Form L1 in Ontario: Applying to Evict for Non-payment of Rent and Collect Arrears (2026)

When you can file an L1

Before filing, you must give the tenant an N4 notice for non-payment of rent. You then wait until the day after the termination date on the N4. You cannot file if, before you do, the tenant pays the amount required to void the N4: the arrears on the notice plus any rent that came due after they received it.

The tenant must still be living in the unit when you file. If the tenant has already moved out, the L1 is not available. To collect only the rent owing without evicting, the LTB uses a different application, Form L9.

What to include

The LTB will refuse the application if any of these is missing. You can file online through the Tribunals Ontario Portal, by mail or courier, or at some ServiceOntario centres.

• The completed L1 application
• A copy of the N4 notice you gave the tenant
• The Certificate of Service showing how and when you gave the tenant the N4
• The application fee (see the LTB's forms, filing and fees page for the current amount)

Filling in the rent owing

The L1 includes a table showing the rent charged, rent paid and rent owing for each rental period. This is where an accurate rent ledger matters.

• Rent means basic rent plus anything the tenant pays you separately for services, such as parking. Utilities the tenant pays directly to the utility company, or a share of a utility bill paid through you, are not rent. A flat monthly utility rate paid to you is rent.
• If more rent has come due since the N4, include all rent owing up to the date you file.
• If more than three rental periods are owing, you can combine periods in the first rows, but the last row must show the most recent period for which rent is owed.
• Unpaid NSF charges can be added to the L1 (they cannot go on the N4): your bank's charge plus an administration charge of no more than $20 per cheque.
• If you hold a rent deposit, give its amount, the date you collected it and the last period for which you paid interest. The LTB subtracts the deposit and any interest you owe from the rent owing.
• The most the LTB can order on your claim is $50,000.

The hearing

After you file, you and the tenant receive a copy of the application and a Notice of Hearing that says when and in what format the hearing will be held. Attend: it is your chance to explain why the LTB should order the tenant to pay and be evicted.

A tenant who wants to raise other issues at the hearing, such as repairs, must give you and the LTB a written description at least 7 days before the hearing. For applications filed on or after September 21, 2026, the tenant must also pay you at least half of the arrears claimed in your application at least 7 days before the hearing. That payment must go to you, not to the LTB in trust.

The LTB member hears both sides. If eviction is ordered, the member can give the tenant more time to pay or to move, allow a payment plan, or refuse the eviction.

The tenant can still pay

Filing an L1 does not end the tenant's chance to stay. Before the LTB issues an order, the tenant can pay everything owed: the amount claimed in your application, including the application fee, plus any new rent that came due after you filed. The tenant can pay you directly, or pay the LTB in trust.

The order itself also gives the tenant a chance to continue the tenancy by paying all the rent and costs owed by a deadline. You and the tenant can instead agree on a payment plan using the LTB's mandatory Payment Agreement Form; if the LTB issues a consent order, the hearing is cancelled.