# Track your Victorian bond transactions through an API

> Read the lodgements, claims and transfers in progress under Manage transactions on the RTBA website with one API call, or lodge a bond. A workflow can check each weekday morning for change requests and renters who have not accepted before the 14 days run out.

Page: https://fous.com/automate/rtba-online
Updated: 2026-11-12

Works with your own RTBA Online account. Fous is an independent product.

## What you can build on the RTBA website

### List pending bond transactions

Reads your list under the Manage transactions tile: each lodgement, claim or transfer still in progress and where it stands.

- Takes: Transaction type (optional)
- Returns: Transaction number, type, property address, submitted date, status, renters accepted, change request waiting

### Get a transaction summary

Opens one transaction from the Manage transactions list and reads its transaction summary, including the outcome of a past transaction.

- Takes: Transaction number
- Returns: Transaction number, type, status, bond amount, property address, renters, payer, change request, outcome

### List online users and access levels

Reads Manage online users under the Administration tile: who can use your RTBA account and at which access level.

- Takes: Nothing
- Returns: User name, email, access level, status (active, frozen or deactivated)

### Lodge a bond

Starts a bond lodgement with the bond amount, rented property address, each renter's details and the bond payer, for the renters to review and accept.

- Takes: Bond amount, property address, renters' names and emails, payer, Homes Victoria voucher (optional)
- Returns: Transaction number, status, renters notified

## Automate the RTBA website with a workflow

A [workflow](/product/workflows) runs your methods as one process, with nobody at the screen. A schedule or a call from your own system starts it, the steps run in order, and the result arrives in your inbox or in the systems you already use.

### Lodgements and claims waiting on renters, every morning

Starts: Every weekday at 8:00

1. List your pending bond transactions under Manage transactions.
2. Keep those with a renter change request waiting or a renter who has not accepted yet.
3. Email you the list with transaction number, type, property address and submitted date.

### Bond transaction updates, posted to your property system

Starts: Every weekday at 17:00

1. List your pending bond transactions under Manage transactions.
2. Keep those whose status changed or that left the list since the last run.
3. Get the transaction summary of each one, with its outcome.
4. Post transaction number, type, property address, status and outcome to your property management system's webhook.

### Monthly review of online users and access levels

Starts: On the first weekday of every month at 9:00

1. List the online users and access levels under Administration.
2. Keep users added, changed or frozen since the last run.
3. Email you the full list with those changes marked.

You can run a workflow by hand on every plan, Free included. Schedules and webhook triggers come with the paid plans, from $29 a month.

## Once built, one call from your code

Once you have built a [method](/product/methods), it is one POST to /v1/runs from your backend, or a tool an AI agent calls over MCP. This is what “List pending bond transactions” would look like.

Example request:

```
curl https://api.fous.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $FOUS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "method": "rentalbonds.vic.gov.au/list_pending_bond_transactions",
    "input": {
      "transaction_type": "lodgement"
    }
  }'
```

Example response:

```
{
  "status": "completed",
  "data": {
    "transactions": [
      {
        "transaction_number": "T-0048213",
        "type": "Lodgement",
        "property_address": "12 Acme Street, Northwind VIC 3000",
        "submitted": "2026-11-06",
        "status": "Pending",
        "renters_accepted": "1 of 2",
        "change_request_waiting": false
      }
    ],
    "count": 1
  }
}
```

An example with invented data, not a ready-made endpoint. The method exists in your organization once you build it, and its name, inputs and fields follow your request.

## The RTBA website’s own options

The RTBA documents no API or file import for rental providers. Every bond transaction, from lodgements to claims, transfers and corrections, is started and managed by hand on the RTBA website, and paper forms, cheques and money orders are no longer accepted. You can add online users to your account with one of four access levels.

| Option | What it covers | What it takes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Online users with access levels | Other people at your agency use the same RTBA account, from Level 1 (view bond and transaction details) to Level 4 (all functions). | A Level 3 or Level 4 user creates them under Administration, Manage online users. |
| The RTBA website by hand | Lodge, claim, transfer, correct, accept or cancel bond transactions and follow them under Manage transactions. | A registered rental provider account (landlord or licensed estate agent), with identity confirmed through Service Victoria. |

Read on November 12, 2026: [Rental provider administration and managing bond transactions](https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/renting/rtba-online-support/property-manager-guide-administrators-guide), [Changes to the RTBA's online system](https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/renting/rent-bond-bills-and-condition-reports/bond/changes-to-the-rtbas-online-system), [RTBA system help](https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/renting/rent-bond-bills-and-condition-reports/bond/rtba-system-help).

## Signing in to the RTBA website

Rental providers sign in to the RTBA website with a username, which is their email address followed by .rtba, and a password. Identity is confirmed with Service Victoria when the account is registered. With Fous you sign in once through the RTBA website's own sign-in with your own account. The login is sealed with AES-256, and when a session expires Fous signs back in.

## Worth knowing

- **Renters accept every lodgement and claim**: Each renter gets an email to review and accept, and must do so within 14 days or the transaction lapses. You can resubmit it with the previous details pre-filled.
- **Every renter needs their own email address**: Each renter needs a unique email address and verifies their identity through Service Victoria before they can see a lodgement. If a name does not match their ID, cancel and resubmit.
- **Change requests must be actioned in 14 days**: When a renter asks for a change, you action it with Action change request on the transaction summary, within 14 days.
- **Access level decides what a method can do**: A Level 1 user can only view bond and transaction details. Starting and managing transactions needs Level 2, and banking details and rent roll transfers need Level 4.

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## Frequently asked questions

### Does RTBA Online have an API?

No. The RTBA documents no API or file import for rental providers. All bond transactions are started and managed on the RTBA website, and paper forms are no longer accepted. You can give other staff their own online user with an access level from Level 1 to Level 4.

### How long do I have to lodge a bond with the RTBA?

You must lodge it within 14 days of receiving it. After you submit the lodgement, every renter has 14 days to accept, and once accepted the bond is usually lodged within one business day. Payments can take up to 8 days to process.

### Who pays the bond when I lodge it?

You choose the payer when you lodge. Pick Rental provider if you already received the bond, and the RTBA debits the bank details on your registered account. Pick Renter if the renter gave you written notice that they will pay the RTBA directly, by BPAY, direct debit or credit card within 48 hours.

### What is the deadline for a bond claim?

Rental providers must start a claim within 14 days of the rental agreement ending, unless a renter has already started one. Give the renter at least 3 business days' notice first. Once everyone accepts, the RTBA usually repays the bond within one business day.

### Is Fous affiliated with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority?

No. Fous is an independent product. You use it with your own RTBA account, and a method reads and does only what that account can.

Fous is an independent product: it is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by the operator of RTBA Online (Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (Consumer Affairs Victoria)). The name is used only to say which system this page is about. Something here wrong or out of date? Write to legal@fous.com.