How to Dispute a Final Inspection Report (and Protect Your Bond)

You handed back the keys. A week later the exit condition report arrives. It lists 23 “issues.” Marks on walls you’ve never seen. “Oven not clean” when you spent two hours on it. “Garden overgrown” after you mowed it the day before.

Don’t sign it. Don’t ignore it. Fight it.

What the final inspection report is

The exit or final condition report is the landlord’s record of the property when you left. They compare it to the entry report to work out what they can claim from your bond. So every item they add is a potential deduction.

Here’s the key: it is their opinion, not a court ruling. If you disagree, you say so, and the tribunal decides who’s right.

Your rights around the inspection

• In most states you have the right to be present at the final inspection. In Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales, the landlord should give you the chance to attend.
• You must be given a copy of the report. In Queensland, within 3 business days. In New South Wales and Victoria, within a reasonable time.
• You are entitled to disagree with any item and note your disagreement on the report.
• The landlord cannot use the exit report to claim against your bond without lodging a formal claim that you can dispute.

How to dispute it, item by item

1. Get the entry report. This is your best weapon. If “scuff on hallway wall” was noted at move-in, it’s not your scuff.
2. Line up your photos. Your move-out photos, dated, against each item they’ve listed.
3. Sort every item into one of three buckets:
   • Already there at move-in (entry report or photos prove it).
   • Fair wear and tear (normal ageing, not your problem).
   • Genuinely your responsibility (be honest; it makes the rest credible).
4. Write a formal response. Go through the report in order. For each item: agree, or disagree and state why with reference to your evidence.
5. Demand receipts. For anything they want to charge, ask for the invoice. Not a quote. The actual cost.
6. Send it as an End-of-Lease Bond Dispute Letter. Reject the disputed items, quote the wear-and-tear provision of your state’s Act, and demand release of your bond.

Common tricks to watch

• “Professional clean required.” Only enforceable if you left it dirtier than you found it. Most states don’t allow blanket professional cleaning clauses.
• A report done days after you left. Anything could have happened in between. Ask for the inspection date and who had access.
• Photos with no dates. Yours have dates. Theirs should too.
• Vague items like “walls marked” with no location. Ask them to be specific.
• Charging full replacement for old items. Depreciation applies.

If it goes to the tribunal

You’ll present the entry report, exit report, photos and your written response. The landlord has to prove each deduction. They know a padded report when they see one.

Don’t let the report stand

An unchallenged exit report becomes “the truth.” Challenge it in writing, with evidence, before the bond claim goes through.

Claim Done drafts your End-of-Lease Bond Dispute Letter for $49. Done in about 5 minutes.