Still Waiting on an LTB Decision? How to Request That a New Member Take Over

If your Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) case was heard long ago and the decision still has not come, the Request to Assign a New Member lets you bring a motion, a formal written request, to move the file to another Member (the adjudicator). It is limited to two situations: the original Member is unable to finish, or the Chair's deadline for finishing has come and gone. Either side may use it, but the preconditions are tight.

What it means for each side: a landlord whose arrears keep growing and a tenant still unsure about an eviction or a repair claim share one delay remedy, governed by identical rules.

Quick facts

Where the power comes from

The Statutory Powers Procedure Act, in s. 4.4, lets a tribunal's chair reassign a hearing or decision to another panel if a one-member panel dies, is or seems incapable of finishing, or fails to finish by the chair's date. The LTB's Rule 27 and its Practice Direction on Motions to Assign a New Member Due to Delay describe how a party triggers that power.

Only two grounds are accepted. The first Member either:

1. has died, or for another reason is or seems unable to wrap up the hearing or issue the decision; or
2. missed a completion deadline the Chair had earlier set.

Nothing else qualifies: the Practice Direction rules out using this motion for any other purpose.

Readiness checklist

File only when all four are true:

• [ ] The hearing has ended, with no further dates set or anticipated.
• [ ] Ninety days or more have elapsed, counted the way explained below.
• [ ] You already asked the Board, in writing, about the decision's status.
• [ ] No decision followed that inquiry.

Wrong tool when:

• you dislike the Member's approach or suspect bias. Rule 27 offers nothing for that;
• an adjourned hearing is moving too slowly. Per the Practice Direction, a Request to Shorten Time is the route;
• further dates are booked or anticipated. In that case the Board will not take the motion.

How to count the 90 days

The clock starts from whichever of these falls last (Rule 27.2; form; instructions):

• the final hearing day, where nothing more is booked or anticipated;
• any written-submission deadline the Member set after the hearing;
• the closing submission date in a written hearing.

Worked example: a hearing wraps up Tuesday, June 2, 2026, and the Member allows written arguments until Friday, June 12, 2026. June 12 is later, so counting starts there. Ninety days on lands on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Nothing can be filed before that date.

Step 1: Send the status inquiry

Rule 27.1 requires a written inquiry about the hearing or decision before any motion. Both the instructions and the Practice Direction tell you to email LTB@ontario.ca, putting the file number in the subject. Hold onto it, since prior inquiry is the first thing the Board weighs.

Step 2: Complete the form

1. Language Preference and Accommodation. If you need accommodation, the Accommodation Request explains how.
2. File Numbers. Every related file, not just one.
3. Requesting Party's Information. Choose Landlord, Landlord Representative, Tenant, Tenant Representative or Other, then give your name, any company (corporate landlords use the company name), postal address, phone numbers and email. - "What is the best way to communicate with you?" Picking Email is consent to receive Board documents that way. If several people are filing together and one prefers paper, do not pick Email.
4. Unit, Building or Complex Covered by the Application. The whole address. Long compass directions can be shortened (NE, NW, SE, SW), as the instructions explain.
5. Request Details. It starts with a statement that either the Member cannot finish or a Chair-set deadline has passed. Then make your case by covering each factor the Board may consider: - your earlier status inquiry and its date; - how long you have waited; - the cause of the delay, if you know it; - when the first Member might realistically finish; - complexity and urgency, for example mounting arrears or a safety risk; - Board resources and any other relevant point.

Attach the inquiry and whatever answer came back. 6. Signature. Mark your role, confirm the details are correct and Rule 27 is satisfied, then add your signature and the date. 7. Information About the Legal Representative. The representative's LSO number plus contact information. Board staff will write to the email shown here.

Step 3: File it

The Practice Direction tells you to put the motion into the Tribunals Ontario Portal, picking the "Motion for Assignment of New Member" option in its menu. Alternatives in the instructions: email to LTB@ontario.ca; post or courier to 15 Grosvenor Street, Ground Floor, Toronto ON M7A 2G6; or ServiceOntario. Representatives are expected to use the Portal. There is no listed fee.

Why these motions fail

1. No inquiry beforehand. Rule 27.1 makes it mandatory, and the form says an incomplete request may be refused.
2. Too early. Ninety days run from the later of the final hearing day and the final submission date, not automatically from the hearing.
3. Dates still pending. If more hearing days exist or are expected, the motion is not accepted.
4. An unrecognized ground. Grievances about how the Member behaved, or the result you fear, fall into what the Practice Direction calls "unrelated reasons", which it says "will not be considered".
5. Urgency left unexplained. Growing arrears matter under the complexity-and-urgency factor, so put numbers to them. A tenant whose housing hangs on the outcome can explain that urgency too.

What follows

Most of the time the Board rules on the motion with no hearing and without input from anyone else (Rule 27.3). A Member may be named by the Chair to decide it. On success, the incoming Member may:

• rule using what is already on file, hearing recording included;
• resume a hearing that was left unfinished;
• hear all or part of the case again;
• bring witnesses back or ask for further evidence;
• seek the parties' views on next steps.

Questions landlords and tenants ask

What is the minimum wait?

Ninety days, measured from the latest of the final hearing day, any post-hearing submission date, or the closing date of a written hearing (Rule 27.2).

Do I need to write to the Board first?

Yes, a written status inquiry is required before the motion (Rule 27.1); send it to LTB@ontario.ca, using your file number as the subject.

Can I switch Members because I think mine is biased?

No. Only a Member who cannot finish, or who missed a Chair-set deadline, can be replaced this way.

Is there a hearing on the motion?

Generally no. The Board normally decides it on paper, without hearing from the other side.

Official sources

• Request to Assign a New Member (form)
• Instructions: Request to Assign a New Member
• Practice Direction on Motions to Assign a New Member Due to Delay
• LTB Rules of Procedure, Rule 27
• Statutory Powers Procedure Act, s. 4.4

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