Your first stop for self-help is a review of our FAQs. Take a look at the ever increasing collection of questions asked by Ontario’s small-scale landlords as well as the actual answers provided by Landlord’s Self-Help Centre.
Once you have received the LTB payment order, the next step is to enforce it through the Small Claims Court. To do this, you must complete an Affidavit for Enforcement Request [Form 20P] and a Notice of Garnishment [Form 20e]. These forms, along with a copy of the LTB order and an interest calculation sheet showing any interest that might have accrued on the original Order must be filed with the appropriate Small Claims location. After the court reviews and approves your documents, you will receive stamped copies and a file number. You must then serve their employer (garnishee) with a filed copy of Notice of Garnishment and blank copy of Garnishee Statement Form (Form20F). The Debtor is served with a filed copy of Notice of Garnishment and filed copy of the Affidavit for Enforcement Request. For more information please visit our Garnishment Fact Sheet- https://landlordselfhelp.com/media/2025-Garnishment-.pdf
Garnishment of wages is a legal process that allows you to collect money from a debtor to satisfy the amount they owe you. Once the court approves the garnishment, the employer of the debtor is legally required to deduct a portion of the person’s wages and send it to the court, which then forwards the payments to you. Garnishment is one of the enforcement tools used by someone who has a payment order that has not been paid voluntarily.
The court expects you to begin enforcing your order within the first six years, which means filing the required documents with the Small Claims Court to begin the garnishment process. If more than six years pass, you can still proceed but you will need to request the Court’s permission and provide an explanation for the delay. When initiating the garnishment process, ensure that you file your documents with the Small Claims Court locations that has jurisdiction over the matter.
Under the RTA, the process for recovering money from a former tenant depends on whether or not any notice was served before they moved out. If the landlord had already served the tenant an N4 Notice to End Tenancy Early for Non-Payment of Rent and an N5 for the Damages and or filed the L1 and or L2 application before the tenant vacated, the application will still proceed, and the landlord may obtain an order for the unpaid rent and amount claimed for damages.
In the case where no notice was served or application filed before the tenant left, the landlord may instead file an L10 application to collect money a former Tenant owes. This application allows the landlord to recover unpaid rent, utilities, and, or damages that occurred during the tenancy, provided they submit supporting evidence such as photos, invoices, receipts, etc.,. The Landlord must file the L10 application within 1 year of the Tenant vacating the property. Filing the L10 application might be challenging as the landlord will need to know the current address of the former tenant so they can be served accordingly. If the landlord and the tenant agreed to communicate via email in writing or on the lease agreement and the tenant provided a valid email address then service of the application and Notice of Hearing may be done via email.
One of the methods of collecting unpaid rent after obtaining an order from the Board is by garnishment of wages. Of course this is only possible if you know where the tenant is employed. Another way is by garnishment of a bank account as long as you have all the information on where the tenant banks and where the tenant is residing now. If you have this information then you could start the process by simply filling out the required garnishment forms, file them with Small Claims Court and then serve these documents to the employer or the bank and the former tenant. If neither of these methods are possible then it may be best to go to a collection agency. You can find a collection agency on-line or in the Yellow Pages and contact them with the information you have and they can tell you how their services work. If you want to find out more information on collecting the Small Claims Court website has several guides, review the one called After Judgment.
As you are already aware, one of the methods of collecting unpaid rent after obtaining an order from the Board is by garnishment of wages. Of course this is only possible if you know where the tenant is employed. Another way is by garnishment of a bank account as long as you have all the information on where the tenant banks and where the tenant is residing now. However, if the tenant is not employed and is receiving any type of government assistance, it is pretty much impossible to collect since you cannot garnish any government payments. You could try talking to a collection agency but unfortunately there may not be a way for them to collect either if he is on ODSP.
The seizure of a vehicle is usually a complicated method of collection, even if you have an order from the Landlord and Tenant Board. You would normally need to hire a lawyer to assist with the procedure and may be able to get enough information to help decide your next steps by speaking to a lawyer for 30 minutes for free using the Law Society Referral Service. Visit their website at www.findlegalhelp.ca.
If the tenant has moved out without paying the rent, as of September 1, 2021 section 87 (1.1) of the Residential Tenancies Act came into effect, landlords can file an arrears application with the LTB within one year from the date the tenant moves out of the rental unit. The tenant must have moved out of the rental unit on or after September 1, 2021. However, in order to file this application with the LTB, you will have to find out their new residential address to be able to serve them. The prescribed form is available on the LTB website at http://tribunalsontario.ca/ltb/forms/.