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.
If your tenant fails to give you the required notice (60 days for a monthly tenancy or 28 days for a weekly tenancy), your recourse is to try to re-rent the unit as soon as possible to minimize your losses. If the tenant vacated prior to September 1, 2021, once the unit has been re-rented and you have calculated your losses, a claim can be filed with the Small Claims Court. Below is a link to the Small Claims website where you can find information on how to file a claim. The required forms can also be downloaded from this site: https://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/scc/index.php#01. In order to sue in Small Claims Court you will require the tenant’s new address, try to get this information before they vacate.
As of September 1, 2021, a landlord can file an application to collect rent arrears and/or compensation that they believe the former tenant owes them with the LTB within one year from the date the tenant moved 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 need to know the tenant’s new residential address to be able to serve them. The prescribed form is available on the LTB website at https://tribunalsontario.ca/ltb/forms/.
Since the tenant gave you a written notice that she is leaving and has now changed her mind, you can file an application with the Landlord and Tenant Board to obtain an eviction order. The application needed is the L3 along with an Affidavit or Declaration. These forms can be obtained from the Landlord and Tenant Board’s website at https://tribunalsontario.ca/ltb/forms/.
A verbal notice to terminate the tenancy is very difficult to enforce if the tenant decides not to leave. It is in your best interest as a the landlord to ask for notice in writing in the prescribed form N9. Having the N9 allows you to file for eviction and enforce it if the tenant chooses not to vacate.
If your tenant has already been charged by the police with regards to the drug dealing in the rental unit, you can serve him with a Form N6 – Notice to Terminate Tenancy Early for an Illegal Act. This gives the tenant 10 days’ notice to leave. It also allows you to apply immediately to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an eviction order that you can enforce if the tenant does not leave according to the N6 notice.
If the police have not charged the tenant and it is only a suspicion that the tenant is dealing drugs in the rental unit, you can only serve a Form N5 based on the tenant’s interference with the reasonable enjoyment of the premises by the other tenants who are complaining about disturbances. Having people coming and going at all hours of the day and any other similar disturbances interfere with the other tenants’ enjoyment of the rental unit. Once you serve the Form N5, the tenant has an opportunity to correct the situation within seven days. If it is not corrected within 7 days, you can then file an application with the Landlord and Tenant Board to go to a hearing where an adjudicator will decide whether or not there are grounds to end the tenancy.
The tenant does not have to leave the unit because he is on a short term tenancy. Once the short term lease ends, it renews automatically on a month-to-month basis according to the law. Your recourse is to serve your tenant with Form N4. This notice gives the tenant 14 days to pay the rent arrears. If the tenant does not pay within the specified time, a landlord may file an application with the Landlord and Tenant Board for termination and an eviction order.
In terms of the shared expenses, if these pertain to unpaid utilities, you need to serve your tenant with Form N5. This notice gives the tenant 7 days to pay the utilities. If the tenant does not pay within the 7 days, you can also file an application with the Landlord and Tenant Board for an order to evict the tenant and collect the utility costs.
You cannot ask your tenants not to bring their guest as it is not unlawful for them to have guests stay in the rental unit as often as they please. If the number of people occupying the rental unit on a continuing basis contravenes health, safety and housing standards required by law, you may serve an N5 notice of termination where you would need to prove the tenant is contravening the municipal bylaws. The tenants can avoid termination if they reduce the number of people occupying the rental unit to comply with health, safety and housing standards within 7 days according to the N5 notice.