it gets an email asking them to review and accept. The first time you click through you have to verify your identity with Service Victoria, which needs an email address and a mobile number.

Say you already paid the bond to the agent and an RTBA email turns up days later. Don't panic. Most of the time it only asks you to confirm that the lodgement details are right, not to pay again. If the email carries a payment link, look at the payer detail: if you have already paid the agent, the payer should be the rental provider, not you.

There is one exception: a Homes Victoria bond loan paying the bond. These are government loans for low-income renters and applicants have to be Australian permanent residents, so international students rarely come across them. For these lodgements renters don't accept anything, but should check the details on the loan voucher before it is lodged and take any problem to Homes Victoria, because the RTBA can't change them.

2Check four things before you accept

If something is wrong, ask for a correction first, then accept.

Your name, email, the property address and unit number. Spell your name as it appears on your passport, with given name and surname the right way round. In a share house each renter needs their own email address, not one shared by several people.

The bond amount, which should match your rental agreement (often called a lease) and your payment record. And the payer: if you have already paid the rental provider or agent, the payer should be them, not you. If it is wrong, ask them to fix it, then accept.

What each button does, before you click. The key point: once you accept, you can't decline or ask for changes. So if even one detail is wrong, don't click yet. Ask the rental provider or agent to fix it. If you aren't sure the email is real, go to the RTBA website yourself and sign in there.

3Three different clocks

Accepting, paying and waiting for the receipt each have their own time limit.

Accepting and paying are separate. Accepting doesn't mean you have paid, and paying doesn't mean the lodgement is complete: that comes with the receipt. The receipt shows your bond number. Keep it, because you need it when you move out.

In a share house paying directly, one renter pays the full bond in one payment. Agree beforehand how much each person puts in and settle between yourselves rather than expecting everyone to pay their own part. You also have to tell the rental provider or agent in writing before they start the lodgement.

4Which payment deadline applies?

Pay the day the link arrives, and follow the time shown on the payment page.

You may see two different numbers on two official pages. The RTBA lodgement page says 48 hours from when the payment link is created. The Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) rental changes page says 2 business days after you receive the bond request. Over a weekend the two can differ by a day or two.

You don't have to work it out. Arrange payment the day the link arrives. If the email or payment page shows an expiry time, follow that. Pay that day and you meet either version.

Don't mistake the 14-day acceptance period for the payment deadline. They are separate. You can pay by debit card, credit card or BPAY. Some payments take days to process (the official page says up to 8 days), and one that is rejected or doesn't arrive cancels the lodgement, so you have to start again. Don't leave it to the last moment.

5What if the email never arrives, or you doubt it is real?

Check your own inbox first, then ask the rental provider or agent.

Check your spam folder and whether your mailbox is full. Then ask the rental provider or agent whether the lodgement was submitted, and whether they typed your email address correctly. A single wrong letter is enough.

If you aren't sure a link is genuine, don't click it. Open the RTBA website (rentalbonds.vic.gov.au) and look it up there. Keep passwords and verification codes to yourself, even from someone claiming to be the agent or the RTBA. You need to sign in with the same email address used on the lodgement. If you no longer have access to it, call the RTBA on 1300 137 164.

Once everyone has accepted and any payment has gone through, keep the emails, the transfer record and the receipt, because you need them when you move out. If you have already clicked the wrong thing, don't click other links or pay again. Call the RTBA first and ask whether and how the details can be corrected, and tell the rental provider or agent in writing.