At the end of a tenancy, there are certain issues that need to be dealt with to finalise the tenancy.

Inspection of premises

The tenant and the landlord (or the landlord's agent) should meet at the premises on the last day - or as soon as possible after the tenant's possessions have been removed and the premises have been cleaned - to inspect the premises. Using the inspection sheets from the commencement of the tenancy both parties need to compare the present state of the premises with the state they were in when the tenancy began.

Keys

All keys must be returned to the landlord or the landlord may be able to have new locks fitted at the tenant's expense.

Bond

When a tenancy ends the security bond can be claimed through Consumer and Business Services'Residential Bonds Online portal. If both the tenant and landlord agree, the bond is paid as agreed.

Where an agreement cannot be reached and one party requests a refund or makes a claim, the Commissioner will post a notice to the other party giving that person 14 days to dispute the application [Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA) s 63 and Residential Tenancies Regulations 2010 (SA) reg 10].

If the application is disputed, the Tenancies Branch will attempt to conciliate and if it cannot be conciliated may refer it to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. If the application is not disputed within the 14 days, the Commissioner will pay the security bond to the applicant [s 63].

From 1 July 2024, a full bond refund must be paid to co-tenants in equal shares unless each co-tenant consents to unequal shares. Where a balance of the bond is due after an amount going to the landlord, both co-tenants must consent to repayment in unequal shares and at least 1 of the co-tenants must consent to repayment in equal shares [s 63(14)].

Abandoned goods

Section 97B of the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA) details the steps that must be taken by a landlord when dealing with abandoned goods (other than personal documents). The action that can be taken depends on the type of goods being dealt with.

Where the property concerned is perishable goods the landlord may, at any time after recovering possession of the premises, remove the perishable goods from the premises and destroy or dispose of them [s 97B(2)].

Within a period of 2 days after recovering possession a landlord must allow the tenant access to the premises in order to reclaim any abandoned property [s 97B(2a)]. Abandoned property cannot be removed or disposed of by the landlord during this time.

Where the property concerned is not perishable but is of low value the landlord may, after at least 2 days have passed since recovering possession of the premises, remove such property from the premises and destroy or dispose of them. For items to fall within this category the value of the property must be less than a fair estimate of the cost of removal, storage and sale of the property [s 97B(3)].

Where the abandoned property is not perishable or of low value the landlord must, as soon as reasonably practicable, make reasonable attempts to notify the tenant that such property has been found on the premises. The landlord must then take reasonable steps to keep the property safe for a period of at least 7 days after having taken possession of the premises [s 97B(4) and reg 19F]. Advertising is not necessary and the focus is instead on taking reasonable steps to notify the tenant and ensure the property is kept safe until at least 7 days after the landlord recovers possession of the premises.

The owner of the goods stored may, at any time before the goods are sold, reclaim the goods after paying the landlord reasonable costs for the removal and storage of them [s 97B(5)].

After the 7 days, the landlord may sell the abandoned property and recover the reasonable costs incurred in removal, storage and disposal of the items as well as any amounts owed under the residential tenancy agreement [ss 97B (6) and (7)]. The balance (if there is any) must be paid to the owner of the property, or if the identity and address of the owner are not known to, or reasonably discovered by the landlord, to the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs.

If a dispute arises regarding the disposal of goods SACAT has the power to make orders relating to the disposal, or payment of proceeds from any sale, of abandoned goods [s 97B(8)].

Abandoned documents

There are different procedures where the abandoned property consists of personal documents. In these cases the landlord must, as soon as practicable, make reasonable attempts to notify the tenant that the documents have been found on the premises. They must then take reasonable steps to keep the documents safe until at least 7 days after possession of the premises is recovered. If the documents are not claimed within this period, the landlord may destroy or dispose of them [s 97C and reg 19G].

These procedures only apply to property left behind after the end of a residential tenancy agreement. In other situations people who are left with unclaimed goods must follow the procedure set out in the Unclaimed Goods Act 1987 (SA). For more information, refer to our Unclaimed goods factsheet.

Abandoned tenancy

Where a tenant abandons the property, the landlord may apply to SACAT for an order that the property has been abandoned [s 94]. In determining whether a tenant has abandoned the premises SACAT may look at any failure to pay rent or any evidence that the tenant no longer occupies the premises as a place of residence. SACAT may also order that the tenant pay compensation to the landlord [s 94(3)].