 Good morning and thank you for joining the RTA this morning. My name is Ghibli and you've joined me last week. You may have joined me last week for the first webinar, Part 1, about Bond Refunds, where we introduced the Fast Track Bond Refunds and demonstrated how to update your details. Now, Hobie is here again with me today. And as a reminder, Hobie is from the web services project team. Hi everybody. Today's webinar is Part 2 of our two-part series all about the RTA's web services for Bond Refunds. Now Bond Refunds are a part of a suite of the new end of tenancy web services. As you may be aware, the RTA is on a drive towards paperless services to reduce the sector's environmental footprint. Also, the RTA is responding to your customer feedback to making tenancy transactions faster, easier and more convenient and focusing its resources on the delivery of tailored customer services and support. Today we'll be introducing you to web services processes for situations where there isn't an agreement on the Bond Refunds. This will include the notice of claim process and how to request dispute resolution. Towards the end of the webinar, we will also respond to some questions that you can send in regarding the notice of claim processes and Bond Refund disputes. We did receive some questions in our Part 1 webinar last Thursday regarding these processes, and we have incorporated responses into the content of today's webinar. We will also try to answer as many questions as possible, but please be aware we do get a large number of questions through. Now if your question isn't answered during the webinar, please visit our website as you'll find a heap of frequently asked questions, other webinars and other information. Now the RTA really does value your questions and feedback that we receive, and we do use these to inform the content on our website and key messaging for our services. You can also call or email the RTA if you have specific questions and we'll share the contact details at the end. Now before we start, like last week, I am going to launch a quick poll so that we can have a little bit of an idea of our audience out there. I'll launch that poll now. Okay, so you should see that poll on your screen asking you which group in the rental sector do you belong to? I'm seeing some responses there. Hope you're coming through. We'll give it another moment. Okay, closing that poll off there now guys. Thank you so much for everyone who responded. I've closed that off. Now our largest group of attendees out there today, Hope, look as though it's the managing parties. We do, of course, have landlords and tenants out there. Hello to you too. Throughout the webinar, we will point out any differences in the processes. Our videos today are from a managing parties perspective, but as I said, we will point out differences along the way. Okay, now just before we start today's content, I wanted to give you a quick recap about last week's webinar. And now don't forget, as we said, the recording is available on our website and you can find that under forms and resources. Now last week, we did focus on the new web services for greed bond refunds. And we did this because we know that over two thirds of the bonds at the RTA received are agreed upon by all parties. Now this also includes the new fast track process which enables tenants and property owners or managers to complete an agreed bond refund online quickly and easily. We also looked at how you can update your details. Now, Hope, I understand that since last week, the refunds web service is actually now available. That's right. Yes, Kimberly, the new web services went live on Monday. The take up to the new bond refund service has been really positive. As we expected, the majority of refund requests coming through are being agreed through the new process. And on Monday, we saw the RTA's first digital refund request submitted and funds paid out all on the same day. Oh, how exciting. Now, I do know we did actually last week have a couple of questions about how agents can submit or should submit a full bond refund back to tenants. Well, there are currently three options through our new web services. This is the fastest options. Agents can also still submit 100% tenant refunds through the eServices agents portal or a PDF refund form can be uploaded on our website. However, this facility will no longer be available from 1st of February 2020. OK, now we did also talk last week about how to access the RTA web services. So this slide is just a reminder and it does demonstrate how you go about accessing the web services. So you can see here the first image on the left. All of the RTA web services can be accessed from our website. You will then be asked to read and accept the RTA's terms and conditions before being directed to QGov to log in or register for the first time. Now, there are a few requirements to using our web services. You are required to create a digital identity on QGov. Now, this is your substitute for your signature on a paper form. You will also need a unique non-shared email address for QGov. This is to ensure security and privacy of your transactions when you are using web services. Now, property managers, please note that email notifications from the RTA in relation to tenancies go to your organization's main email address the RTA has on record. But your unique and individual email address is needed for your digital identity on QGov. You can find out more information about QGov or web services requirements on our website or through our contact center. Last week, we looked at how to submit a bond refund form as we mentioned through web services and put the new fast track process under the microscope. Now, the fast track process, it replicates a signed refund form and is only suitable for refunds or agreed bond refunds, which as we said is the majority of our refunds. Yes, last week we covered the fast track process it highlighted in red on your screen. Fast track is for situations where the parties have discussed the refund, agreed, and one person submits the refund through web services. Then all the others respond to the fast track RTA email notification within 48 hours or sooner. This means the refund can be paid quickly and efficiently by passing postage and manually handling delays. Okay, so in today's webinar, we will be talking about what happens if someone doesn't agree to the proposed bond refund or not all fast track responses are received within the timeframe. But first, I am interested to know if anyone out there listening has actually used our new web services for bond refund since it was launched on Monday. Okay, I'm going to launch that poll. I know you said there that the response has been really positive. Absolutely. Okay, let's launch the poll and see out there out of our listeners if we've had some people using the services. We've got some response coming through. Give it a couple more minutes or minutes, I should say seconds. Okay, I'll close that poll now. Excellent. After the success of the bond refund on Monday, I can see here we do actually have some listeners out there who have used the form and found it easy to understand. We've had some others using it. Now, just to let you know, guys, for those of you haven't yet, it's been in a refund. I am hopeful that by the end of today's session, the process will become a lot clearer for you. Now, I know some of you out there may be wondering, how do I know if I want to fast track a bond refund? And as Joby said, the fast track process replicates the conversation normally had between parties. So remember that either a tenant or a managing party can start the bond refund process. So if you receive the RTA's fast track notification, meaning that a bond refund has been submitted, you should only agree to the fast track. If the refund fast track the refund, if you are sure there is an agreement and that there are no changes to the bond refund allocations. Yeah, the RTA encourages all parties listed on the bond to discuss the bond refund before submitting a refund using web services. I acknowledge that sometimes claims on a bond can change after the bond discussions are had and refund submitted. This could be for a number of reasons. Perhaps the agent comes across an outstanding water amount or the tenant has decided to return and clean rather than get the agent to engage a cleaner. Well, you cannot accept the refund allocations just yet. You should not fast track the refund. Okay, so say for example, Joby, a bond refund is submitted by my tenants before I've had the conversation about the bond refund. Now, as a property manager, the place looked great. There was no cleaning or repairs, but I'm just waiting for my accounts department to calculate the final water amount. Does that mean I can choose to not fast track the bond and just let the Notice of Claim process commence? Exactly. You can still agree during the Notice of Claim timeframe through web services. Something else to note, if you have had conversations and you are all certain there is no agreement, the Notice of Claim process can commence before the fast track 48 hour window. Okay, you're going to have to explain that a little bit more for me, Joby. So the RTA automatically issues the Notice of Claim as soon as all responses are received. So for example, if there is just one tenant and one owner on a tenancy, the tenant submits the refund online. The owner can immediately access their RTA fast track notification email. They then decline the fast track process. This will start the Notice of Claim process because the owner is the only response required. Okay, right. That makes a lot more sense. Well, how about we get into it and take a look at the responding to the fast track process, which then initiates the Notice of Claim? So you arrive on the QGov page here in terms of conditions. Read through them. You'll then proceed to the QGov login page. You'll enter in your details. You'll then need to enter in your organization's RTA ID to access the fast track. There's also some information on what the RTA ID is. Then you'll confirm the QGov details that are provided. You can also add in a phone number. Then you'll continue on. And here will be the details of the allocation of the refund. So having a look through there, you'll see the reason why they provided that amount. If you agree, you can click, yes, I wish the fast track to refund. But in this example, we'll select no. Some information about what this means. So you will be sent a Notice of Claim is what it's confirming there. You'll then continue on. And then you'll come to the summary screen. So just make sure you confirm the details there. And you can also go back to previous screens just to double check any information or change anything. So once confirmed, you'll then click the submit button. And just confirming to the best of your knowledge, the details you're providing are correct. And then there's some more information about the next steps. Once you've submitted, you can print the summary. You can also provide feedback on the form as well. Excellent. Thanks for that, Jovey. No worries. Now we did talk last week about those helpful hints along the way. So if there is some terminology there or a question that you're unsure of, you can use those helpful hints to give you some more information. Okay. So would this really be any different for a tenant, Jovey? No, all the questions will be the same. Some wordings might be different, particularly for the party. So worded for that makes more sense for the person using the form. Okay. So now that we know fast tracking will only work where there is an agreement. In that video, the fast track was declined. So let's talk about the notice of claim and dispute resolution process that's highlighted on our screen. Now I know there's only two circumstances where the fast track, where the fast track leading to a notice of claim process will commence. Now, Jovey, is this right? One or more people choose to not fast track the bond, meaning there is no agreement or they're waiting to agree, or not all fast track responses are received within the timeframe. Yeah, that's right. So it's an important moving forward that all registered web services users monitor their emails. Some of their notifications are time sensitive. Yeah, that's actually really important to remember. Now, I know we did have a few questions last week from managing parties about what will happen if, say for example, their tenants and submit a refund online, say on a Friday night and the agent doesn't have access to their email over the weekend. What will happen in that circumstance, Jovey? So like the current process, the RTL will only release bond money if there is an agreement by all parties. If an agent doesn't accept the bond allocation within 48 hours, the notice of claim process will start and the RTL will continue to hold the bond money. If there is agreement, the agent could simply respond to the notice of claim and agree on the Monday and the refund would be processed. Okay. All right. So we just watched how you can submit a fast track response, which we know will lead to that notice of claim being issued. Can you talk us through how this process works using the new bond refund web services? So if the fast track option lapses August declined, the notice of claim process provides another option for the tenant or managing party to agree or disagree with the bond refund allocations. Under Queensland Tenancy Law, all parties have 14 days to respond to the notice of claim. This does not change with web services. Non-responding parties or parties who decline the fast track process will receive a notice of claim email that will include a link. That links directly to RTA web services terms and conditions, just like we saw in the first video. Okay. Now, we do know there will be people out there who cannot use QGov or and therefore cannot use RTA web services. Yeah, of course. If they have told the RTA that they are happy to receive emails from the RTA, they will receive the notice of claim email that includes a notice of claim PDF attachment. They can print the notice of claim and sign it to agree or print a dispute request from our website to disagree and post or email it back to the RTA. This is again faster than receiving the notice by post. Okay. So important to note that customers who do wish to receive correspondence from the RTA, you should contact an email or call the RTA who can update your customer record so that you do receive those notifications by email. Yes, that is important to remember. If you respond to say you do not want to fast track the refund, this means you decline the fast track process, not the claim on the bond. A notice of claim will be issued for a formal response to the Bondary Fund claim. And if the parties aren't able to agree on the Bondary Fund, they must respond to the notice of claim within 14 days to request dispute resolution. Okay. So to disagree using web services, customers would access the notice of claim link from the RTA email notification and use web services to disagree, which simultaneously prompts the dispute resolution process. Now, this is what ensures the Bond can continue to be held at the RTA. Yes, all parties can follow the current process. The RTA still accepts dispute requests by post and sign notices of claims. These, of course, must be received by the RTA within the legislative timeframe. Alternatively, Hoby, what can you do if a notice of process claim has started and everyone agrees? If they agree to the refund allocations on the notice of claim, all they have to do is respond to the notice of claim using the email link through to RTA web services. The payment will be finalized automatically after the last response is received. However, if new refund amounts are agreed, a Bondary Fund paper form will need to be submitted by PDF on our website or posted to the RTA within the 14 days. Web services does not currently receive more than one refund for the same tendency. Okay, now what if parties don't respond to the notice of claim within 14 days? It is the same process as in place now. If the parties don't respond, the Bond amounts better specified in the notice of claim will be considered agreed and paid out. Okay, so just so I'm clear, remind me again, so they are being asked to disagree twice. Why is that? Keep in mind, remember the fast-track process electronically replicates everyone signing an agreed paper refund form. If the RTA currently receives a non-agreed paper refund, a notice of claim process starts. So by telling the RTA you do not want to fast-track your Bond, it is if you are not signing the refund and the formal notice of claim process commences. Okay, right, so that makes sense. Okay, how about we now or hope if you could now demonstrate how a managing party would use the web services to respond to a notice of claim? Yes, so we're assuming you have received your notice of claim email and gone through the RTA terms and conditions and QQF platform as we saw previously. Okay, so we're picking up as if you've done that those steps. Yeah, so you've clicked the link in the email. You'll come to the page there. You'll be asked to provide your organization's RTA ID. As we were saying previously, you'll be able to see a helpful hint. So the one about RTA ID, just some information about what your RTA ID is. We'll then continue on. So here's your QQF details. You just confirm those are the right ones. And then continue on again. And you'll see a breakdown of the refund. So if you do agree, you'll just click I agree and accept the Bond Refund Allocation. In this example, we're going to click I do not agree. Some information about the dispute process will appear. So then continue on. There'll be some more specific information about what you need for the dispute process with the RTA. Then you'll be able to provide the reasons for your dispute. So the claim reasons. You'll be able to enter in amounts. You can also add another claim reason if you wish. Down the bottom there, you'll see a breakdown of the claim and also another helpful hint about how you would get paid. So continuing on, you can say that you are the contact person for the dispute and you'll be asked to provide a contact number or you can say someone else's and provide a number for them. Also as well, you can say that you need assistance services such as Auslan or sign English. Or you also require an interpreter service and you'll be able to choose from a list of interpreting services. Then you'll come to the summary page. So it's important to obviously review the details, like with the other forms. Make sure that that's correct. If you want to make any changes, you just click on the navigation to the left and go and change the details. By clicking that box there, you agree to starting the dispute resolution process and you've submitted your dispute. So you'll come to a page about the next steps in the process. You can also print a summary of this form and you'll be emailed a confirmation email with your dispute resolution case number. And that's the dispute form. Excellent. Thanks for demonstrating that. Now, would there be any differences for tenants going through that process? So tenants would see the claims made on the bond, but they are not asked for claims like we saw in the video. Okay, so tenants would have an opportunity to dispute the claims through the process. That's right. Yeah, absolutely. The dispute resolution process. Great. Okay, so just to summarize, responding to the notice of claim and disagree initiates the RTA's free and confidential dispute resolution services. Now, remember, parties still should continue to discuss the bond refund and resolve disputes themselves. And this can occur prior to the RTA's involvement. The RTA encourages parties to share information such as invoices, photos, rent ledgers, etc. to resolve disagreements. And the RTA does not require these copies to be uploaded through the word services or sent into the RTA. Now, Hoby, we did see in the demonstration it looks like the managing party must provide claim reasons when disputing the refund and requesting dispute resolution. Is that right? Did I say that right? Yeah, that's right, Kimberley. The claim reasons are mandatory fields in digital form. So managing parties should have their claim amounts ready before responding to the notice of claim. This eliminates the RTA's paper request for information form, serving you even more time. So managing parties out there would be familiar with this. Yes, they certainly would be familiar with that request for information form there. Okay, so can parties use the web services to lodge, say, a general dispute request or even a request for amounts above the bond money? Now, at this stage, you can only use web services to submit a bond refund dispute request. Options to have web services for general tenancy disputes or disputes about bond claims is being investigated, but at this stage, parties need to continue to use the RTA's paper forms. Brilliant. Okay, so that sums up the notice of claim and dispute resolution request process there on the web services. It has really been an exciting week at the RTA with the release of the new web services for bond refunds and for tenants and managing parties being able to now update their details digitally. Yeah, it has been. We are very pleased to reduce reliance on and demand for paper forms. Web services are more secure, convenient and faster for all parties. They are, yeah. And just a reminder out there, from and the 1st of January 2020, the RTA will see full printing of all forms of publications. Now, remember you can download versions of these from our website or if you require a single version or a single form, you can order this through the RTA Contact Center. Don't forget from the 1st of February 2020, the bond refund web service is replacing the existing upload facility for PDF refund forms. Now, I will be playing a short video here that summarizes the suite of RTA's new web services for bond refunds. I'll start that video now and then we will commence on questions shortly. Music playing Right. Now, onto questions. We have had a number of questions coming through. I can see some questions from some attendees from last week too so that's good to see there. Okay. Now, we've had some questions Hoby here, just looking here. Tenants not having an email address and having to post forms. So, just to clarify, to use web services for bond refunds, tenants do need a QGov account which requires a unique email address. So, if your tenant doesn't have a QGov account, but they have a consented email address on file with the RTA, they will automatically be sent an email when you submit the bond refund on web services. So, if your tenant doesn't have a consented email address on file with the RTA, information will be sent via post. They can fill in this form and post it to the RTA and we will use this to process the bond refund. So, also you'll be emailed, like we said in the presentation as well, a PDF of the notice of claim email that you can send an email back. So, remember tenants without access to web services can contact the RTA to provide an email address to notifications. Now, we did talk last week about the time frames of the turnaround time frames in terms of receiving documentation or sending them back via post. You know, if there are tenants out there or customers out there that cannot register for QGov, just receiving their notifications electronically will speed up that process, won't it? Yeah, absolutely. And I would say that obviously that's an option if they can get that and call us and update their details, that would be great for all of these services we will be doing now and in the future as well. Absolutely. And now the questions coming through about the shared email addresses. So, you know, in terms of if you're a business, combating those shared email addresses as a business. Shared email addresses, as we said, they do need to be unique, is that correct? Yeah, that's right. So, no shared email addresses will be accepted through the web services or on RTA paper forms to protect customer security and privacy. So, customers who can't get a digital ID can continue to update their details over the phone or via a paper form. So, once again this is another chance to confirm that the paper processes will still remain. Absolutely, absolutely. And we spoke last week about if you are a property manager having possibly your work email address for QGov and then having your personal email address for your accessing other QGov services, for example Queensland Transport. So, by using your work email address, that's proving your identity, your digital signature and as we mentioned today in the webinar, all notifications will go to your assigned agency email address. So, if there is a shared email address that everybody accesses and that's where you want the notifications to go then you would be needing to let the RTA know via the web services, you know, updating your details, etc. So, we know that and that's where those notifications will go. Your work email is really a way through QGov to, it's your digital signature. That's right, yeah, absolutely. Okay, so we've got some people talking, a lot of, you know, technical questions around, for example rejecting the fast track I'm just reading some here. Rejected the fast track request, but now I and the other parties have reached an agreement on the refund. What can you do now? So, what can they do if they've rejected it? So, they've said we don't agree, but then they reach an agreement. That's sort of the notice of claim process I'm assuming Hobi as we said would have started if the fast track was rejected. Yes, so you'll probably in that stage, if you're in the notice of the claim process and you guys have come to an agreement. So, you'll need to provide a paper bond refund form at this stage. So, then you'll need to range from parties to sign and send to the RTA for processing. So, that's currently what we offer for that. Yes, absolutely. And I know we have said a number of times the RTA is, you know, this is the initial release. The RTA is taking on feedback and looking at enhancements down the track. Now, can I change my bond refund amount after submitting? So, we recommend that all parties discuss the bond refund before submitting a request. So, this will ensure everyone is aware of the proposed refund and also reduces the chance that there will be dispute, which is obviously important and probably a much quicker process as well, making sure everyone is on the same page. So, you cannot change a bond refund amount once you have submitted it via web services. So, if the other parties have not yet responded, the RTA may be able to manually cancel your submission. But what we're looking for there is we're looking for people to confirm the claims before they make that initial claim to make sure it's a much easier process and you can make sure it's quick and easy for everyone involved. So, if you have made a mistake or want to change your refund request submission, same process as current, you want to call the RTA immediately as soon as you know that there's a mistake on 1300, 3006, 3001. Absolutely. So, we will endeavour, we may be able to manually cancel your submission, but obviously there's those time frames and other factors that come into play there. But calling us immediately if this comes too light. Now, I know there have been some other questions around making your claims and knowing your claims before during the notice of claim process and the mandatory fields. Now, I hope we understand that sometimes there needs to be quotes and what have you making the claims or putting the claims in is a mandatory field when responding to the notice of claim and requesting dispute resolution. I guess when we, in this day and age when we get our emails in and we need to respond to something we're wanting to do that straight away. Now, if for property managers out there who may not have that water amount yet or may not have the cleaning invoice, I'm assuming they would just they would need to be getting that back in within that notice of claim time frame, but they do have those that 14-day time frame to do that and get those exact figures. Is that right? Yeah, so the 14-day time frame there is there for you to confirm the amounts within the 14 days. So like we said, you don't need to provide the invoice via this format. So if you are very sure of what the claim amount will be, you want to provide that on the refund. The importance as well for providing the claim reason is so that we can assist in resolving the dispute. So as both parties are on the same page about what the claim reasons are about quicker, it means that the resolution can be tried to be sought a lot quicker as well. Absolutely, absolutely. Okay, now we did have some other questions. Do you receive a reference number when submitting a bond refund? I know we talked last week they receive acknowledgement saying that it has been the refund has been submitted. Yeah, absolutely. And so when you do make that submission, you can also print the summary of that screen as well and put it on your file if you wish. Yeah, print in the summary. And that outlines all of the information you have imported into the form. That's right. Okay, we had some other questions there. We've answered about attaching documents and updating claim details. I think that's going to probably, we might have to end that session there. Thank you so much. As I mentioned earlier if your questions are not answered today then please, and you do have more specific questions or questions maybe you know, stopping you from jumping online and using the new service, please contact our 1-300 number. That's 1-300-366-311. We mentioned last week that guys on the, in the contact centre our web services help desk train. Now they will be able to walk you through the KUGAV process the the bond lodgement process, bond refund process. They will be able to walk you through that, those services there. So please give them a call or alternatively you could jump onto our website. We do have, we did have a webinar around bond lodgements. We had last week's webinar also and there is a stack of frequently asked questions on there. And some may be very similar to those questions you have asked today. Now thank you so much for attending today. Thank you for joining me again, Hobie. It's always good to have someone from the web services project team here with me. There will be a quick survey pop up on your screen. Now that will happen when I end the webinar today. If you could just hold on into the webinar, wait for that survey to pop up and complete that survey before closing your window. It would be really helpful. The RTA really does use this content to put together future webinars and inform the content on our website and those types of things. Thank you so much again everybody for your attendance. Wait on now for that survey. I will end the webinar now.