Ontario L1 Form: Applying to Evict and Recover Unpaid Rent After an N4

An Ontario landlord uses Form L1 to ask the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) for two things at once: an order ending the tenancy and evicting a tenant who has not paid rent, and an order for the rent that is owing. It is a second step, not a first one. You must already have given the tenant an N4 notice, and the N4's termination date must have come and gone with the tenant neither paying everything nor leaving.

At a glance

Two remedies in one application

The L1 bundles a possession claim with a money claim. On the possession side, it seeks to terminate the tenancy and evict on the strength of an N4, the notice of termination provided for in RTA s. 59. On the money side, it seeks the rent arrears and, where claimed, the bank charges and administration charges for NSF cheques (RTA s. 87).

A successful order will state the arrears, the daily compensation owed for every day the tenant remains after the hearing, and the amount that, if paid before enforcement becomes possible, voids the eviction (RTA s. 74(3)). Any last month's rent deposit, together with the interest owed on it, is credited to the tenant (RTA s. 87(4)).

What the L1 cannot do matters just as much:

• Money that is not rent, such as damage or utilities the tenant pays directly to a supplier, is outside it. Claim those on an L2.
• A guarantor cannot be pursued through it (Interpretation Guideline 11).
• Its ceiling is $50,000, and any amount above that is extinguished when the order issues (RTA s. 207(3)).

Is the L1 the right application?

The L1 fits a tenant who is still living in the unit, is behind on rent and has allowed a valid N4 to run out without paying. Pick something else in these situations:

• You want the arrears but are content to keep the tenancy. The L9 needs no N4, but an L9 order can never support an eviction.
• The tenant is already gone. Use the L10, filed within a year of the move-out date. An L1 is not available once the tenant is out of possession.
• Late payment is chronic as well. Persistent late payment is its own ground, pursued through an N8 and an L2. According to Interpretation Guideline 10, both grounds can run side by side.
• An earlier L1 produced a settlement or order that the tenant has broken. Where its terms permit, an L4 can lead to an eviction order with no fresh N4 and no hearing.

Timelines that matter

The N4 notice period

If the N4 was given on or after September 21, 2026, its termination date has to fall at least 7 days after the date it was given (RTA s. 59(1)); before that date the minimum was 14 days. Under Rule 1.13, you leave out the day the notice is given and count the termination date itself.

Deemed delivery by mail or courier

Mail adds five days: a mailed notice is treated as given on the fifth day after it was mailed (RTA s. 191(3); Rule 3.9). Courier adds one business day: the notice counts as given on the day after it was handed to the courier (or, when that day is a weekend or holiday, the next business day; Rule 1.1 treats Saturdays and Sundays as holidays) (Rule 3.9). The 7-day clock begins on that deemed date.

When you can file

You may file starting the day after the N4 termination date (RTA s. 74(1)); an L1 filed on that date or earlier will not be accepted (Rule 6.7). Three worked examples for an N4 dated December 1, 2026:

No 30-day cut-off, but a voiding risk

Most eviction applications have to be filed within 30 days; rent applications do not (RTA s. 69(3)). The catch is s. 59(3): if, before you file, the tenant pays the arrears and any rent that has since come due, the N4 is void.

Attachments and the pre-hearing clock

• If the N4 and Certificate of Service are not uploaded with the application, they must follow within 5 calendar days, or the application may be dismissed (Rule 4.5).
• Your evidence must be in 7 days before the hearing (Rule 19.1), and the L1/L9 Information Update 5 days before (Rule 10.2).

After the decision

For an order issued on or after July 1, 2026, a review must be requested within 15 days. An eviction order also has a shelf life: unless filed with the Court Enforcement Office (Sheriff) inside six months, it lapses (RTA s. 81). For a landlord, these two dates are where a win can quietly be lost or a loss can still be challenged, so diarize both the day the order arrives.

Completing the L1, part by part

Use the 2026/09 version. It consists of a two-page checklist and information sheet that you keep rather than file, the seven-page application itself, and a Payment Information Form.

Before Part 1

Select English or French as your language. Accommodation needs go on the separate Accommodation Request form, which the LTB keeps confidential from the tenant.

Part 1: Address of the rental unit

Write the complete address, matching the N4 exactly: street number, street name and any direction (such as "Road North"), unit or suite number, municipality and postal code.

Part 2: Total amount the tenant owes

Leave this for the end. It repeats the Total from Part 6 alongside the date you file. Because the tenant sees this page first, any mismatch with Part 6 stands out.

Part 3: General information

• Landlord. Give the legal name. A corporate landlord goes in "Company Name". Extra landlords go on a Schedule of Parties.
• Communication. Pick Mail or Email. Selecting Email means every applicant agrees to receive LTB documents by email.
• Tenants. These must be the same people named on the N4; use a Schedule of Parties for more than two. A mailing address is only needed if it is not the unit.

Part 4: Reasons for your application

• Tick the box for eviction and rent, and the NSF box too if NSF charges are part of the claim.
• Answer whether the tenant is still in possession. A "No" means the L1 is the wrong form.
• Indicate the rent period: monthly, weekly or something else, such as every two weeks.
• Rent deposit. Record how much you hold, the date it was collected, and the most recent period for which interest was paid to the tenant. Leave this blank if there is no deposit. Do not deduct the deposit from the arrears on your own; Interpretation Guideline 11 limits its use to the last rental period.

Part 5, Section 1: Rent Owing

Give every rental period its own row, completing the From, To, Rent Charged, Rent Paid and Rent Owing columns. Bring the arrears right up to the date of filing, even where that exceeds the N4 figure. You can lump older periods together in row one or two, but the final row has to stand alone as the latest period.

What counts as rent? It covers separate payments for services like parking, a fixed monthly utility amount paid to you, and a properly worked-out seasonal air-conditioner charge. It does not cover utilities the tenant pays to the provider, or a share of a bill that varies from month to month.

Part 5, Section 2: NSF Cheque Charges

Use one row for each bounced cheque, showing the cheque amount, the cheque date, the date your bank charged you, the bank fee and your administration fee. Your administration fee cannot go above $20 per cheque (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 17). For Total Charge, use the bank fee plus the administration fee. Leave the face value of the cheque out entirely, since the unpaid rent is already captured in Section 1.

Part 6: Total Amount Owing

Carry the two subtotals (rent owing and NSF charges) into this part and add the filing fee you are actually paying ($186 on the Portal, $201 any other way). Copy the result into Part 2.

Part 7: Signature

Either the landlord or a legal representative signs. A representative also adds their name, Law Society number and contact information. Only the landlord, or a person authorized to represent the landlord under the Law Society Act, may sign. Interpretation Guideline 10 allows a director or officer to sign for a corporate landlord.

Payment Information Form

Choose a money order, a certified cheque made out to the "Minister of Finance", or a credit card. Card payments with a mailed or couriered application go on the separate Credit Card Payment Form. Card details should never be uploaded to the Portal or sent by email.

Filing online

On the Portal, the same information is entered screen by screen and you can pay with Visa, Mastercard, Visa Debit or Debit Mastercard. The Portal's help page cautions that reaching the "Ready to Submit" page locks the draft against further edits, so review the rent table and attachments before that point. Tribunals Ontario has not published a step-by-step walk-through of the Portal screens; follow the prompts as they appear.

Filing the L1

The L1 Instructions (Section D) and O. Reg. 516/06, s. 53 require four items with every application:

• the completed L1, without the checklist pages;
• a copy of the N4 given to the tenant;
• the Certificate of Service recording how and when the N4 was served; and
• payment of the fee, unless a Fee Waiver Request has been approved.

Leave out any one and the application will be refused (Rule 6.10).

The LTB's forms page points filers to the Tribunals Ontario Portal, while the instructions also allow mail, courier and ServiceOntario. Lawyers and licensed paralegals are required to file on the Portal. The LTB, rather than you, delivers the application and Notice of Hearing to the tenant. One more trap: if you have an unpaid LTB fee, fine or costs award outstanding, any new rent application may be discontinued until you settle it (Rules 6.1–6.3).

Errors that get L1s refused, voided or dismissed

1. Filing a day too soon. Rule 6.7 bars an L1 filed on or before the N4's termination date. The usual culprit is counting from the day of mailing instead of the deemed delivery date, which is five days on.
2. A flawed N4. An N4 that falls short of the RTA is void and cannot be fixed by amendment (Interpretation Guideline 10). A termination date that comes too soon is enough to defeat it, and the eviction claim will be dismissed even where the arrears are obvious; at best you may be offered an order for the arrears alone.
3. Putting non-rent amounts on the N4. Only rent belongs on an N4. Interpretation Guideline 11 indicates that adding NSF fees, an unpaid deposit, non-rent utilities or late charges will likely invalidate it. N4s built on rent that was not lawful, for instance following an invalid increase, have been held not to substantially comply.
4. Filing once the tenant has paid. Payment of the arrears and any newly due rent before filing voids the N4 (RTA s. 59(3)), and there is nothing left to file on. If a new rental period begins first, the tenant has to pay that period's rent as well to void the notice.
5. A tenant who has already moved out. Possession on the filing date is a requirement. Where the tenant left beforehand, the correct form is the L10; the LTB might allow an amendment at the hearing, but only where the former tenant is aware of the claim.
6. No N4 or no Certificate of Service. Either omission means refusal. On the Portal, documents not supplied within 5 days can result in administrative dismissal (Rule 4.5).
7. Tenants left off. Each tenant in possession needs to have been both named in and served with the N4, and those same tenants should appear on the L1.
8. Figures that do not add up. Part 2 has to equal Part 6, and every row of the rent table has to balance. Work through the official checklist as if it were compulsory.
9. Missing or improper signature. An unsigned L1 is not accepted, and only the landlord or a licensed representative with authority may sign it (RTA s. 185).
10. An outdated form from November 30, 2026. A new L1 took effect on September 21, 2026. From November 30, 2026, versions dated earlier than 2026/09 are not accepted.
11. No L1/L9 Information Update. Missing the 5-day deadline lets the LTB pause the hearing until the update is done, and it may refuse to give you back the filing fee (Rule 10.3).

After filing: the road to an order and beyond

Before the hearing

The application is discontinued if the arrears, any rent that has since fallen due and your filing fee are paid to you or to the LTB before an order issues (RTA s. 74(2)). The form to use then is the Request for a Discontinuance Order Without a Hearing.

Any repayment plan has to be written on the LTB's Payment Agreement form, which has been mandatory since July 1, 2026. The consent order that results cannot terminate the tenancy, but if the tenant defaults it can open the way to an L4 (s. 206(3), (3.1)).

The half-arrears condition

Where the L1 was filed on or after September 21, 2026, a tenant hoping to raise other matters, such as repairs or harassment, must meet two conditions no later than 7 days before the hearing (RTA s. 82(2); O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.3; Rule 19.4). They must:

• pay half of the claimed arrears directly to you, not to the LTB; and
• set out each issue in writing and give that description to both you and the LTB.

A tenant who skips these steps loses the ability to raise those issues under s. 82, though relief under s. 83 is still available. Give a receipt whenever such a payment is made, and keep your own record of it.

At the hearing

The LTB is required to consider whether to refuse or delay the eviction (RTA s. 83). Since September 21, 2026, it may postpone enforcement without your agreement only where compelling grounds exist and the delay would not be unfair to you or to other tenants (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4).

Once the order is issued

Before the order becomes enforceable, the tenant can void it by paying the full amount it specifies (s. 74(4)). After that point but before the Sheriff acts, the tenant gets one motion per tenancy to have it set aside on payment of everything owing (s. 74(11)). Either side unhappy with the outcome should also keep the 15-day review deadline in view.

What changed in 2026

Effective September 21, 2026

• The minimum N4 period fell from 14 days to 7.
• The half-arrears rule now governs L1, L9 and L10 applications filed from that date.
• A postponement of eviction without the landlord's consent now requires "compelling grounds".
• The L1, the Information Update and Interpretation Guidelines 10 and 11 were all revised; L1 versions dated before 2026/09 stop being accepted on November 30, 2026.

Effective July 1, 2026

• For orders issued on or after this date, the time to request a review dropped from 30 days to 15.
• The Payment Agreement forms became compulsory.
• Rent may now include seasonal air-conditioner charges.

Frequently asked questions

What is the earliest date I can file an L1 after an N4?

The day after the N4 termination date, never sooner. Where the N4 was handed over on or after September 21, 2026, that termination date sits at least 7 days after the notice was given, and a mailed N4 needs 5 extra days on top.

Do I have to file the L1 within a certain time?

Rent applications are not subject to the 30-day deadline (RTA s. 69(3)). Still, if the tenant clears the arrears and any rent that has since come due before you file, the N4 becomes void and you must serve a new one.

Are NSF charges and late fees recoverable on an L1?

Part 5 lets you claim the bank's NSF fee plus an administration charge of no more than $20 for each returned cheque, though neither belongs on the N4. Late-payment fees beyond what the regulation allows cannot be recovered (Interpretation Guideline 11).

Must a tenant pay half the arrears before raising repair complaints?

On an L1 filed on or after September 21, 2026, yes: half of the arrears claimed goes straight to you, along with a written list of the issues, at least 7 days before the hearing. L1s filed before that date are not subject to the half-payment rule.

L1 or L9: which should I choose?

Choose the L1 if eviction is a possibility. Choose the L9 if you want a money order only and intend to keep the tenancy going, keeping in mind that no eviction can ever follow from an L9 order.

Official sources

• Form L1 (2026/09) and L1 Instructions
• L1/L9 – Information Update
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 59, 69, 74, 82, 83, 87, 191, 206, 207
• O. Reg. 516/06, ss. 8.3, 8.4, 17, 53, 56
• LTB Rules of Procedure
• Interpretation Guideline 10 and Interpretation Guideline 11
• LTB Operational Update, September 21, 2026
• LTB Forms, filing and fees