The L2 Step by Step: Ending a Tenancy or Claiming Money at Ontario's LTB

In Ontario, the L2 is the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) application that comes after almost any termination notice except the N4. For a landlord, it is the way to ask the Board to end a tenancy after an N5, N6, N7, N8, N12 or N13, to confirm a unit has been abandoned, to get a unit back from a former superintendent, or to claim money (damage, utilities, overholding) from a tenant who has not left. For a tenant, receiving an L2 means a hearing is coming at which the notice, the service and every dollar can be challenged. Where L2 files stumble, it is usually over one of two points: matching each notice to its own clock, and including the papers each ground demands.

The L2 in one table

Two halves: ending the tenancy and claiming money

Use either half, or both together.

Part 2: termination

Three possible reasons:

1. You served a notice of termination. The L2 can follow: - an N5, for too many occupants, damage, or interference (ss. 62, 64, 67), or a second N5 under s. 68; - an N6, for misstated income in rent-geared-to-income (RGI) housing or for an illegal act (ss. 60, 61); - an N7, for impaired safety, wilful damage, or interference where the landlord shares a small building (ss. 63, 65, 66); - an N8, when a period or term is ending, persistent late payment included (s. 58); - an N12, when the landlord, a buyer, or a relative wants to live there (ss. 48, 49); - an N13, for repairs, conversion, or demolition (s. 50).
2. Abandonment (s. 79). Rent has to be owing. Under RTA s. 2(3), a tenant who is up to date on rent has not abandoned the unit.
3. An ex-superintendent who has not left, more than a week after the employment ended.

Part 3: money

Six claims are available:

• per-day compensation for every day the tenant stays on past the termination date (s. 86);
• NSF cheque costs (the bank's charge plus yours), permitted only next to a per-day compensation claim;
• utility bills the lease made the tenant's responsibility (s. 88.2);
• repairing or replacing whatever suffered undue damage (s. 89);
• money spent because of substantial interference (s. 88.1);
• the additional RGI rent owed because the tenant misreported income (s. 90).

No notice is needed before claiming for damage, utilities, interference or misreported income. And the form is blunt about one thing: an L2 cannot collect rent arrears. Those are claimed through the L1, or through the L9.

Is the L2 really the form you need?

Ask yourself:

• "The rent is not being paid." Serve an N4 and then file an L1.
• "The rent always comes late." Serve an N8 and then file an L2. Since September 21, 2026, the regulation treats rent paid over 7 days past its due date, three or more times within any six months, as persistent late payment (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.1). If a payment only appeared late because you credited it to something else, like arrears, it does not count. Other patterns can still meet the test, and Interpretation Guideline 10 confirms you may run an N4 and an N8 in parallel.
• "The tenant gave me notice" or "the tenant and I signed an N11." File an L3.
• "The tenant broke an earlier settlement or order." Where its terms allow, the L4 is the form.
• "The tenant has already moved out." Within a year of the move-out, any money claim belongs on the L10. Against a tenant no longer in possession, an L2 is limited to abandonment, and the Board only accepts an L2 money claim once you confirm the tenant is still in possession (Rule 6.6).

Your timeline

How long each notice must give

Count from the day after the notice was given, include the termination date, and add 5 days when the notice was mailed. "End of a period" below means the last day of a rental period or fixed term.

The 30-day window

For any notice, the L2 has to be filed within 30 days after the date the tenancy was to end under that notice (see RTA s. 69(2) and Rule 6.9). The regulation rules out any extension (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56). If you miss it, you start again with a new notice.

Worked example: an N8. On Monday, November 2, 2026, a landlord personally gives an N8 to a monthly tenant whose rent is due on the 1st. Sixty days out lands on January 1, 2027, which is not the end of a rental month, so the soonest valid termination date is Sunday, January 31, 2027. The last day to file the L2 is Tuesday, March 2, 2027.

Worked example: a first N5. A tenant is handed a first N5 on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, naming Monday, November 30, 2026 as the termination date (20 days). The remedy window covers November 11 to Tuesday, November 17. If nothing has been fixed, the L2 may be filed from Wednesday, November 18 up to Wednesday, December 30, 2026.

Abandonment and superintendents

Neither needs a notice. Unless they agreed otherwise, a superintendent's tenancy ends when the job does; the superintendent then gets one week to leave, rent-free.

Getting your attachments in

On the Portal, attach the notice, its proof of service, and any declaration or affidavit when you file. If you cannot, they are due at the Board inside 5 calendar days (see Rules 4.4–4.5).

Filling in the form, step by step

Use version 2026/09. Inside: eight pages of application, then Schedule A for N13s, Schedule B for N12s, and the payment page.

Step 1 – Part 1 (General Information). - The unit's complete address, the landlord (person or company), and your preferred way of hearing from the Board. If you tick Email, all applicants are taken to consent to it. More landlords or tenants than fit? Add a Schedule of Parties. - The tenants' names, spelled as they appear on your notice. - The possession question ("Is the tenant still in possession of the rental unit?"). Answering "No" means abandonment is the only reason you can pursue.

Step 2 – Part 2 (Applying to End a Tenancy). - Reason 1: for every notice you rely on, shade its box and copy the termination date exactly as the notice shows it; the Board counts the 30 days from there. - Reason 2, abandonment: describe the signs, such as returned keys, possessions gone, uncollected mail, and your attempts to reach the tenant. Rent must be in arrears. - Reason 3, superintendent: the date employment ended.

Step 3 – Part 3 (Applying to Collect Money). - Reason 1: compensation for each day past the termination date. - Reason 2: NSF costs, which need Reason 1 alongside. A line per cheque; no more than $20 administration fee per cheque; never the cheque's own amount. - Rent and deposit: today's rent, the deposit held, when you received it, and the latest interest period. The deposit and its interest are credited when the Board ends the tenancy. - Reason 3, utilities: a line per bill: the company, bill date, billing period, total, the tenant's payments, and the balance. - Reason 4, damage: a total, then each damaged item with how you priced the fix or replacement. If repairs have not happened yet, estimates are acceptable. Undue damage excludes everyday wear and tear. - Reason 5, interference: money out of your pocket because of the conduct, nothing else; a false-alarm charge from the fire department is one example. Damage and utilities go elsewhere. - Reason 6, RGI: the shortfall between what the tenant paid and what their real income would have required, showing your arithmetic.

Step 4 – Part 4 (Total Amount Owing). Total Part 3 and add the fee you are actually paying.

Step 5 – Part 5 (Signature). Either the landlord signs, or a legal representative does and includes their Law Society number. Corporations sign through a director or officer with authority (Interpretation Guideline 10).

Step 6 – Schedule A (N13 cases). - Part A: do you have the building permits, or have you done everything reasonable to get them? - Part B: was compensation paid by the termination date, did the tenant accept another unit, or will you pay by then? Tick the extra box where an order under a property standards by-law is what required the work. - Part C: list all N12s and N13s you have served over the past two years, whatever the unit, or tick "none". - Part D (first refusal): when a tenant tells you in writing, on or after Sept 21, 2026, that they wish to come back, you owe them written estimates of the completion date, updates, notice once the unit is ready, and 60 days to return if the work ends on or after that date. If you skip these steps, s. 57.1(1.1) deems the right not honoured.

Step 7 – Schedule B (N12 cases). - Part A: pick one compensation option. Option four, "not required", is reserved for an N12 for the landlord's own use, served from Sept 21, 2026 onward, whose termination date is 120 or more days after service and at the end of a period (s. 48.1(2)). A buyer's-own-use N12 always calls for one month's compensation or a suitable other unit. - Part B: covers the declaration that must accompany the filing. - Part C: lists earlier N12 and N13 notices.

On the Portal. It asks the same questions on screen. Upload every supporting document at the upload stage, and review it all before "Ready to Submit"; once past that page, the draft cannot be edited. Tribunals Ontario has no published screen-by-screen guide, so go by the prompts.

Your filing checklist

Always include: - [ ] the completed L2 and the fee; - [ ] where a notice is involved, that notice and its Certificate of Service (as O. Reg. 516/06, s. 53 requires).

Then add what your ground calls for: - [ ] a second N5 (s. 68): attach the first N5 and the proof it was served; - [ ] an N6 that follows a first N5 the tenant voided: attach that first N5 and the proof it was served; - [ ] an N12: Schedule B, plus a sworn affidavit or a declaration from each person moving in; - [ ] an N13: Schedule A, and evidence of permits and of compensation if either is required; - [ ] either an N12 or an N13: Part C of the schedule with nothing left blank, or the Board will not accept the application (Rule 6.11).

What the N12 statement has to say. Each incoming occupant has to say they "require the unit in good faith for their own residential use for at least one year" (landlord's own use), or that they require it "in good faith for their own residential use" (purchaser's own use). The RTA makes filing the affidavit with the application compulsory; otherwise the Board must turn the application away (ss. 71.1, 72). Instead of an affidavit, a signed declaration is acceptable if it confirms the contents are true and acknowledges that making a false declaration is an offence (s. 192.1; Rule 1.5). The Board's Declaration and Affidavit forms can be used.

Filing and service. Lawyers and licensed paralegals must file online. On an L2, the Board itself delivers the application and the Notice of Hearing to the tenant. Photos, invoices, bills, the lease and witness statements must go to the tenant and the Board 7 or more days ahead of the hearing (Rule 19.1).

Where L2 applications go wrong

1. Too late. After the 30-day window, the Board refuses the filing (Rule 6.9) and cannot grant more time (see O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56). That notice is now spent.
2. Too early on a first N5. An application filed while the tenant still has the 7 days to put things right will be turned away (s. 70; Rule 6.8). A tenant who corrects the problem in that week voids the N5 in any case.
3. A defective notice. A termination date that is wrong or not far enough away, missing information, or an N8, N12 or N13 date that misses the end of a rental period. Non-compliant notices are void and cannot be fixed by amendment (Interpretation Guideline 10). The eviction is dismissed; money claims may survive.
4. Notices that send mixed signals. Pairing a voidable N5 with a non-voidable notice about the same behaviour can render all of them defective, and the yardstick is a reasonable tenant's confusion (Interpretation Guideline 10).
5. A second N5 built on old events. It must rest on fresh behaviour occurring over 7 days but under 6 months after the date the first N5 was given. Relying only on what the first N5 described makes it invalid.
6. Filing an N12 without its declaration or affidavit. Refused (s. 71.1(2)). Leave "good faith" or the one-year commitment out of a declaration and expect a fight over substantial compliance.
7. Gaps in Part C of either schedule. The Board refuses it (Rule 6.11), and leaving out a past N12 or N13 can be an offence.
8. Compensation outstanding. For an N12 or N13, the Board cannot order eviction until compensation is paid or a suitable unit offered (s. 83(4)). It is owed by the termination date.
9. Arrears or stand-alone NSF charges. Arrears belong on an L1 or L9, and NSF charges need a per-day compensation claim beside them.
10. "Abandoned" while rent is paid. Section 2(3) rules that out.
11. An old version. From November 30, 2026, L2s dated before 2026/09 are refused.

For tenants who receive an L2

A checklist built from the same rules:

• [ ] Filing date. Was the L2 filed inside 30 days from the termination date on the notice? For a first N5, did they wait out the 7 days, and did you fix the problem in that time? If so, the N5 is void.
• [ ] The notice itself. Enough days? For an N8, N12 or N13, is the date the last day of a rental period?
• [ ] N12 or N13. Was the affidavit or declaration filed with the application? Has compensation been paid, or a suitable unit offered? Without that, no eviction order (s. 83(4)).
• [ ] The money. No arrears on an L2; wear and tear is not undue damage; NSF administration fees top out at $20 per cheque.
• [ ] Evidence. You should get the landlord's evidence 7 or more days ahead of the hearing.
• [ ] Delay. The Board has to consider refusing or postponing eviction (see below).

After the filing

The Board serves the tenant and books a hearing. At the hearing, the landlord carries the burden of proving the ground, the notice, that each tenant was served, and each amount.

RTA s. 83 obliges the Board to think about refusing or delaying an eviction before granting it. Since September 21, 2026, unless the landlord consents, enforcement can be put off only on compelling grounds and only if that is not unfair to the landlord or to other tenants. On N12 and N13 files, the test is "not unfair" alone (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4).

Following an own-use N12, the incoming occupant is normally expected to move in within 60 days after the termination date, or after the tenant leaves if that is later. If they do not, a T5 filed from September 21, 2026 onward begins with bad faith presumed, which the landlord may rebut (RTA s. 57(6.1), (7); O. Reg. 240/26).

Orders issued from July 1, 2026 can be reviewed only if the request goes in within 15 days. To be enforced, an eviction order has to be lodged with the Court Enforcement Office inside six months (s. 81).

2026 changes in brief

• September 21, 2026: revised L2 and instructions; earlier versions refused from November 30, 2026. The same date brought in the new definition of persistent lateness, the 120-day N12 without compensation, reoccupation notices on N13s, a "compelling grounds" bar for postponing evictions, and revised Interpretation Guidelines 10 and 12.
• July 1, 2026: requests to review for orders issued from this date are due in 15 days rather than 30.

Common questions

Once my notice is served, how long until the L2 deadline?

You get 30 days after the notice's termination date, and no extensions. You can usually file right away, but a first N5 has to wait for its 7-day remedy period.

Can I ask for eviction and damages in one L2?

You can. According to Interpretation Guideline 10, claims for termination and for compensation that grow out of the same events must both be made on the L2. Itemise the claim and share photos and invoices a week before the hearing.

Must an N12 application include an affidavit?

Yes. The incoming occupant gives a sworn affidavit or signed declaration, filed together with the application, and the Board must refuse an application that lacks one.

What is persistent late payment under the 2026 rules?

Paying rent more than 7 days late at least three times within six months, ignoring any that were late only because they were credited to other debts. Other patterns may qualify too.

My tenant moved out. Is the L2 still open to me?

Just for the Board to confirm abandonment. A former tenant's debts are claimed on an L10, no later than a year after they moved out.

Official sources

• Form L2 (2026/09) and L2 Instructions
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 2, 44, 48–50, 57, 57.1, 58–73, 79, 81, 83, 86, 88.1–90, 192.1
• O. Reg. 516/06, ss. 8.1, 8.4, 17, 53, 56
• O. Reg. 240/26 (Prescribed Period of Time)
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rules 1.5, 4.4–4.5, 6.6–6.11, 19
• Interpretation Guideline 10 and Interpretation Guideline 12
• 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.