Ontario L9 Application: A Rent Order Without Ending the Tenancy

L9 – Application to Collect Rent the Tenant Owes

Official L9 form (LTB) Official instructions

Some Ontario landlords want their unpaid rent but have no interest in losing the tenant. For them, the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) offers the L9: an application for a rent order against a tenant still living in the unit, with the tenancy left intact and no N4 served first. Before choosing it, understand the cost of that simplicity. The order it produces is enforceable as a debt, and it can never become the basis for an eviction.

In brief
Suited to Landlords owed rent by a sitting tenant who want payment, not possession
Timing Whenever rent is owing, provided the tenant occupies the unit on the day you file
Notice or deadline No termination notice. Possession on the filing date is essential; once the tenant has gone, the claim moves to an L10, filed within a year
Filing Tribunals Ontario Portal, with mail, courier and ServiceOntario also covered in the instructions; the LTB serves the tenant
Fee $186 online through the Portal, $201 by other methods; non-refundable
Next step 5 or more days before the hearing, the LTB and each tenant receive your L1/L9 – Information Update

Section 87(1) of the RTA allows a landlord to seek an order that a tenant pay rent arrears lawfully owing under the tenancy agreement, and s. 87(1.1) confirms the application can be brought while the tenant remains in possession. NSF cheque charges from the bank can be added, together with your own administration charge of no more than $20 for each returned cheque (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 17; s. 87(5)).

The shape of the order is set out in Interpretation Guideline 11: a successful landlord gets an order for whatever arrears are owing on the day of the hearing, and the LTB may extend that to rent through the end of the month the hearing falls in. Rent that is not yet due cannot be ordered. Since the tenancy carries on, the last month's rent deposit is generally not subtracted.

The limits are worth stating plainly:

  • No eviction, ever. Even if the tenant ignores the order completely, an L9 order does not end the tenancy.
  • Rent only. Utilities the tenant owes to a utility provider, damage, and interference costs are not rent; an L2 is where they go.
  • A $50,000 ceiling. Bringing the claim at the LTB means anything over $50,000 is extinguished when the order issues (s. 207(3)).

Is an L9 the right choice?

It makes sense for a tenant you would like to keep, such as someone usually dependable who has fallen behind, where you still want an enforceable order. Landlords also turn to it after a tenant pays down part of what an N4 demanded and eviction no longer seems worth pursuing.

Look elsewhere if:

Situation Better route
Eviction may be needed down the road Serve an N4, then file an L1; an L9 order can never be converted
The tenant has already left File an L10, at most a year after the tenant left; Guideline 11 advises against an L9 for a departed tenant
The real problem is chronic lateness Persistent late payment can found an eviction via an N8 followed by an L2, whereas an L9 merely recovers the balance

Timing

Before filing. Nothing to wait for and no notice to serve. All that matters is that, on the day you file, the tenant still occupies the unit.

If the tenant moves out. Arrears from a tenant no longer in possession must be claimed within one year of the departure (s. 87(1.1)(b)), using an L10.

Leading up to the hearing. Three deadlines matter:

  • the L1/L9 Information Update, filed with the LTB and served on each tenant 5 or more days before the hearing (Rule 10.2);
  • under Rule 19.1, disclosure of your evidence a full 7 days ahead;
  • under Rule 19.6.1, any reply evidence answering the tenant's issues, 5 days ahead.

After the order. A review request on an order dated July 1, 2026 or later has to be made inside 15 days.

Completing the L9

Version 2026/09 is in force. It bundles a checklist and information sheet that stays with you, the application itself (seven pages), and a page for payment details. Think of it as the L1 with the eviction sections removed.

Opening questions and Parts 1–3

Language and accommodation. Select English or French; any Accommodation Request travels separately.

Part 1 (rental unit address). Full address: unit number, municipality, postal code.

Part 2 (the total owed). Leave this until the end. It takes the Total from Part 6 and the date of filing.

Part 3 (General Information). Enter the landlord's name, or a business name in "Company Name"; extra landlords go on a Schedule of Parties. Choose Mail or Email for communication, bearing in mind that Email means consent to email for every applicant. List each tenant in possession, using a Schedule of Parties beyond two, and give a mailing address only where it is not the unit.

Part 4: why you are applying

Shade the rent box, plus the NSF box if you are claiming those charges. Then answer the possession question; a No answer means the L9 is not available. State the rent payment frequency (monthly, weekly or other). You will notice there are no deposit fields, which is one of the differences from the L1.

Part 5: the amounts

Section 1, Rent Owing. Each rental period gets its own row, with columns for the start and end dates, the rent charged, the rent paid and the balance. You may lump older periods into row one or row two, though the final row has to show only the latest period.

What counts as rent:

  • In: separately charged services such as parking; a fixed monthly utility charge paid to you; where electricity is part of the rent, a properly calculated seasonal charge for air conditioning.
  • Out: utilities the tenant pays the provider directly; variable shares of a utility bill.

Section 2, returned cheques. A line for every bounced cheque: the cheque amount and date, the date the bank charged you, the bank fee and your administration charge (capped at $20). The Total Charge column is only the bank fee plus your administration charge. For example, a $1,850 rent cheque returned with a $10 bank fee and your $20 administration charge produces a Total Charge of $30; the $1,850 itself is recorded as unpaid rent in Section 1.

Parts 6 and 7, and payment

Part 6 (Total Amount Owing). Rent, NSF charges and the application fee you are actually paying. The instructions use $201, but Portal filers pay $186. Carry this figure back to Part 2.

Part 7 (Signature). Signature and date come from the landlord or a legal representative, and a representative adds a Law Society number and contact details. An unsigned application will not be accepted.

Payment Information Form. Pay by credit card, or by certified cheque or money order to the "Minister of Finance". Card payments sent by mail or courier go on the Credit Card Payment Form. Card details should never appear in an upload or an email.

Portal filing. The Portal asks the same questions and accepts card payment online. Double-check the rent table before you reach "Ready to Submit", because the draft cannot be edited afterwards. Tribunals Ontario does not publish a screen-by-screen walkthrough of the Portal, so rely on its prompts.

Filing

All an L9 requires is the completed form plus payment, or in place of payment an approved Fee Waiver Request (Section C of the L9 Instructions). Since there is no notice, there is also no notice or Certificate of Service to attach.

The Tribunals Ontario Portal is the route the LTB forms page shows. The instructions also describe mailing or couriering it to an LTB office and filing in person at a participating ServiceOntario Centre. Law Society of Ontario licensees, lawyers and paralegals alike, must use the Portal.

Service of the application and the Notice of Hearing is handled by the LTB. One caution: under Rules 6.1–6.3, a landlord with outstanding LTB fees, fines or costs will find a rent application treated as non-urgent, and it can be discontinued until the debt is cleared.

Common reasons an L9 fails

  1. The tenant was already gone when you filed. Possession on the filing date is a requirement. If the LTB discovers at the hearing that the tenant had left, an amendment to an L10 may be permitted, but only where the former tenant is aware of both the hearing and the claim (Rule 15.4; Interpretation Guideline 11).
  2. Picking the L9 when eviction is the real goal. Non-payment of an L9 order does not open the door to eviction; that would require starting again with an N4 and an L1.
  3. Treating other charges as rent. Utilities, damage, deposits and late fees will not be ordered as rent arrears. They need the proper application.
  4. Inflated NSF claims. An administration charge over $20 per cheque, or the face amount of the cheque in the NSF table, overstates what is owed. The rent the cheque was meant to cover goes in the rent table.
  5. Numbers that do not add up. Part 2 has to equal Part 6, and every row of the rent table must balance. The official checklist warns that errors can cause dismissal.
  6. A tenant left off the form. The order only binds the tenants named in it.
  7. No Information Update. Under Rule 10.3 the LTB may require you to fill it in at the hearing and may refuse to award your filing fee.
  8. Filing an outdated L9 from November 30, 2026. A new L9 came out on September 21, 2026, and versions predating 2026/09 are refused from November 30, 2026.

After filing

The LTB serves the tenant and sets a hearing. If you and the tenant settle on a repayment plan, put it on the Payment Agreement form, compulsory from July 1, 2026. If it is filed ahead of the hearing, it can lead to a consent order with no hearing needed (s. 206).

The half-arrears rule for tenant issues

Section 87(2) of the RTA brings the s. 82 tenant-issues rules into an L9. According to Interpretation Guideline 11 and the updated form, for an L9 filed from September 21, 2026 onward, a tenant who wants to raise issues of their own at the hearing, maintenance or harassment for example, has two things to do 7 or more days before the hearing:

  • describe every issue in writing to you and to the LTB; and
  • pay you half the arrears your application claims.

Paying the money into the LTB instead is not an option (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.3; Rule 19.4). Should the tenant succeeds on those issues, any abatement comes off the arrears.

The hearing and the order

Bring the Information Update, your rent ledger and the bank's NSF records. The order sets out what the tenant owes; it is enforced as a debt and leaves the tenancy untouched. Check it carefully on arrival. If something is wrong, you can seek an amendment, or ask for a review within 15 days where the order is dated July 1, 2026 or later. Since collection depends entirely on the order's figures, catching a mistake inside that short window matters.

Recent changes

September 21, 2026

  • The LTB released a new L9 and a new L1/L9 Information Update; L9s dated before 2026/09 are not accepted from November 30, 2026.
  • On rent applications filed from that date, a tenant must pay the landlord half the claimed arrears 7 or more days before the hearing in order to raise other issues (Interpretation Guideline 11; RTA s. 82, applied through s. 87(2)).

July 1, 2026

  • Repayment plans under s. 206 must now use the Payment Agreement form.
  • For orders issued from this date, the time to request a review was cut from 30 days to 15.
  • Seasonal air-conditioner charges became capable of forming part of rent.

L9 questions

Is an N4 required before an L9?

No. Because the tenancy is not being ended, no termination notice is needed. What is needed is that the tenant still lives in the unit when you file.

If the tenant never pays the L9 order, can I evict?

No. The order is collectable as a debt but cannot ever support an eviction. Evicting for unpaid rent takes an N4 and an L1.

Does the last month's rent deposit come off on an L9?

Generally not. The deposit, per Guideline 11, belongs to the last rental period, and an L9 leaves the tenancy running. Only a finding that the tenancy has already ended would bring it into the calculation.

Does the half-arrears rule reach L9 applications?

Yes, for any L9 filed from September 21, 2026. Through s. 87(2), the s. 82 rules govern rent claims, and both the updated form and Guideline 11 require the tenant to pay you half the claimed arrears 7 or more days before the hearing before raising other issues.

What period of rent can the order include?

Whatever is owing on the hearing date, potentially extended to the last day of the month of the hearing, but never rent that has not yet fallen due. The total is capped at $50,000.

Official sources

Last reviewed October 31, 2026. General information, not legal advice for your situation. Always use the current version of the form from the LTB.

Facing this at the Board?

A landlord-side lawyer can prepare, serve and argue it, and advise on a review or a Divisional Court appeal if a decision goes wrong.

LTB Hearings — Landlord Representation Contact the office

Related forms and guides

L1 form

L1 — Application to evict a tenant for non-payment of rent and to collect rent the tenant owes

Your N4 expired and the rent is still unpaid. How to file the L1 on time, complete the rent table and avoid the errors that sink rent cases at the LTB.

 N4 form

N4 — Notice to End your Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent

Unpaid rent in Ontario starts with an N4. The 7-day termination date, what belongs in the rent table, approved service methods and timing the L1.

 L10 form

L10 — Application to Collect Money a Former Tenant Owes

Unpaid rent, damage, utilities and interference costs from a tenant who has left: the L10's one-year deadline, service duties and special certificate.

L1/L9 – Information Update

Required for every L1 or L9 hearing: an updated arrears figure, all 10 questions answered, to the LTB and every tenant 5 or more days before the hearing.

Payment Agreement

Settle an L1 or L9 with a repayment plan on the required LTB form. Done properly, it becomes a consent order, with an L4 route if a payment is missed.

 L2 form

L2 — Application to End a Tenancy and Evict a Tenant or Collect Money

Every termination notice except the N4 leads to an L2, as do abandonment and some money claims. Which notice, the 30-day limit and what to attach.

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