A tenant in Ontario who is facing a landlord's L1, L9 or L10 for unpaid rent can fold their own grievances into that same hearing: a repair problem, harassment, unlawful charges and the like. The Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) form for giving that notice is called "Issues a Tenant Intends to Raise at a Rent Arrears Hearing." Since September 21, 2026, notice on its own does not open the door. On any application filed from that day on (this page calls those "new-rule files"), the tenant must also hand the landlord 50% of the arrears claimed, a week or more before the hearing.
Key points
| For | Tenants and ex-tenants defending an L1, L9 or L10 |
| When | Between receiving the Notice of Hearing and the hearing date |
| Deadline | 7 days pre-hearing (or pre-case management hearing) for the written issues, sent to landlord and Board; on new-rule files, 50% of the claimed arrears to the landlord by the same day |
| Where | Landlord (or representative) gets a copy; the Board gets a filed copy; payment goes to the landlord only |
| Fee | None |
| Then | Nothing more to file; the landlord's reply evidence is due 5 days pre-hearing |
The rule behind it
Start with the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA), s. 82(1). At an L1 hearing, the Board must permit the tenant to raise anything they could have brought as their own application, as long as s. 82(2) has been complied with. Section 87(2) extends the same treatment to applications for arrears only under s. 87(1), which means the L9 (tenant still living there) and the L10 (tenant already gone). Success means the Board can make whatever order a tenant application would have allowed (s. 82(3)): repairs ordered, say, or an abatement netted against the arrears.
Three sources set the conditions: RTA s. 82(2), Rule 19.4, and s. 8.3 of O. Reg. 516/06. With a week or more to spare before the hearing or case management hearing, the tenant has to:
- deliver to the landlord and to the LTB a written description of every issue; and
- on a new-rule file, pay the landlord 50% of the rent arrears the application originally claimed.
According to Guideline 11, the half has to be paid even if the tenant says the claim is wrong, and paying it into the LTB does not count. The LTB form is optional; any document with the same information is acceptable.
Is this form needed?
Only if the tenant wants to put their own complaints on the table at the arrears hearing. A tenant who simply disagrees with how much rent the landlord says is owing can say so as part of their defence, without this form. If the conditions are out of reach, or the tenant would rather not meet them, a stand-alone T2 remains available, as do a T6 and the other tenant applications; those are heard separately (Guideline 11).
Issues that do not make it in under s. 82 are not wasted. The tenant can still raise them as circumstances the LTB should weigh in deciding whether to refuse or delay eviction under s. 83 (Guideline 11).
The dates that matter
| Step | Deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant's written issues and half payment | 7 days or more before the hearing | RTA s. 82(2); Rule 19.4; regulation s. 8.3 |
| Tenant's evidence | 7 days or more before the hearing | Rule 19.6 |
| Landlord's reply evidence | 5 days or more before the hearing | Rule 19.6.1 |
Evidence that arrives late may be kept out (Rule 19.7).
Example. A landlord filed an L1 on October 5, 2026, claiming $3,800 in arrears. The hearing is on Wednesday, March 10, 2027. To raise a repair issue, the tenant must deliver the written issues to the landlord and the LTB, and pay the landlord $1,900, by Wednesday, March 3, 2027. The tenant's evidence is due the same day. The landlord's reply evidence must be served by Friday, March 5, 2027.
Old-rule files (filed September 20, 2026 or earlier). No payment is required, and the pre-amendment s. 82 continues to apply (Rule 19.5.1; s. 82(4)–(5)). The Board can also let a tenant who skipped the written notice raise issues anyway, if it accepts that compliance was not possible.
New-rule files. Rule 19.5 makes the Rule 19.4 conditions mandatory; only the Human Rights Code can justify an exception.
The tenant's own limitation periods still apply. Each issue must be within time. T2 and T6 claims, for instance, are limited to one year back (s. 29(2)).
Completing the form (version 2026/09)
It is a two-page document. The first page is information only, including the rule that the half payment goes straight to the landlord, with a receipt. On the second, the tenant writes their name and the Board's file number, then fills a grid, one row per issue:
| Column | Example entry |
|---|---|
| Describe the issue | "Bathroom ceiling mould keeps coming back (photos attached)" |
| Start date of the problem | dd/mm/yyyy |
| Date the landlord was told | When you first reported it |
| Resolved yet? | Yes or No |
| Order you want from the Board | "Mould removed and fan repaired; 10% of my rent" |
Extra pages can be attached if there are more issues than rows.
Delivering and filing
Serve the landlord or their representative by any method the RTA or Rule 3 allows. File another copy with the Board; its forms list points to the Tribunals Ontario Portal for this one. It is free.
What each side should do
The tenant
- Check when the landlord's application was filed. On a new-rule file, calculate 50% of the arrears it claimed at that time.
- Pay the landlord that sum directly (not through the Board) with a week or more to spare, and ask for a receipt.
- Send the written issues to the landlord and to the LTB by the same deadline, along with your evidence.
- Keep proof of when each item was delivered and paid.
The landlord
- Look at your filing date. On a new-rule L1, L9 or L10, you should have received 50% of the arrears as originally claimed, a week or more before the hearing.
- Log every payment. Write down the date, amount and method of anything received before the hearing, and issue a receipt. Show them on the L1/L9 Information Update too; it must reach the Board and the tenant five days or more ahead (Rule 10.2).
- Test both parts of the 7-day deadline: the written issues and the payment. Keep the envelope, email or Portal record that shows when the issues arrived.
- Object at the outset if something was missed. The requirement is not waivable under Rule 19.5, Human Rights Code accommodation aside.
- If the issues are properly in, respond on the merits. Your reply evidence (repair invoices, work orders, notices of entry, photos) is due five days before the hearing. Any abatement awarded comes off the arrears (Guideline 11).
- Keep s. 83 in mind. A tenant shut out under s. 82 may still use the same facts to argue against eviction or for postponement. Under O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.4 (in force September 21, 2026), a postponement you oppose needs a finding of no unfairness plus compelling reasons.
Problems a landlord can legitimately point to
- No half payment, or a late one, on a new-rule file (para. 4 of s. 82(2); regulation s. 8.3).
- Payment into the Board in trust, which is the wrong recipient.
- The written issues were missing, incomplete, given only to the landlord and not the LTB, or delivered with fewer than 7 days to go (Rule 19.4(b)).
- Evidence disclosed with less than a week to go, which risks exclusion (Rules 19.6–19.7).
- An issue is out of time under the tenant's own limitation period, such as a repair finished more than a year earlier.
At the hearing
Conditions met: one hearing covers both the rent claim and the tenant's complaints, and any abatement is subtracted from the arrears. Conditions not met: the complaints need their own tenant application, though s. 83 still lets the Board take them into account.
Recent changes
The half-arrears condition is new. It came from amendments to RTA s. 82(2) and regulation s. 8.3, and it applies to new-rule L1, L9 and L10 files. Alongside it, the Board reissued this form (version 2026/09) and revised Rule 19 and Guideline 11. Watch for one inconsistency. The form's first page still tells tenants they may skip the written description if the member accepts they could not comply, but Rules 19.5 and 19.5.1 now keep that exception for old-rule files only.
Frequently asked questions
Must the half be paid even if the tenant disputes the arrears?
Yes, on new-rule files. Disagreeing with the claim does not excuse it (Guideline 11). It is calculated on the arrears as claimed at filing.
Can the half be paid to the LTB instead of the landlord?
No. It must go straight to the landlord; get a receipt.
What happens if the tenant is late?
Then the issues stay out of that hearing, barring an exception the Human Rights Code requires. The tenant can still file a T2 or T6, and the same issues may matter when the LTB decides under s. 83 whether to delay or refuse eviction.
Is an L1 filed in August 2026 caught by the new rule?
No. That is an old-rule file, so the earlier s. 82 and Rule 19.5.1 apply.