The Ontario L1, Step by Step: How an Unpaid Rent Eviction Application Works for Landlords and Tenants

An L1 is how an Ontario landlord asks the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) to end a tenancy over unpaid rent and to order the arrears paid. It comes second, never first. Before it, the landlord serves the N4 for unpaid rent; the L1 becomes possible only once that notice's deadline has come and gone while the tenant stayed put without clearing the debt. For a tenant, an L1 means a hearing is coming, but it does not mean the tenancy is lost; several ways to stop it remain open.

The L1 at a glance

What the L1 asks for, and what it means for each side

The application bundles two requests:

1. Termination and eviction, built on a valid notice under RTA s. 59 (the N4).
2. Money: unpaid rent, plus (if the landlord asks) bank fees and administration charges for NSF, or bounced, cheques under RTA s. 87.

For the landlord, a successful L1 produces an order stating the arrears, a daily amount owing for each day the tenant stays past the hearing, and the sum that, paid in time, cancels the eviction (RTA s. 74(3)). The Board credits any last month's rent deposit, with the interest due on it, against the debt (RTA s. 87(4)).

For the tenant, the same order spells out exactly what has to be paid to keep the home, and the hearing is the place to ask the Board for relief from eviction.

What an L1 cannot do

• Collect damage costs, or utilities the tenant pays to the provider; see the L2 application for those.
• Bind a guarantor (Interpretation Guideline 11).
• Go past $50,000. Under RTA s. 207(3), the excess is lost for good once the order is made.

Choosing the right application

Three conditions must all hold: the tenant still occupies the unit, rent is unpaid, and a valid N4 expired without full payment. If any fails, consider:

• Money only, tenancy continues: an L9. It needs no N4, and its order can never evict.
• Tenant gone: use the L10 form within a year of move-out. With no tenant in possession, the L1 is off the table.
• Rent always late as well as unpaid: chronic lateness is a separate ground (see the N8 notice and L2 application), and Guideline 10 lets both run side by side.
• The tenant broke the terms of an earlier L1 settlement or order: where those terms allow, the L4 application skips both a new N4 and a hearing on the way to eviction.

Timing, step by step

Step 1: the N4 must have run its course

RTA s. 59(1) now requires at least 7 days between service and termination for N4s served from September 21, 2026 (it used to be 14). Rule 1.13 says to leave out the day of service and include the termination date.

Step 2: adjust for mail or courier

• Mail: five days are added; service is deemed on day five after posting (RTA s. 191(3), Rule 3.9).
• Courier: deemed served the day after hand-off, unless that is a weekend day or holiday, in which case the next business day (Rule 3.9; weekends count as holidays under Rule 1.1).

The 7 days start from that deemed date.

Step 3: file no sooner than the next day

Section 74(1) sets the first possible filing day as the day after the termination date, and Rule 6.7 tells the Board to refuse anything earlier.

Worked example. Rent of $1,900 was due January 1, 2027 and is still unpaid.

Step 4: understand the open-ended window

Other eviction applications must be filed within 30 days, but rent applications are exempt (RTA s. 69(3)). The catch for landlords: full payment of arrears plus newly owing rent, made before filing, cancels the N4 (s. 59(3)).

Step 5: watch the later clocks

• Portal attachments: the N4 and Certificate of Service go up with the application or inside 5 calendar days; Rule 4.5 allows dismissal otherwise.
• Information Update: no later than 5 days ahead of the hearing (Rule 10.2).
• Evidence: no later than 7 days ahead (Rule 19.1).
• Review request: 15 days for orders issued on or after July 1, 2026.
• Enforcement: RTA s. 81 gives six months to file an eviction order with the Court Enforcement Office (Sheriff) before it expires.

Completing the L1, part by part

Use version 2026/09. You get a two-page checklist and information sheet (for you, not for filing), the application itself (seven pages) and a Payment Information Form at the back.

1. Language and accommodation. Pick English or French. Any accommodation request goes in on its own form, which the Board keeps from the tenant.
2. Part 1, Address of the rental unit. Match the N4 word for word: street number and name including any direction ("Road North", for instance), the unit or suite, municipality and postal code.
3. Part 3, General information. - Landlord: the legal name. A corporation's name goes under "Company Name". More than one landlord needs a Schedule of Parties. - Communication: Mail or Email. Ticking Email is consent, for all applicants, to Board documents by email. - Tenants: copy the N4's list of names. Three or more tenants need a Schedule of Parties. Add a separate mailing address only where it differs from the unit's.
4. Part 4, Reasons for your application. - Check eviction-and-rent, and also NSF where bounced cheques are claimed. - The possession question must be answered "Yes"; a "No" ends the L1 route. - Say how rent is paid: by month, by week, or on another cycle like bi-weekly. - Rent deposit: how much, the collection date, and the latest period covered by interest paid to the tenant. No deposit, no entry. Never subtract it from the arrears on your own, since Guideline 11 reserves a deposit for the last rental period.
5. Part 5, Section 1: Rent Owing. Each period gets a row showing its dates, the rent charged, what was paid and what remains. Unlike the N4, this table runs to the filing date, so the total can be higher. Group older periods in the top one or two rows if you like; the latest period must sit alone in the last row. - Counts as rent: parking or other services billed separately, a fixed monthly utility amount paid to the landlord, and a properly worked-out seasonal air-conditioner fee. - Does not count: utility bills paid straight to the provider, or a fluctuating portion of a bill.
6. Part 5, Section 2: NSF Cheque Charges. One row per bounced cheque: its amount and date, the date the bank charged the landlord, the bank fee, and the landlord's administration charge. O. Reg. 516/06, s. 17 caps that charge at $20 per cheque. Total Charge is the two fees added together. Leave the cheque amount out of the total, because that rent is already counted in Section 1.
7. Part 6, Total Amount Owing. Add the rent total, the NSF total, and whichever fee you really pay ($186 via Portal, $201 by other means).
8. Part 2, Total amount the tenant owes. Leave it until Part 6 is done, then copy that figure and enter the filing date. The tenant sees this page first, so the figures must agree exactly.
9. Part 7, Signature. Either the landlord signs, or a person authorized under the Law Society Act does, giving a name, Law Society number and contact details. Where the landlord is a company, Guideline 10 permits a director or officer to sign.
10. Payment Information Form. Options: money order, credit card, or certified cheque payable to the "Minister of Finance". Paying by card on a mailed or couriered filing? There is a separate Credit Card Payment Form. Do not upload card details to the Portal or email them.

Filing online. The Portal collects the same details on screen and accepts Visa, Visa Debit, Mastercard and Debit Mastercard. Its help page cautions that a draft cannot be edited after you reach "Ready to Submit", so double-check the rent table and attachments first. No official walkthrough of each Portal screen exists, so work from the on-screen instructions.

Sending the L1 to the Board

Section D of the L1 Instructions and O. Reg. 516/06, s. 53 require four items:

• [ ] the filled-in application (leave the checklist page out)
• [ ] a copy of the N4 as served
• [ ] the Certificate of Service recording the method and date of service
• [ ] payment, or an approved Fee Waiver Request

Under Rule 6.10, an incomplete package is refused.

The Portal is the route named on the LTB forms page; the instructions add mail, courier and ServiceOntario as options. Lawyers and licensed paralegals have no choice: they file on the Portal. The tenant receives the application and Notice of Hearing from the Board directly. One more thing for landlords: unpaid LTB fees, fines or costs can stall a new rent application, which may be discontinued until they are settled (Rules 6.1–6.3).

For tenants facing an L1

• [ ] Check the dates. Was the L1 filed after the N4 termination date, counting the extra days for mail or courier?
• [ ] Check the N4 behind it. Does it claim rent alone, with a proper date, and name every tenant?
• [ ] Know your payment exits. Covered under "From filing to final order" below: one before any order (s. 74(2)) and one after (s. 74(4)).
• [ ] Raising your own issues? Check the half-arrears condition below; on newer L1s it is due a week before the hearing.
• [ ] Ask for relief. Even without the half payment, you can still ask the Board to refuse or delay eviction under s. 83.
• [ ] Keep receipts for every payment you make.

Errors that sink an L1

1. Jumping the gun. Rule 6.7 bars any L1 filed on or before the termination date. Most often, the landlord counted from the mailing day instead of the deemed service date five days on.
2. A defective N4. Guideline 10 treats a non-compliant notice as void, with no amendment possible. A too-short termination date is enough: the eviction request fails even when the debt is obvious, and the landlord may be left with an order for arrears only.
3. Extras on the N4. Per Guideline 11, putting NSF fees, a missing deposit, non-rent utilities or late charges on the notice will likely invalidate it. Notices built on rent that was never lawful (after an invalid increase, say) have been found not to substantially comply.
4. Payment came first. Arrears and newly due rent paid in full before filing void the notice under RTA s. 59(3), leaving nothing to file on. When a fresh rental period has started, the tenant also has to cover it to void the N4.
5. The tenant moved out. Possession on filing day is essential; a tenant who left earlier is pursued on an L10. An amendment at the hearing is possible only if the former tenant is aware of the claim.
6. Missing N4 or certificate. Without them the L1 is refused, and Portal filers who do not supply them within 5 days risk administrative dismissal (Rule 4.5).
7. Tenants missing. The L1 names the same people the N4 named and was served on, and that should be every tenant in possession.
8. Figures that clash. The Part 2 and Part 6 totals must match and each rent-table row must calculate correctly. Work through the official checklist as if it were mandatory.
9. Signature trouble. Unsigned forms are not accepted, and RTA s. 185 restricts signing to the landlord or an authorized licensed representative.
10. Outdated version. A new L1 arrived on September 21, 2026. From November 30, 2026, anything older than 2026/09 is turned away.
11. Skipping the Information Update. Rule 10.3 lets the Board hold off the hearing until the L1/L9 Information Update is served and filed (5 days ahead), and it may refuse to award the filing fee.

From filing to final order

Before the hearing

Under RTA s. 74(2), the case stops if, before any order, the tenant pays (to the landlord or to the Board) the arrears, rent that has since come due and the filing fee. The landlord's next form is then a Request for a Discontinuance Order Without a Hearing. Repayment plans have had to use the Board's Payment Agreement form since July 1, 2026. A consent order made that way does not terminate the tenancy, though a default by the tenant can lead to an L4 (s. 206(3), (3.1)).

The half-arrears condition

This rule covers L1s filed from September 21, 2026. A tenant hoping to bring up their own complaints (repairs, harassment and the like) has two tasks, each due at least 7 days before the hearing (RTA s. 82(2); O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.3; Rule 19.4):

1. hand half the claimed arrears to the landlord, not the Board; and
2. describe each issue in writing, to both the landlord and the Board.

Miss either, and s. 82 is closed to those issues, though the tenant may still seek s. 83 relief. A landlord receiving the money should give a receipt and keep a copy.

At the hearing

Section 83 of the RTA obliges the Board to think about refusing or postponing eviction. Since September 21, 2026, a postponement the landlord has not agreed to needs compelling grounds and must be fair to the landlord and the other tenants (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4).

After the order

If the tenant pays everything the order requires before its enforceable date, the order is void (s. 74(4)). After that date but before the Sheriff enforces, s. 74(11) allows one motion per tenancy to set it aside, on paying all that is owed.

What changed in 2026

September 21, 2026

• Notice under an N4 shortened to 7 days (previously 14).
• The half-arrears rule now governs L1, L9 and L10 applications filed on or after that day.
• "Compelling grounds" are needed to delay eviction when the landlord does not consent.
• Revised L1 and Information Update forms appeared, along with updated Interpretation Guidelines 10 and 11. Older L1 versions (before 2026/09) are refused as of November 30, 2026.

July 1, 2026

• Review requests: 15 days, down from 30, for orders made from that date.
• Using the Payment Agreement form became compulsory.
• A seasonal air-conditioner charge can now be part of rent.

Common questions about the L1

When is the first day a landlord can file?

One day after the N4's termination date. For a notice served from September 21, 2026, that termination date is 7 or more days out, and mailing adds 5 days.

Is there a last day to file?

Not for rent: RTA s. 69(3) removes the 30-day limit. But a tenant who clears the arrears and newly due rent before filing voids the N4, and the process starts again.

Are NSF fees and late charges claimable?

On the L1 (Part 5), yes for the bank's NSF fee and an admin charge capped at $20 per cheque; on the N4, never. Guideline 11 says late charges above what the regulation permits cannot be collected.

As a tenant, must I pay half the arrears before raising repair problems?

Only on an L1 filed from September 21, 2026. In that case, pay half the claimed arrears straight to the landlord and give a written list of your issues, no later than 7 days before the hearing. Earlier L1s are not covered.

L1 or L9: which one?

It depends on the goal. The L1 keeps eviction on the table; the L9 is for collecting while the tenancy carries on, and its order can never evict.

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

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