When an Ontario tenant changes a lock on the unit or the building without the landlord's say-so, the landlord's remedy at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) is the L8. The Board can direct the tenant to give the landlord a working key, or to repay what it reasonably cost the landlord to change the locking system. Eviction is not on the table with this form.

Key facts
Who files The landlord, after a tenant altered without consent a lock on a door that leads into the unit or the complex
Possible orders A key for the landlord. Or, instead, the tenant reimburses what the landlord reasonably spent replacing the locking system
Notice needed? No. File directly
Time limit Section 35 does not set one
Filing Pay online and email it to [email protected], or use mail, courier or ServiceOntario. The Portal is not an option
Fee $201
If the problem continues Consider an N5, on the ground that the tenant is substantially interfering with your lawful rights

The rule behind it

The Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA) deals with locks in s. 35(1). A tenant in occupation needs the landlord's consent before altering, or arranging for someone to alter, a locking system on a door into the rental unit or residential complex. Section 35(2) lets the landlord apply when that happens, for a finding that it did. If the Board makes that finding, s. 35(3) allows one of two orders: the tenant provides keys, or the tenant pays the landlord's reasonable out-of-pocket expenses of changing the locking system.

Landlords are bound the same way. When a landlord alters the locks mid-tenancy, s. 24 obliges the landlord to supply the tenant with new keys. Nothing in the L8 permits locking a tenant out or walking in without proper notice; ss. 26 and 27 still decide when a landlord may enter.

Is the L8 the right form?

  • Yes, when the tenant rekeyed, replaced or added a lock, a building entrance door included, and has not given you a key. Also yes if you would prefer to put your own locking system back and recover the cost.
  • No, if you want the tenancy to end. An L8 cannot evict. Suppose the new lock is part of something bigger, say repeatedly stopping you from entering lawfully, so that it substantially interferes with your lawful rights. Ending the tenancy then takes an N5 (RTA s. 64) and, after it, an L2.
  • Do not quietly swap the lock back. While the tenant lives there, any lock change by you means handing over a key immediately (s. 24). Holding back the new key invites an application against you.
  • Emergencies. In an emergency, s. 26 lets you enter without written notice. Control of the lock is a separate matter that s. 26 does not give you.

Timing

  • No deadline in the Act. Section 35 imposes none. Even so, waiting helps nobody. Evidence fades, and lawful entry needs a key today.
  • When the LTB treats it as filed. Rule 4.8: email on the day it arrives, courier on the next business day after the courier takes it, mail on the fifth day after mailing that is not a holiday.
  • Service. Under Rule 5.1, service of the application and Notice of Hearing is normally the LTB's job. If you are told to serve instead, Rule 5.9 requires at least 15 days before the hearing, and Rule 5.15 gives you five days after serving to file a Certificate of Service.
  • Reviews. Orders issued from July 1, 2026 onward can be reviewed if a party asks within 15 days (Rule 26.5).

Example: a hearing is set for Friday, February 26, 2027, and the LTB directs you to serve. Fifteen days before is Thursday, February 11, 2027, the last day to serve. Whatever day you actually serve, the Certificate of Service follows within five days of it.

Completing the L8

Use capital letters, whether printing or typing. Fill each circle you choose completely, and leave blank anything that does not apply. The L8 instructions explain every field.

Part 1, the general details

  • The unit. Its complete address, unit number and postal code included.
  • You, the landlord. Your name (or company name), phone numbers, email and mailing address. Other landlords go on a Schedule of Parties.
  • The tenants. The form has room for two; put any others on a Schedule of Parties. A separate mailing address is only needed if it is not the unit.
  • Related Applications. File numbers of anything still open at the LTB for this unit.

Part 2, the reason

The ground is already printed on the form: without your permission, the tenant changed the locking system of the rental unit, the residential complex, or both. Your job is to:

  • Choose the order you want. It is one or the other: a key copy, or money for changing the locking system. Shade that circle. If it is money, write the amount, and have a written locksmith quote or invoice on hand to show it is reasonable and actually paid out.
  • Tell the story. The form gives four prompts. Answer each: how you learned of the change; which lock it was (the unit door, a building entrance, or something else); the date, if you know it; and who did it, if you know. Add the dates you asked for a key and the replies you got.

Part 3, signing

You sign either as landlord or as legal representative, and date it. A representative's Law Society number and contact information go here too.

Payment Information Form

Mark the method. If you are filing by email, include your online receipt number.

Filing it

  • Email. Pay the $201 by Mastercard or Visa, credit or debit, through the Online Payment for Tribunal Applications page. Inside 24 hours, email both the receipt and the application to [email protected]; the subject line should give the receipt number and the unit address.
  • Mail or courier. Pay with a credit card using the Credit Card Payment Form, or enclose a money order or certified cheque payable to the "Minister of Finance".
  • ServiceOntario. Take it in person to a location that accepts LTB filings.

There is a mismatch worth knowing about. The L8 instructions (August 2023) talk about filing on the Tribunals Ontario Portal. Yet when the LTB lists filing methods for the L8 on its forms, filing and fees page, the Portal is missing: just ServiceOntario, mail or courier, and email. Fees are not refunded (see the LTB fees page). You may ask for a fee waiver with the Fee Waiver Request.

Why L8 applications fail

  1. You cannot show you did not consent. Everything in s. 35 hinges on lack of consent. If the lease, your emails or your behaviour suggest you agreed, or you never objected, you may lose. Keep the written request for a key and whatever the tenant said back.
  2. Both remedies shaded, or none. The form wants one choice: key or money. Choose and back it up.
  3. Costs you cannot support. The Board's power stops at reasonable expenses you actually paid. No invoice or quote, or a bill padded with upgrades the tenant did not cause, means a smaller award or nothing.
  4. Trying to evict with it. There is no termination power in an L8. Want the unit back? This form just burns the fee and your time.
  5. Taking matters into your own hands. Re-keying without handing the tenant a key breaks s. 24 and can put you on the receiving end of an application.
  6. Money owing to the LTB. If the fee is unpaid or you owe LTB fines, the application is not processed (Rule 6.1; instructions).

If you are the tenant

Changing the lock on your unit or a building entrance during your tenancy needs the landlord's consent (s. 35). If you have consent, keep proof of it, because lack of consent is what the landlord must establish. If you did change a lock without consent, the Board can do one of two things: require a key for the landlord, or require you to cover what the landlord reasonably spent on a new locking system. Eviction is not one of them on an L8. Ask to see the invoice or quote if money is claimed. Remember the rule cuts both ways: if the landlord changes the locks while you live there, the landlord must give you a key (s. 24), and entry still has to follow ss. 26 and 27.

After filing

A Notice of Hearing comes next. Prepare photographs of the lock, your messages with the tenant, and the quote or invoice from the locksmith. Should the tenant not pay as ordered, collecting the money happens outside the LTB. The province's Guide to procedures in Small Claims Court, explains that an RTA order can be filed in Small Claims Court and is then enforced as if it were that court's own order. Ongoing refusal to let you in may justify an N5, since it can amount to substantial interference with your lawful rights.

Common questions

Can Ontario tenants put on their own locks?

Only with the landlord's consent. Without it, s. 35 of the RTA forbids an occupying tenant from altering the locking system on a door into the unit or the building.

What will the LTB order on an L8?

Either keys, or reimbursement of what you reasonably spent having the locking system changed. Not eviction.

Could I simply re-key it myself?

While the tenant still lives there, any lock change by you triggers s. 24: the tenant must get new keys. Re-keying to keep the tenant out is not allowed.

Is there a filing deadline?

Not in s. 35. File soon anyway, while the facts are fresh and easy to prove.

Official sources