Ontario L1 Form: Filing After N4, Arrears, and Submission

To file an L1 application in Ontario, you first serve the tenant a Form N4 for unpaid rent, wait for the termination date on that notice to pass, then submit the completed L1 to the Landlord and Tenant Board along with a copy of the N4, a Certificate of Service, and the filing fee. The fee is $186 through the Tribunals Ontario Portal or $201 on paper, and the tenant must still be living in the unit on the day you file. Hearings are currently scheduled three to five months out.

Serve the N4 First

You cannot file an L1 without first giving the tenant a Form N4, “Notice to End your Tenancy for Non-payment of Rent.”¹ The N4 states exactly how much rent is overdue and sets a termination date by which the tenant must either pay in full or move out. For a monthly tenancy, that date must be at least 14 days after service.

Two rules about timing matter. If the tenant pays the full arrears before you file, the N4 is voided and the L1 cannot proceed.² And you cannot file on the termination date itself; the earliest you can file is the day after. Errors on the N4 are the single most common reason L1 applications collapse at the hearing, so verify the arrears math, the termination date, and how you served it before you go any further.

What You Need Before You File

The LTB will refuse the application outright if any of the following are missing:²

The completed L1 form, available as a fillable PDF or through the Tribunals Ontario Portal.
A copy of the same N4 you served on the tenant.
A Certificate of Service showing how and when the N4 was delivered. The LTB provides a standard form.
The filing fee: $186 online or $201 by paper.

Before you sit down with the form, prepare a detailed rent ledger. The L1 asks you to list every rent period with amounts charged, amounts paid, and the balance owing, and those numbers must reconcile with what appeared on the N4. If you are claiming for bounced cheques, pull the bank statements showing the NSF charges. The Residential Tenancies Act caps your administration charge at $20 per NSF cheque.²

Filling Out the L1

The form has seven parts. Most of it is straightforward once your ledger and N4 are in front of you, but a few sections are worth flagging.³

Addresses and Contacts (Parts 1 to 3)

Part 1 is the full address of the unit, including unit number and postal code. Part 2 is the total the tenant owes, but leave it blank until you finish Parts 5 and 6, since the final number there is what you copy up. Part 3 collects the landlord’s name and mailing address, all tenant names, and file numbers for any other open LTB applications on the same unit.

Reasons and Rent Details (Part 4)

Part 4 is where you tick what you are seeking (eviction, money, or both), confirm the tenant is still living in the unit, and identify the rent schedule (monthly, weekly, or other). If you collected a last month’s rent deposit, enter the amount, the collection date, and the dates covered by the last interest payment. Ontario law requires landlords to pay interest on rent deposits annually at the rent increase guideline rate.⁴ Credit any accrued interest against the arrears.

Calculating the Arrears (Parts 5 and 6)

Part 5, Section 1 is the ledger table: dates, charged, paid, balance. Section 2 is for NSF cheques, with the cheque amount, bounce date, bank NSF fee, and your administration charge (again, capped at $20 per cheque). Part 6 totals both sections, adds the filing fee, and produces the final figure. Copy that back into Part 2.

The arrears figures on your N4 and L1 do not need to be identical, since rent may have continued accruing between the two documents, but the underlying numbers for the periods covered by the N4 have to be consistent. Any mismatch invites problems at the hearing.

Signature (Part 7)

Only the landlord, a lawyer, or a paralegal licensed by the Law Society of Ontario can sign. Someone else can physically deliver the application for you, but the signature must be yours (or your licensed representative’s). L1s signed by unauthorized people are routinely dismissed.

How to Submit

You have two channels. The Tribunals Ontario Portal accepts online submissions for $186, paid by credit or debit card through the portal. Paper submissions, filed by mail, courier, or in person at a ServiceOntario location, cost $201.⁵ LTB fees are non-refundable no matter how the case ends.

When filing online, upload the N4 and Certificate of Service through the portal. Do not upload anything showing your credit card information. Once the LTB accepts the submission, you get a file number and can track the case through the portal.

After You File

The LTB issues a Notice of Hearing setting the date, time, and, in most cases, a Zoom link. Nearly all L1 hearings are held by video or phone; in-person hearings happen only with an approved accommodation request.⁶ Expect three to five months between filing and hearing, and another three to four months if the hearing is adjourned.

Two deadlines fall on you between filing and the hearing. First, complete the L1/L9 Application Information Update form and upload it (or email it to the LTB) at least five business days before the hearing so the arrears figure reflects anything paid or accrued since you filed. Second, share every piece of evidence you plan to rely on with the tenant at least seven business days before the hearing, and any responding evidence at least five business days before.

Mistakes That Get L1s Dismissed

Most L1 failures come from problems with the N4 or the filing, not the arrears themselves. The recurring ones:

Wrong termination date on the N4, wrong arrears amount, or including charges that are not legal rent (utility arrears, for instance) will invalidate the notice and sink the L1.
If you cannot show when and how the tenant received the N4, the application can be dismissed. Complete a Certificate of Service and keep a copy.
Filing on the N4’s termination date instead of the day after makes the application premature.²
The L1 is only for tenants still in possession. If the tenant has already moved out, the L1 must be dismissed; use the L10 to pursue the money.³
An agent, property manager, or family member signing without a licence will get the application dismissed.
Missing the N4 copy, the Certificate of Service, or the fee means the LTB refuses the application before it reaches a hearing.²

If your application is dismissed because of a defective N4, you have to serve a corrected N4, wait for the new termination date to pass, and refile the L1 with a fresh fee. Checking your work the first time saves the second filing.

If You Win and the Tenant Stays

An eviction order from the LTB does not let you change the locks or remove the tenant yourself. Enforcement runs through your local Court Enforcement Office (the Sheriff’s Office). The sheriff’s fee is $240 per enforcement attempt, plus a mileage charge based on the distance from the courthouse to the unit.⁷ Call the local office to confirm the total before you send payment.

Prepare an eviction package with a copy of the LTB order, the official eviction request form from the Ontario Court Forms website, and payment. Deliver it to the Sheriff’s Office once the order’s termination date has passed. Processing times vary by region, so follow up if you have not heard back within a few business days.

1
Tribunals Ontario. Notice to End your Tenancy For Non-payment of Rent
2
Landlord and Tenant Board. Instructions – Form L1 Application to Evict a Tenant for Non-Payment of Rent and to Collect Rent the Tenant Owes
3
Tribunals Ontario. Form L1 – Application to Evict a Tenant for Non-payment of Rent and to Collect Rent the Tenant Owes
4
Government of Ontario. Ontario Code – Residential Tenancies Act, 2006
5
Tribunals Ontario. Forms, Filing and Fees
6
Tribunals Ontario. Application and Hearing Process
7
Government of Ontario. Ontario Regulation 294/92 – Sheriffs Fees