When an Ontario landlord's L1, L9 or L10 comes on for hearing, a tenant who wants to bring up complaints of their own, such as repairs, harassment or unlawful charges, gives notice on a Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) form titled "Issues a Tenant Intends to Raise at a Rent Arrears Hearing." For any application filed from September 21, 2026 onward, notice is not sufficient on its own: half of the claimed arrears must also reach the landlord, a week or more before the hearing. For a landlord, whether those conditions were met can decide how the hearing unfolds.
At a glance
| Used by | A current or former tenant answering a landlord's rent arrears application (L1, L9 or L10) |
| Timing | After the Notice of Hearing arrives and before the hearing |
| Deadline | 7 days or more ahead of the hearing or any case management hearing. The landlord and the LTB both get the written issues; where the application dates from Sept 21, 2026 or later, the landlord is also paid half the claimed arrears |
| Delivery | A copy to the landlord (or representative) and a copy filed with the LTB; the money goes straight to the landlord, never into the LTB |
| Fee | None |
| What follows | Nothing more to file; the landlord's reply evidence is due 5 days or more before the hearing |
The legal basis
Under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA), s. 82(1) requires the LTB, at the hearing of a landlord's L1, to allow the tenant to raise any issue that could have been the subject of a tenant application, provided the tenant satisfies s. 82(2). Section 87(2) extends that to arrears-only applications under s. 87(1), meaning both the L9 (tenant still living in the unit) and the L10 (tenant who has left). Where the tenant succeeds, s. 82(3) lets the LTB grant whatever it could have ordered had the tenant applied, such as directing repairs or granting an abatement that comes off the arrears.
The conditions come from Rule 19.4, s. 82(2) and s. 8.3 of O. Reg. 516/06. Each must be satisfied a week or more before the scheduled hearing (or case management hearing):
- the landlord and the LTB each receive a written description of every issue; and
- if the application was filed September 21, 2026 or later, the landlord is paid half of the rent arrears the application claimed when filed.
According to Guideline 11, the half payment is required even when the tenant disputes the amount claimed, and it cannot go into the LTB. The LTB's form is optional; any document carrying the same information will do.
Example. An L1 filed in October 2026 claims $3,400 in arrears. To raise repair issues at the hearing, the tenant must pay the landlord $1,700 and deliver the written issues, both at least 7 days before the hearing. If the arrears grew to $4,600 by the hearing date, the required payment is still $1,700, because it is based on the amount claimed when the application was filed.
What the form covers, and what it does not
The form exists so tenant-side issues can be dealt with inside a rent arrears hearing. Disputing the arrears figure itself does not need the form; that is simply part of responding to the landlord's application. A tenant who misses the conditions keeps the option of a stand-alone application, whether a T6, a T2 or another type, heard separately (Guideline 11).
Even issues that fail under s. 82 may be put forward as circumstances the LTB considers when deciding whether to refuse or postpone an eviction under s. 83 (Guideline 11).
The time limits
- A week out: the tenant's evidence (Rule 19.6), the half payment and the written issues (Rule 19.4; s. 82(2); O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.3).
- Five days out: the landlord's evidence in reply (Rule 19.6.1). Late evidence risks exclusion (Rule 19.7).
- Older files (filed before September 21, 2026): there is no half payment, and s. 82 continues in its earlier form (Rule 19.5.1; s. 82(4)–(5)). A tenant on such a file who skipped the written notice can still be allowed to raise issues where the LTB accepts that compliance was not possible.
- Newer files (filed from September 21, 2026): the only exception to Rule 19.4 is one the Human Rights Code requires (Rule 19.5).
- The tenant's own limitation periods still apply. For instance, T2 and T6 claims reach back no more than one year (s. 29(2)).
Inside the form
The current version is 2026/09 and runs two pages.
- Page 1 sets out the rules, among them the half-arrears payment, which is paid directly to the landlord and should be receipted.
- Page 2 asks for the tenant's name and the LTB file number, followed by a table with a row for each issue:
- a description of the issue, such as "no heat in the back bedroom since November (see messages)";
- the date it started (dd/mm/yyyy);
- the date the landlord was told;
- whether it has been resolved (Yes or No); and
- the order the tenant wants for it, such as "Heating repaired; 10% rent abatement".
Extra pages can be attached.
How it is filed
The tenant delivers a copy to the landlord (or the landlord's representative) using a method permitted by Rule 3 or the RTA. The LTB copy is filed, according to the LTB, on the Tribunals Ontario Portal. No fee is charged.
Responding as the landlord
- Look up when your L1, L9 or L10 was filed. If the filing date is September 21, 2026 or later, the tenant owed you a payment equal to half the arrears your application claimed, due a week or more ahead of the hearing.
- Log every payment. For anything received before the hearing, record the date, amount and method, and issue a receipt. Show those payments on the L1/L9 Information Update as well; under Rule 10.2 it must reach the LTB and the tenant five or more days before the hearing.
- Test the 7-day deadline separately for the money and for the written issues. Bring proof of when the notice reached you: the envelope, the email or the Portal record.
- Raise your objection when the hearing opens if the conditions were not met. Rule 19.5 says the requirement cannot be waived other than as the Human Rights Code requires.
- If the issues are properly before the Board, meet them. Five days ahead or earlier, serve your reply evidence: photographs, notices of entry, work orders and repair records. Any abatement awarded is subtracted from the arrears (Guideline 11).
- Keep s. 83 in mind. Issues barred under s. 82 can still be argued as grounds to refuse or delay the eviction. From September 21, 2026, a delay you have not agreed to requires the LTB to find compelling reasons for it and to be satisfied it would not be unfair (s. 8.4 of O. Reg. 516/06).
Defects a landlord can point to
These are proper grounds of objection when issues are put forward:
- No half payment, or a late one, where the application was filed from September 21, 2026 (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.3; s. 82(2), para. 4).
- The money was paid into the LTB in trust rather than to the landlord.
- There was no written description of each issue, or a description that reached only the landlord and not the Board, or one delivered inside the 7-day window (Rule 19.4(b)).
- Evidence disclosed less than a week ahead, which the Board may exclude (Rules 19.6–19.7).
- Stale issues beyond the tenant's own limitation periods, such as a repair completed over a year before.
After the hearing begins
If the conditions were met, the Board decides both sides' claims in a single hearing, with any abatement reducing what is owed. Where the tenant did not, the issues are left for a separate tenant application, although they may still factor into the s. 83 analysis.
Recent changes
Amendments to s. 82(2) and to s. 8.3 of O. Reg. 516/06 introduced the half-arrears payment for L1, L9 and L10 applications filed from September 21, 2026, payable to the landlord a week or more before the hearing. Rule 19 and Guideline 11 were revised at the same time, and the form now carries version number 2026/09. There is one inconsistency to be aware of: page 1 of the form still says the tenant can raise issues without a written description if the member is satisfied they could not comply, whereas under Rules 19.5 and 19.5.1, that exception survives only on files that predate September 21, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
If the tenant says nothing is owed, do they still pay half?
Yes, if the application was filed September 21, 2026 or later. Guideline 11 requires the payment even where the amount claimed is disputed. The figure is half the arrears claimed in the application at the time of filing.
Can the half payment go into the LTB?
No. It has to be paid straight to the landlord, and the tenant should get a receipt.
What happens if the tenant is late?
Barring an exception the Human Rights Code requires, those issues are off the table at that hearing. A separate T6 or T2 remains open to the tenant, and s. 83 may still let the issues influence whether eviction is delayed or refused.
My L1 went in during August 2026. Does the half-payment rule apply?
No. Files that predate September 21, 2026 stay under Rule 19.5.1 and the former s. 82.