L10 Application: Recovering Money From a Tenant Who Has Moved Out in Ontario

An L10 is what an Ontario landlord files at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) to recover money from a tenant who no longer lives in the unit. Unpaid rent, compensation for staying past the end date, NSF charges, unpaid utilities, damage, and costs flowing from substantial interference can all be claimed. Two things make it unusual. There is a hard one-year deadline counted from move-out. And the landlord serves the former tenant, not the LTB, then proves it on a dedicated Certificate of Service.

Key facts

What you can claim, and what you cannot

For tenants who left on or after September 1, 2021, the RTA allows a landlord to claim against someone no longer in possession. Five kinds of claim are open:

1. Rent and occupation money. Unpaid rent (s. 87(1)), and compensation for days the tenant remained after the tenancy ended by notice or by agreement (s. 87(3)).
2. Bounced payments. What the bank charged you, and your own administration charge capped at $20 a cheque (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 17; s. 87(5)). These ride along only with a rent or compensation claim.
3. Utilities the tenant was required to pay under the tenancy agreement (s. 88.2).
4. Undue damage (s. 89), whether wilful or negligent, caused by the tenant, a guest or another occupant.
5. Expenses from interference. Out-of-pocket costs caused when the tenant substantially interfered with your lawful rights or reasonable enjoyment (s. 88.1).

Whatever is awarded, the LTB takes off any rent deposit you hold and the interest owing on it.

Three limits apply:

• No rent-geared-to-income clawback. Extra rent owed because a tenant misstated income can be claimed only while that tenant still lives there (s. 90).
• A $50,000 ceiling. Anything above it is extinguished when the order issues (s. 207(3)).
• No guarantors. The L10 does not run against a guarantor (Interpretation Guideline 11).

Choosing the right form

Pick the L10 only if two things are true: the tenant is out of possession, and less than a year has passed since they left.

• Still living in the unit? For rent, file an L1 (or, without eviction, an L9). Damage, utilities or interference go on an L2.
• Left before September 1, 2021? These sections give the LTB no jurisdiction. Go to court.
• More than $50,000 at stake? Court is worth considering, because RTA s. 207(2) lets a court use the LTB's powers on a bigger claim.

How far the rent claim reaches

Under RTA s. 88 and Interpretation Guideline 11, the answer turns on how the tenancy came to an end:

• By agreement: rent runs to the agreed end date.
• On a notice that broke the RTA's rules: you can claim up to the first termination date a proper notice would have allowed. Be careful here. If you went along with the short notice, the LTB may treat that as an agreement to end, and nothing is owed past that date.
• With no notice at all, or by abandonment: same idea, the first end date a proper notice would have allowed, but measured from the point you learned, or ought to have learned, that the unit was empty.
• Always: expect questions about mitigation, meaning whether you tried reasonably to find a new tenant and keep the loss down (ss. 16, 88(4)). Any period for which a new tenant is paying you is not claimable.

The clocks

Within one year of leaving. Each claim type carries the same limit (RTA ss. 87(1.1), 87(3.1), 88.1(2), 88.2(2), 89(1.1)): one year, starting when the tenant ceased to be in possession. On the form's information page, that is put as a maximum of 365 days from the move-out day. Because the statute sets it, the LTB cannot extend it (O. Reg. 516/06, s. 56). Have proof of the move-out date ready, such as the day the keys came back, an inspection report, or the evidence the unit was abandoned.

Example: a tenant moves out on Thursday, April 9, 2026. Day 365 after that is Friday, April 9, 2027. File by then.

Thirty days of service. Rule 5.8 requires every former tenant to have the application and the Notice of Hearing at least 30 days ahead of the hearing. Mailed documents are deemed served on the fifth day after mailing (Rule 3.9; RTA s. 191(3)), which pushes your mailing date back to 35 days out. Couriered documents count as served the day after the courier company receives them, or the next business day if that day is a Saturday, Sunday or holiday (Rule 3.9).

Twenty days for the certificate. Under Rule 5.16, file the completed Certificate of Service no later than 20 days before the hearing.

Forty days for alternative service. When none of the allowed methods can work, Rule 3.4 has you file a Request to Use Alternative Service no later than 40 days before the hearing.

Seven days for evidence. Rule 19.1 has you disclose photos, bills, invoices and the tenancy agreement to both the LTB and the former tenant a minimum of 7 days before the hearing.

Example: hearing on Wednesday, February 24, 2027. Alternative service request by Friday, January 15. Mailed service by Wednesday, January 20; hand delivery by Monday, January 25. Certificate filed by Thursday, February 4. Evidence out by Wednesday, February 17.

Completing the L10

The current edition is 2026/09. In the package: an information sheet and checklist (three pages, not filed), the application itself (eight pages), and a Payment Information Form.

Before Part 1. Choose French or English as your language. Accommodation needs go in on a separate Accommodation Request.

Part 1. Where the tenancy was: the full address of the unit the tenant vacated.

Part 2. Whatever Total you reach at the end of Part 5, copied here.

Part 3 (General Information). - About you as landlord: name, contact details, and whether you want to hear from the LTB by Mail or Email. - When the tenant left: enter the date in the line "The former tenant moved out of the rental unit on (dd/mm/yyyy)", using that format. Your one-year limit runs from here, so be ready to prove it. - Each former tenant: name, phone and email. - Where they live now: if you know a former tenant's current address, give it. Do not give the old rental unit. The LTB mails the order to the current address, and you may need it later to enforce. At the hearing you could be asked how you found it. Unknown? Leave it empty, but you still have to serve.

Part 4. Its heading is "Applying to Collect Money the Former Tenant May Owe You", and it is split into five reasons. - Reason 1, rent and compensation. - Complete the Rent Owing table, period by period, with the dates (From and To) and the amounts (Rent Charged, Rent Paid, Rent Owing). Older periods may be grouped together in row one or two; the final period always gets its own last row. - Next come the rent deposit details: how much you hold, when you collected it, and the last period for which interest was paid. - A fixed monthly utility amount the tenant paid you counts as rent. A share of a utility bill that varies belongs in Reason 3. - Reason 2, NSF charges. Allowed only alongside Reason 1. Use one row per cheque, keep the administration charge at $20 or less, and do not include the face amount of the cheque. - Reason 3, utilities. One row for each bill: provider, bill date, period, total, what the tenant paid, what is still owed. Add a written explanation. You will also need to disclose a written tenancy agreement along with the bills. - Reason 4, damage. A total, then an item-by-item account of what was damaged and how you worked out each repair or replacement cost. Estimates are acceptable. - Reason 5, substantial interference. List what you paid out of pocket and show how the conduct caused each cost. Claims for damage or utilities go elsewhere.

Part 5 (Total Amount Owing). Add up the reasons, then add the application fee that you are actually paying.

Part 6. The signature page. Either you or a legal representative signs and dates it, and a representative also gives a Law Society number and contact details. The LTB will not accept an unsigned application.

Payment Information Form. A credit card works; so does a money order or certified cheque, payable to the "Minister of Finance". Paying by card through mail or courier means attaching the Credit Card Payment Form.

Filing on the Portal. The screens collect the same details. Review them carefully before you reach "Ready to Submit", because the draft cannot be edited after that page. Tribunals Ontario has not published a screen-by-screen guide, so go by the prompts.

Filing and serving

Section C of the L10 Instructions says you need two things: the completed application, and the fee (or an approved Fee Waiver Request). On the LTB forms page, the Portal is the listed filing route; the instructions also cover mail, courier and ServiceOntario. Paralegals and lawyers must file on the Portal.

Serving each former tenant (RTA s. 189.0.1)

Once you have the Notice of Hearing from the LTB, each former tenant gets their own copy of it and of the L10, with no less than 30 days to go before the hearing. Rule 3.3 and RTA s. 191(1.0.1) allow these methods:

• personal delivery to the former tenant;
• handing it to an apparent adult at the place the former tenant lives now;
• sending it to that home by mail, or by courier;
• at that home, sliding it under the door, pushing it through the mail slot, or leaving it where mail normally gets delivered;
• email, if two conditions are met: the tenant consented in writing while still a tenant to email service, and you have proof of receipt (a read receipt or a reply, say).

The old rental unit is not an option. Stuck? Under Rule 3.4 you can ask the LTB to approve a different route, a workplace for instance, as long as you ask no later than 40 days before the hearing.

The L10 Certificate of Service

This page needs its own certificate. The regular Certificate of Service is the wrong one. The right form's title is Certificate of Service – Serving a Former Tenant or a Tenant no Longer in Possession of the Rental Unit. On it, give:

• the LTB file number and the address of the rental unit;
• what you served (L10 Application, Notice of Hearing) and on which date;
• who received it. Served several former tenants by the same method on one day? Shade the matching circle and attach a sheet listing each one's name and address;
• the method, with the address or email you used;
• the signature of whoever actually did the serving.

Get it to the LTB by the 20-day mark before the hearing.

Mistakes that sink an L10

1. Missing the one-year limit. It comes from the statute and cannot be stretched. File a day late and the LTB claim is gone.
2. The tenant left before September 1, 2021. That claim is outside the LTB's jurisdiction.
3. The L10 certificate is missing or late. Miss the 20-day mark and the LTB can cancel the hearing and close the file. You do not get the fee back (L10 Instructions, Section E; Rule 5.16).
4. Serving at the rental unit. For someone no longer in possession, that method is not permitted.
5. Late service. Thirty clear days is the minimum. Put it in the mail 30 days out and it is deemed served with just 25 days left. Failed service lets the LTB adjourn or dismiss (Rule 5.17).
6. Emailing without the right consent or proof. Rule 3.3 needs written consent given during the tenancy and proof of receipt.
7. No explanation for the address. If the former tenant does not show up, you must explain how you identified their current residence. Hold on to whatever led you there, whether that was messages from the tenant, a forwarding address or some other source.
8. Ignoring re-rental. Asking for rent for months a new tenant paid, or skipping the question of whether you tried to re-rent, can shrink the rent award or wipe it out (s. 88(4)).
9. NSF overreach. NSF charges need a rent or compensation claim to attach to, and the administration charge tops out at $20 a cheque.
10. An old version of the form. From November 30, 2026 the LTB stops accepting any L10 dated earlier than 2026/09.

If you are the former tenant

The landlord, not the LTB, has to get the L10 and Notice of Hearing to you, with at least 30 days to go, at your current home or by another permitted method. Delivery to your old unit is not one of them, and email counts only if you agreed in writing during the tenancy and the landlord can prove you received it. Points worth checking: whether the application was filed within a year of your move-out, whether your move-out date was September 1, 2021 or later, whether the deposit and interest were credited, and whether the landlord claims rent for a time a new tenant was paying. Where rent is claimed and the filing date is September 21, 2026 or later, you can raise your own issues only if, a week or more before the hearing, you pay the landlord half the claimed rent arrears and put the issues in writing to the landlord and the LTB.

After the hearing is set

On the hearing date shown in the Notice, the case is heard, and the former tenant can challenge any amount. Because s. 87(2) applies the tenant-issues rules of s. 82 to rent claims, a former tenant facing a rent claim filed from September 21, 2026 onward must, no later than 7 days before the hearing, both pay half the claimed rent arrears to the landlord and describe their issues in writing to the landlord and the LTB. Interpretation Guideline 11 and the revised L10 both say so.

The LTB sends the order by email or to the current address you supplied. Nobody is evicted; it is a payment order, enforced like any debt. If an order dated July 1, 2026 or later contains a serious error, the review request has to go in within 15 days.

Recent changes

• September 21, 2026
• The L10 was reissued; anything older than 2026/09 is refused from November 30, 2026.
• Tenants and former tenants now have to pay half the claimed rent arrears to the landlord, 7 days ahead of the hearing, to raise other issues, on rent applications filed from this date.
• Guideline 11 on rent arrears got an update.
• July 1, 2026
• Rent can now include a seasonal air-conditioner charge.
• Review requests: 15 days instead of 30, for orders issued from this date on.

Common questions

What is the deadline to file an L10?

Within a year of move-out. The LTB cannot give you more time. The move-out also has to be on or after September 1, 2021.

Who serves the former tenant?

You do, as the landlord. Each former tenant must have the application and Notice of Hearing at least 30 days before the hearing, and the L10 certificate must be on file at least 20 days before it.

I have no idea where the tenant lives now. Can I still file?

Yes, the address can be left blank. Service is still required, though, by a permitted method or with the LTB's permission for another one, requested no later than 40 days ahead. Expect to explain how you found whatever address you served.

Is email service allowed?

Yes, with two conditions: written consent to email service given during the tenancy, and proof the email actually got to them.

Official sources

• Form L10 (2026/09) and L10 Instructions
• Certificate of Service – L10 Serving a Former Tenant
• Request to Use Alternative Service
• Residential Tenancies Act, 2006, ss. 16, 87, 88, 88.1, 88.2, 89, 90, 189.0.1, 191, 207
• O. Reg. 516/06, ss. 17, 56
• LTB Rules of Procedure
• Interpretation Guideline 11: Rent Arrears
• LTB Operational Update, September 21, 2026
• LTB Forms, filing and fees