When Does Rent Count as Arrears?
Rent is late if it isn’t paid in full by the end of the day it is due. With rent due on the first, it is late from the second.12 From that point you can act, but what you can claim through the Board as rent is narrower than everything the tenant may owe you.
- Rent includes the base rent plus amounts the tenant pays you for services, such as parking, or a flat monthly utility charge.9
- Not rent: utilities the tenant pays to the utility company, the last month’s rent deposit and NSF charges. They don’t belong on an N4.9
- NSF charges can still be claimed on the application: the bank’s charge plus your administration charge, capped at $20 per cheque.10
The rent deposit is not a cushion for arrears during the tenancy. The Act requires you to apply it to the rent for the last rental period before the tenancy ends.3 When the Board decides how much a tenant owes on termination, it subtracts the deposit and any interest owing on it.3
What a Landlord Can’t Do
Self-help remedies are off the table, however long the arrears run. Under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006:
- You can recover possession only if the tenant has moved out or abandoned the unit, or a Board order authorizes it.2
- You can’t seize a tenant’s property for unpaid rent without legal process.2
- You can’t withhold or interfere with the reasonable supply of a vital service you are obliged to provide, right up until an eviction order is executed.2
- You can’t change the locks during the tenancy without giving the tenant replacement keys. The LTB treats a lock change without an eviction order as an illegal lockout.2,12
Each of these hands the tenant a claim of their own, and a serious breach by the landlord is one of the grounds on which the Board must refuse an eviction.4
Options Before You File
Start by talking to the tenant and putting any plan in writing: the amount owing, the instalments, their dates and what happens if one is missed. Keep a ledger of rent charged and paid by period, because the N4 and every LTB application ask for exactly that table.9
If the tenant can catch up quickly, an N4 still does useful work. It sets a deadline, and if the tenant pays the arrears plus any rent that has come due by then, the notice is void and the tenancy carries on.1
Once an L1 or L9 is filed, a payment plan has a formal route. You and the tenant sign the LTB’s Payment Agreement Form, which is mandatory, and file it before the hearing; the Board can then issue a consent order and cancel the hearing.8,4 If the tenant misses a payment and agreed to the term, you can apply for eviction without a hearing on an L4, or ask to re-open the application, within 30 days of the missed payment.8
The LTB Routes
Which form you use depends on whether you want the tenancy to continue and whether the tenant still lives there.
| You want to | Route | When you can file | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collect and keep the tenancy | L9 | The day after rent is due, while the tenant still lives there8 | $201, or $186 online13 |
| Collect and end the tenancy | N4, then L1 | The day after the N4 termination date, at least 7 days after the notice1 | $201, or $186 online13 |
| Collect after the tenant has left | L10 | Within one year of the move-out, for tenants who left on or after September 1, 20218 | $201, or $186 online13 |
| End a tenancy for repeated late payment | N8, then L2 | N8 at least 60 days before the end of a rental period or fixed term11 | $201, or $186 online13 |
An L9 order cannot later be used to evict, so choose the L1 route if ending the tenancy is a real possibility.8 The step-by-step for the N4 and L1, including the hearing and the sheriff, is in how the Landlord and Tenant Board works.
Persistent Late Payment
A tenant who always pays, but late, is a separate ground. Since September 21, 2026, it includes not paying within seven days of the due date at least three times in six months, unless each failure came solely from you applying a payment to an older debt such as arrears.5 The Board can also find persistent lateness in other circumstances.5 The regulation doesn’t say whether late payments before September 21, 2026 count toward the three, so get advice before relying on older history.
Large Claims
The most the LTB can order is $50,000. A larger claim belongs in court, because once the Board issues an order you lose any claim above its limit.10,4
Collecting After an Order
A payment order is not money in the bank. If the tenant doesn’t pay, you enforce the order through the Small Claims Court; an eviction order goes to the Court Enforcement Office, also called the sheriff.12
On an L1, the tenant can still void the eviction by paying everything the order requires before it becomes enforceable, and once per tenancy can pay later and ask the Board to set the order aside.1 Many arrears files end in payment rather than eviction, which is the outcome most landlords want.
How Screening for Verified Income Reduces the Risk
Arrears are cheaper to prevent than to collect, and Ontario sets the limits on how you screen. A landlord may ask for credit references, rental history and consent to a credit check, and may ask about income only alongside those, reading all of it together.6 The Ontario Human Rights Commission says income information should be limited to confirming the applicant has enough to cover the rent, and that a fixed rent-to-income cut-off, such as 30%, is illegal.7
Within those limits, the useful question is whether the income is real. A pay stub or bank statement the applicant uploads shows what they chose to show. PropTx Verify connects to payroll providers to verify employment at the source, and pulls income data from bank accounts the applicant connects. Previous landlords are contacted as references, which is where a history of late rent shows up. See how to verify a tenant’s employment and what Ontario landlords can ask.
Rent collection and reporting unpaid rent to Equifax are listed on the PropTx Verify site as coming soon; they are not available today.
This page is general information about Ontario law, not legal advice. Several rules changed on September 21, 2026. For a specific file, contact the LTB or get advice from a lawyer or licensed paralegal.
Questions
Can a Landlord Use the Last Month’s Rent Deposit for Arrears?
No. The Act requires the deposit to be applied to the last rental period before the tenancy ends. When the Board decides what a tenant owes on termination, it credits the deposit and any interest owing.3
Can I Collect Unpaid Rent Without Evicting the Tenant?
Yes. File an L9 with the LTB from the day after rent is due, while the tenant still lives in the unit. The order requires payment but cannot later be used to evict.8
How Long Do I Have to Claim Rent After a Tenant Moves Out?
One year from the date the tenant moved out, using an L10 application, for tenants who left on or after September 1, 2021.8,4
Can I Charge a Fee for a Bounced Rent Cheque?
You can claim the bank’s NSF charge plus an administration charge of up to $20 per cheque through an LTB application, but not on the N4 itself.10,9
What Counts as Persistent Late Payment in Ontario?
Since September 21, 2026, it includes paying more than seven days late at least three times in six months, unless the lateness came only from the landlord applying payments to older arrears. The Board can find it in other circumstances too.5
Sources
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, ss. 59 and 74, consolidated from September 21, 2026. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, ss. 21(1), 24, 39 and 40. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, ss. 87(4) and 106(10). Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, S.O. 2006, c. 17
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, ss. 83(3), 87(1) and (1.1), 206 and 207, consolidated from September 21, 2026. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- O. Reg. 516/06: General (Residential Tenancies Act, 2006)
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 8.1, as added by O. Reg. 241/26. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- O. Reg. 290/98: Business Practices Permissible to Landlords in Selecting Prospective Tenants for Residential Accommodation
Government of Ontario, e-Laws, s. 1. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Policy on human rights and rental housing
Ontario Human Rights Commission, Overview, Choosing tenants. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- If a Tenant Does Not Pay Rent
Landlord and Tenant Board, Tribunals Ontario, What a Landlord Can Do; Work out a payment plan; Apply for Just the Rent Owed; If Your Tenant Has Moved Out; last updated September 21, 2026. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Instructions: N4 Notice to End a Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent
Landlord and Tenant Board, Tribunals Ontario, Section B, page three of the N4 Notice; updated September 21, 2026. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Instructions: Form L1, Application to Evict a Tenant for Non-Payment of Rent and to Collect Rent the Tenant Owes
Landlord and Tenant Board, Tribunals Ontario, Part 5 Section 2 (NSF charges); Part 6 note on the $50,000 limit. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Instructions: N8 Notice to End your Tenancy at the End of the Term
Landlord and Tenant Board, Tribunals Ontario, Reason 1; termination date; what happens after you give this notice. Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Application and hearing process
Landlord and Tenant Board, Tribunals Ontario, Panel 1 (Non-payment of rent; illegal lockout) and panel 6 (Enforcement of an LTB order). Accessed October 22, 2026.
- Forms, filing and fees
Landlord and Tenant Board, Tribunals Ontario, Fees: Application fees for landlords. Accessed October 22, 2026.
