Ontario's L9 Form, Step by Step: Rent Owing While the Tenant Stays

In Ontario, a landlord uses the L9 to ask the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB, or "the Board") to order a tenant who has not moved out to pay back rent, while the tenancy carries on. There is no N4 notice first. For landlords the catch is lasting: the resulting order can be collected like any debt, but it can never become an eviction. For tenants, that also means an L9 on its own does not put your home at risk.

The essentials

Who the L9 is for, and what it means for each side

The legal basis

The RTA's s. 87(1) is the source: a landlord can apply to have a tenant ordered to pay rent arrears (rent that was lawfully due under the tenancy agreement and was not paid). Under s. 87(1.1) that can happen while the tenant still occupies the unit. On top of the rent, the landlord can claim the bank's charges for NSF (bounced) cheques and an administration fee of up to $20 per bounced cheque (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 17, under RTA s. 87(5)).

What the order will say

The LTB's Interpretation Guideline 11 sets out the shape of the order. A successful landlord gets an order for the arrears owing on the hearing date, and the Board has discretion to include rent up to the last day of the hearing month. It has no power to order rent that has not fallen due. And since the tenancy continues, a last month's rent deposit is normally not subtracted.

Its limits

• No eviction, ever. An unpaid L9 order stays a money order; it is never a basis for ending the tenancy.
• Rent only. Utility bills owed to a utility company, damage and interference expenses are not rent; the place for them is an L2.
• $50,000 cap. The LTB cannot award more. If you pursue a larger sum there, the excess is gone for good when the order issues (s. 207(3)).

For landlords

The L9 fits when you want to keep the tenant, perhaps someone who has been reliable but slipped behind, and still hold an enforceable order for what is owed. It also suits a landlord whose tenant has chipped away at an N4 balance, where eviction no longer seems worthwhile.

For tenants

An L9 is a claim for money. You can still raise your own issues at the hearing (repairs or harassment, for example), but on applications filed from September 21, 2026 you first have to meet the half-arrears conditions described under "After you file" below.

Choosing between the L9 and other forms

Ask yourself these questions before filing:

1. Might you want the unit back? The eviction path is the N4 notice, then the L1 application. An L9 order cannot later be turned into an eviction.
2. Has the tenant moved out already? Then it is an L10, filed no later than a year after they left. Guideline 11 tells landlords not to file an L9 against someone who has left.
3. Is the real problem rent that always arrives late? That is its own ground for eviction (the N8 notice, then an L2). An L9 does nothing but collect the balance.

Timeline checklist

• ☐ Filing: no waiting and no notice. The single timing condition is that the tenant still lives there on the filing date.
• ☐ If the tenant moves out: the one-year clock for claiming from a former tenant runs from the day they left (s. 87(1.1)(b)); the form is the L10.
• ☐ Information Update: serve every tenant and file a copy with the Board, 5 days or more before the hearing (Rule 10.2).
• ☐ Evidence: your disclosure is due a week ahead (Rule 19.1); any reply to issues the tenant raises is due 5 days ahead (Rule 19.6.1).
• ☐ After the order: for orders dated July 1, 2026 or later, a review request has a 15-day limit.

Example. The hearing is on Tuesday, January 19, 2027. Evidence should be disclosed by Tuesday, January 12, and the Information Update served and filed by Thursday, January 14. A tenant hoping to raise their own issues on an L9 filed on or after September 21, 2026 must, by Tuesday, January 12, have paid the landlord half the arrears claimed and given a written list of those issues.

Completing the L9, part by part

The version in use is 2026/09. It comes as a checklist and information sheet (for you, not the Board), the seven-page application itself, and a Payment Information Form. Its layout tracks the L1 closely, with the eviction pieces taken out.

Step 1: Opening questions

Pick English or French. If you need an accommodation, send the Accommodation Request on its own.

Step 2: Part 1, the unit

The complete address: unit number, municipality, postal code.

Step 3: Part 3, the people

(Part 2 is done at the very end; see Step 7.)

• Landlord: your name, or the business name in the "Company Name" field. More than one landlord means a Schedule of Parties.
• How the Board contacts you: Mail or Email. Choosing Email consents to email for every applicant.
• Tenants: name all tenants living there; a third or later tenant goes on a Schedule of Parties. Only add a mailing address that differs from the unit.

Step 4: Part 4, why you are applying

1. Shade the rent box, and add the NSF box when bounced-cheque charges are part of the claim.
2. Confirm the tenant still lives in the unit. A "No" here means the L9 is the wrong form.
3. Show how often rent is due: monthly, weekly or another period.

There are no rent-deposit questions, unlike the L1.

Step 5: Part 5, Section 1, the rent table

Columns run From, To, Rent Charged, Rent Paid, Rent Owing, with a row for each rental period. You are allowed to lump earlier periods together in row one or two; the bottom row, though, is reserved for the most recent period on its own.

What counts as rent: - ☑ parking or other services the tenant pays you for separately; - ☑ a flat utility amount the tenant pays you each month; - ☑ a seasonal charge for an air conditioner, calculated correctly, where electricity comes with the rent.

What does not: - ☒ utilities the tenant pays the provider directly; - ☒ shares of a utility bill that go up and down.

Step 6: Part 5, Section 2, NSF charges

One line per returned cheque. Enter what the cheque was for, the date on it, when the bank hit you with its charge, how much that charge was, and your own admin fee (capped at $20). Total Charge adds just those last two figures.

Step 7: Parts 6 and 2, the totals

Part 6 is rent plus NSF charges plus the filing fee you really pay: $186 on the Portal, even though the instructions show $201. Copy that total into Part 2 and write in the date you are filing.

Worked example. Rent is $1,650 a month. The tenant paid nothing for September and $650 for October, so the table shows $1,650 owing for September and $1,000 for October: $2,650. One cheque bounced; the bank charged $15 and you add the $20 maximum, so the NSF section totals $35. Filing on the Portal adds $186. Part 6, and so Part 2, reads $2,871.

Step 8: Part 7, signature

Signed and dated by the landlord or a legal representative; a representative also supplies their Law Society number and contact information. The Board will not accept an unsigned application.

Step 9: Payment Information Form

Pay with a certified cheque or money order made out to the "Minister of Finance", or by credit card. For a card payment by mail or courier, use the Credit Card Payment Form; never put card numbers in an email or upload.

Filing on the Portal instead

The Portal collects the same details on screen and takes card payment. Review the rent table carefully before you reach "Ready to Submit"; once past that page, the draft is locked. Tribunals Ontario has not published a screen-by-screen guide, so go by the prompts.

Sending it in

The package is short: the completed L9 and either the fee or an approved Fee Waiver Request (Section C of the L9 Instructions). Because no notice is involved, there is no notice or Certificate of Service to include.

The LTB's forms page points to the Tribunals Ontario Portal. The instructions also mention sending it to an LTB office by mail or courier, or filing in person at a ServiceOntario Centre that takes LTB applications. For lawyers and paralegals licensed by the Law Society of Ontario, there is no choice: they file on the Portal.

It is the Board, not the landlord, that gives the tenant the application and Notice of Hearing. Owe the LTB money for fees, fines or costs? Then your rent application loses any urgency and may be discontinued until you settle up (Rules 6.1–6.3).

Pitfalls that sink an L9

1. The tenant was already gone. Possession on the filing date is required. Should the hearing reveal a tenant who had already moved, it may let you amend to an L10, but only where the former tenant knows of the hearing and of the claim (Rule 15.4 and Guideline 11).
2. You actually wanted an eviction. However long an L9 order sits unpaid, it will never produce one. For possession, begin again: fresh N4, then L1.
3. Non-rent items in the rent table. The Board will not count late fees, deposits, damage or utilities as arrears; each has its own route.
4. NSF overclaims. An admin fee above $20 per cheque, or putting the cheque's face amount in the NSF section, inflates the claim. Rent the bounced cheque failed to pay is recorded in the rent table instead.
5. Numbers that do not tie out. The Part 2 figure must match Part 6, and every rent-table row has to balance left to right. The official checklist warns that mistakes can lead to dismissal.
6. A tenant left off. Anyone not named is not bound.
7. No Information Update. You may be told to complete it on the spot, and the Board can deny you your filing fee (Rule 10.3).
8. An outdated form after November 30, 2026. The L9 was reissued on September 21, 2026, and from November 30, 2026 anything dated before 2026/09 is turned away.

After you file

1. The Board serves the tenant and books a hearing.
2. If you reach a repayment deal, the LTB's Payment Agreement form has been compulsory since July 1, 2026. File it before the hearing date and the Board can issue a consent order without anyone attending (s. 206).
3. If the tenant wants to raise other issues. The tenant-issues rules in s. 82 apply to an L9 through s. 87(2). Under Guideline 11 and the updated form, for applications filed on or after September 21, 2026, a tenant who wants to raise matters such as maintenance or harassment must, at least 7 days before the hearing: - hand the landlord (not the Board) 50% of the arrears the application claims; and - describe each issue in writing to both the landlord and the LTB.

Money paid into the LTB does not satisfy this (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.3; Rule 19.4). Should the tenant succeed on those issues, any abatement (a rent reduction the Board orders) is taken off the arrears. 4. At the hearing, landlords should have three things ready: the Information Update, the rent ledger, and NSF records from the bank. The resulting order states the amount owed. It is collected like a debt, and the tenancy continues. 5. When the order arrives, check it. Errors can be raised through a request to amend, or a review request within 15 days for orders issued from July 1, 2026.

Recent changes

September 21, 2026 - Both the L9 and the L1/L9 Information Update were revised. Older L9 versions (before 2026/09) stop being accepted on November 30, 2026. - Half-arrears rule: for rent applications filed from this date, a tenant wanting to raise other issues must first pay the landlord half the arrears claimed, 7 or more days before the hearing (Guideline 11; RTA s. 82, applied by s. 87(2)).

July 1, 2026 - Repayment plans under s. 206 now require the Payment Agreement form. - The review window for orders from this date shrank to 15 days (it had been 30). - Seasonal air-conditioner charges may be included in rent.

Questions landlords and tenants ask

Does an L9 have to start with an N4?

No. Nothing is being terminated, so no termination notice is involved. The tenant does have to be living in the unit on the filing date.

The tenant ignored the L9 order. Can the landlord evict now?

No. The order is a debt the landlord can collect, never a route to eviction. Evicting for unpaid rent requires an N4 followed by an L1.

What happens to the last month's rent deposit?

Normally nothing. Under Guideline 11 the deposit is meant for the final rental period, and an L9 leaves the tenancy running. Only if the Board finds the tenancy has already ended is it deducted.

Can a tenant raise repair problems without paying anything first?

Not on an L9 filed from September 21, 2026 onward. Through s. 87(2), the s. 82 rules apply, so the tenant must pay the landlord half the arrears claimed, and give written notice of the issues, at least 7 days before the hearing.

How far forward can the order reach?

It covers arrears as of the hearing, and the Board may extend it to the end of the hearing month. Future rent is excluded, and $50,000 is the ceiling.

Official sources

• Form L9 (2026/09) and L9 Instructions
• L1/L9 – Information Update
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 82, 87, 206, 207
• O. Reg. 516/06, ss. 8.3, 17
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rules 6.1–6.3, 10.2, 10.3, 15.4, 19.1, 19.4, 19.6.1
• Interpretation Guideline 11: Rent Arrears
• 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.