Tenant Changed the Locks? How the Ontario L8 Form Works for Both Sides

When a tenant in Ontario swaps out a lock (on their own door or a door into the building) without the landlord saying yes, the landlord can file an L8 with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB, or "the Board"). The application asks for one of two things: a key to the new lock, or repayment of what it reasonably costs the landlord to change the locking system. It cannot end the tenancy, and tenants should know that the same law puts duties on the landlord too.

The essentials

What the L8 does for each side

The rule

The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (the RTA) is short on this point. Section 35(1): while living in the unit, a tenant cannot alter (or arrange for someone to alter) the locks on doors into the unit or the complex unless the landlord has agreed. Section 35(2): if a tenant does it anyway, the landlord may apply for a Board finding to that effect. Section 35(3): once satisfied, the Board can tell the tenant to supply keys, or make them repay the landlord's reasonable out-of-pocket spending on new locks.

For landlords

The L8 gets you access back, or your money back. It does not give you the right to shut the tenant out, or to come in without proper notice; entry is still controlled by ss. 26 and 27.

For tenants

The same rule applies in reverse: a landlord who changes the locks during your tenancy has to give you new keys (s. 24). If you replaced a lock, expect the hearing to focus on whether the landlord agreed and whether any cost claimed is reasonable and really spent.

Is the L8 the right tool? A checklist

Use the L8 when:

• ☐ a new, rekeyed or extra lock is now on a door (entrance doors to the building included) and the tenant refuses you a key; or
• ☐ restoring your own locks and billing the tenant for it suits you better.

Do not use it when:

• ☐ your real goal is ending the tenancy. Eviction is outside what an L8 can do. Where the new lock is one piece of conduct that substantially interferes with your lawful rights (say, lawful entry blocked again and again), termination starts with a notice such as the N5 under RTA s. 64, followed by an L2.
• ☐ you plan to re-key it yourself while the tenant still lives there, unless the tenant gets a key from you right away (s. 24). Holding it back invites the tenant to file against you.
• ☐ you are relying on an emergency. In an emergency you may enter without written notice (s. 26), but an emergency is not permission to seize control of the lock.

Timing

1. No legal deadline. Section 35 has none. Filing soon is still wise: evidence fades with time, and you may need to get in lawfully soon.
2. When it counts as filed (Rule 4.8): - email: the day it is received; - courier: the business day after you give it to the courier; - mail: day five after posting, skipping holidays.
3. Service. As a rule, delivery of the application and Notice of Hearing is handled by the LTB (Rule 5.1). Should the Board hand that job to you, get the papers to the tenant 15 or more days before the hearing (Rule 5.9), then send in a Certificate of Service no more than five days later (Rule 5.15).
4. Review. For orders dated July 1, 2026 or later, a party wanting a review must ask within 15 days (Rule 26.5).

Mail example. You post the L8 on Thursday, November 26, 2026. Weekends do not count, so the five days are Friday the 27th, Monday the 30th, then Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the next week. It is treated as filed on Thursday, December 3, 2026.

Completing the L8, one step at a time

Use capitals, fill circles fully, and leave non-applicable boxes empty. The L8 instructions go through every box.

Step 1: Part 1, the general details

1. Rental unit address: street, unit and postal code, all of it.
2. Landlord: who you are (person or company), plus where to mail you, phone you and email you. Extra landlords go on a Schedule of Parties.
3. Tenants: room for two names on the form; list any more on a Schedule of Parties. A mailing address is needed only where it differs from the unit.
4. Related applications: file numbers for any LTB matters about this unit that are still open.

Step 2: Part 2, the reason

You do not write the ground; the form states it for you (an unpermitted change to the unit's or complex's locks, or both). What you do:

1. Choose one order. Shade the key option or the payment option, never both. For payment, write in the dollar figure, and have a locksmith's quote in writing or a paid invoice ready to prove the amount is reasonable and came out of your pocket.
2. Tell the story in detail. Four questions on the form guide you: - how did you discover the change? - which lock was it (unit door, building entrance, other)? - when did it happen, if known? - who did it, if known?

Then add dates, each request you made for a key, and how the tenant answered.

Step 3: Part 3, signing

Indicate whether the landlord or a legal representative is signing, then sign and date. Representatives also list their Law Society number and contact details.

Step 4: Payment Information Form

Pick a payment method; email filers copy in the online receipt number.

Getting it to the Board

1. Email: first pay $201 through the Online Payment for Tribunal Applications page, using a Visa or Mastercard (debit works too). Then, inside 24 hours, send the application plus receipt to LTBpayments@ontario.ca. Put the receipt number and the unit's address in the subject.
2. Mail or courier: pay by certified cheque or money order made out to the "Minister of Finance", or include the Credit Card Payment Form.
3. ServiceOntario: hand it in at an office that accepts LTB filings.

A note on the Portal: the L8 instructions (dated August 2023) mention it, but the LTB's own page on forms, filing and fees offers only email, mail/courier and ServiceOntario for an L8. Money paid to file is not returned (see the LTB fees page). If cost is a barrier, look at the Fee Waiver Request.

Where L8 applications go wrong

1. Consent is unclear. The whole section turns on the landlord not agreeing. A lease clause, emails or behaviour suggesting you agreed, or that you never objected, can sink the application. Keep a copy of the message where you asked for a key, and whatever came back.
2. Two remedies shaded, or none. Exactly one box, key or payment, should be shaded, with evidence behind it.
3. Costs that are unproven or padded. The Board's power stops at reasonable, out-of-pocket spending. No paperwork, or a bill that includes improvements the tenant never caused, can mean a smaller award or nothing.
4. Treating it as an eviction. It cannot end the tenancy, so filing it to regain possession wastes both fee and time.
5. Self-help. If you re-key and keep the tenant locked out, you are in breach of s. 24 and may end up defending an application yourself.
6. Unpaid fee or outstanding LTB fines. The Board will not process the application (instructions; Rule 6.1).

Tenant checklist before the hearing

Drawn from the same rules:

• ☐ Gather anything showing the landlord agreed to the lock change.
• ☐ If money is claimed, look at the invoice or quote: is it reasonable, and was it actually spent?
• ☐ If the landlord changed the locks on you, they must give you a key (s. 24).

After you file

The Board issues a Notice of Hearing. For the landlord, the hearing kit is simple: pictures of the new lock, the locksmith paperwork, and every message exchanged with the tenant. If a payment order goes unpaid, the LTB does not collect it; enforcement happens elsewhere. According to Ontario's Guide to procedures in Small Claims Court, an order made under the RTA may be filed with that court, which then enforces it as if it had made the order. A tenant who keeps refusing access may give the landlord grounds for an N5 based on substantial interference with lawful rights.

Your L8 questions answered

Can I, as a tenant, put in my own lock?

Not unless your landlord agrees. RTA s. 35 bars a tenant from altering the lock on any door into the unit or the building during the tenancy unless the landlord agrees.

What can the Board actually order?

Two things: a key for the landlord, or reimbursement of reasonable out-of-pocket lock-change costs. It has no power to evict on this application.

Can the landlord just switch the lock back?

Only if the tenant gets a new key at once. Section 24 requires it whenever the landlord changes the locks during a tenancy, and locking the tenant out is prohibited.

How long does a landlord have to file?

There is none in s. 35, though filing while events are fresh makes them easier to prove.

Official sources

• Form L8 – Application Because the Tenant Changed the Locks (PDF)
• L8 Instructions
• LTB Forms, filing and fees
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 24, 26, 27, 35 and 64
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rules 4.8, 5.1, 5.9, 5.15, 6.1 and 26.5
• Guide to procedures in Small Claims Court: after judgment

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