Bond cleaning in Toowoomba is the end of lease clean
Some people search for a vacate clean. In Queensland it's a bond clean, and it's the one-off clean of the whole home once your belongings are out, before the final inspection.
You don't have to book one. The Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) says a tenant may choose to engage a professional company to do the cleaning or do it themselves, and a lessor or agent can't require you to use someone they nominate (s 171(2)).
Moving out of a Toowoomba rental
A house, not a unit
Separate houses made up 83% of occupied homes in the Toowoomba council area in the 2021 Census, so most bond cleans here cover a full house. Mention any shed, garage or sleepout, so the quote matches what you're leaving.
Wind and window tracks
Up on the range, Toowoomba gets more frequent high winds, and window tracks are on the RTA's list of things tenants commonly miss. Tick inside windows if yours have been collecting dust.
Yards in the Garden City
Gardens and lawns aren't part of a cleaning job. Check your entry condition report (the record of the home's condition the day you moved in) for how the yard was at the start, and deal with it separately.
The standard
The Act asks for the home back, as far as possible, in the same condition as at the start, fair wear and tear excepted (s 188(4)). That goes for a weatherboard villa in Newtown as much as a new build.
From the last box to your Toowoomba bond refund
Start with the entry report
The RTA recommends going room by room and checking the entry condition report, including its photos or video.
Clean, or book the clean
The RTA's vacating steps put cleaning, including carpet cleaning if needed, before you move out.
Hand in the exit report
Complete the exit condition report and give it to the property manager or owner when you return the keys.
Claim the bond at handover
The RTA says not to claim the bond until the vacate or handover date. Then use the Refund of rental bond form (Form 4), online or on paper. The RTA aims to process an agreed request on the day it arrives.
If someone disagrees
Anyone who disagrees with the refund request has 14 days to lodge a dispute with the RTA (Form 16). If that doesn't settle it, the RTA issues a Notice of unresolved dispute, and the party must apply to QCAT, the state tribunal, within 7 days of receiving it.
Toowoomba bond cleaners: what's worth asking
- Does your quote cover the whole house, or only the rooms on my list?
- Is the shed or garage in the quote, or is that extra?
- Do you bring your own vacuum and products?
- If the property manager flags an item, how long do I have to ask you back, and can I see that in writing?
Before you book bond cleaners in Toowoomba
Treat the yard and the house as two jobs. Get the lawn, the garden and the rubbish done first, so the business walks into an empty house, then have them work from your entry condition report. Get the inclusions and any re-clean terms in writing, and take your own photos before the keys go back.