A landlord in Ontario files an L9 with the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) to get an order for unpaid rent against a tenant who is still living in the unit, and to do it without ending the tenancy. There is no N4 to serve first. The catch lasts forever: the order is collectable as a debt, and that is all. It can never be turned into an eviction.

Key facts
Filed by A landlord who wants back rent from a tenant still in possession, but does not want them out
When Whenever rent is owed, provided the tenant is in possession on filing day
Notice / timing Nothing to serve first. Just make sure the tenant still lives there when you file. Once they leave, it is an L10 claim, within a year
Filing The Portal, plus mail, courier and ServiceOntario as described in the instructions. Service on the tenant is the Board's job
Fee $186 online on the Portal, $201 any other way; non-refundable
Next form Before the hearing (5 days or more), each tenant and the LTB get the L1/L9 – Information Update

What an L9 order does

The RTA's s. 87(1) is the source. It permits an application for an order making a tenant pay arrears of rent that the tenancy agreement lawfully required; s. 87(1.1) confirms this can happen during possession. On top, a landlord may claim the bank's NSF fees and an administration charge capped at $20 for each returned cheque (s. 87(5); O. Reg. 516/06, s. 17).

Interpretation Guideline 11 describes the result. A successful L9 orders the tenant to pay what is owed as of the hearing date, and the LTB may include rent to the end of the hearing month. Rent that has not fallen due yet cannot be ordered. With the tenancy carrying on, the deposit for last month's rent usually stays where it is and is not deducted.

Three things are beyond an L9:

  • Eviction. No termination and no removal, even when the tenant never pays a cent of the order.
  • Money that is not rent. Damage, interference expenses and utilities owed to a utility company are L2 claims.
  • Anything over $50,000. Claim it at the LTB and the excess disappears once the order is issued (s. 207(3)).

Is the L9 the right choice?

It fits a landlord who wants the tenant to stay, perhaps a good tenant who slipped behind, but also wants an order with teeth for the arrears. Some landlords turn to it after a tenant pays down part of an N4, when chasing eviction stops making sense.

A different form is better if:

  • Eviction might be on the table. That calls for an N4, then an L1. Nothing converts an L9 order later.
  • The tenant is gone. Inside a year of the move-out, the L10 is the form. Guideline 11 says not to use an L9 against someone who has left.
  • Rent is always late. Chronic lateness is grounds for eviction through an N8 followed by an L2. An L9 only recovers what is owed.

Timing

  • Filing. No notice period, no waiting period. The one condition is that the tenant is in possession on the day it is filed.
  • If the tenant moves out. Then the arrears claim goes on an L10, and it must be made within a year of the date the tenant left (s. 87(1.1)(b)).
  • Before the hearing. Three dates, counted back from the hearing: evidence disclosed at 7 days (Rule 19.1); the L1/L9 Information Update to each tenant and the LTB at 5 days (Rule 10.2); and, where the tenant has raised issues, your reply evidence also at 5 days (Rule 19.6.1).
  • After the order. Orders dated July 1, 2026 or later allow 15 days to request a review.

Example: hearing on Tuesday, January 26, 2027. Evidence out by Tuesday, January 19. Information Update delivered by Thursday, January 21. If the tenant raises issues, they must have paid you half the claimed arrears and given written notice of the issues by Tuesday, January 19.

Completing the L9

You want version 2026/09. It has three pieces: an information sheet with checklist (not filed), seven pages of application, and a Payment Information Form. Picture the L1 minus everything about eviction.

Language and accommodation. French or English. An Accommodation Request travels separately.

Part 1, the unit. Its complete address, with postal code, municipality and unit number.

Part 2, the total owed. Do this one last. It repeats the Total from Part 6, along with the date you file.

Part 3, General Information. - The landlord. A person's name, or a business name in the "Company Name" field. A Schedule of Parties handles extra landlords. - How to reach you. Mail or Email; choosing Email means every applicant agrees to email. - The tenants. Name all tenants in possession, using a Schedule of Parties past two. A mailing address is needed only where it is not the unit.

Part 4, the reasons. - Shade the rent box, and the NSF box too if you are claiming NSF charges. - Confirm that the tenant is in possession. A No answer ends it: no L9. - State the rent period: monthly, weekly or something else. - You will not find rent-deposit fields here, unlike on the L1.

Part 5, Section 1, Rent Owing. Each row is one rental period, with dates (From, To) and amounts (Rent Charged, Rent Paid, Rent Owing). Older periods can be grouped into row one or row two; the final row shows the latest period on its own. - Rent covers parking and other services billed separately, a flat monthly utility amount the tenant pays to you, and, in units with electricity included, a seasonal air-conditioner charge that has been calculated correctly. - Rent does not cover utilities paid straight to the provider, or a share of a utility bill that varies.

Part 5, Section 2, NSF Cheque Charges. A row for each bounced cheque: its amount and date, when the bank charged you, the bank's fee, and your administration charge (no more than $20). The Total Charge column adds only the bank fee and the administration charge.

Part 6, the grand total. Add the rent, the NSF charges and whatever fee you are really paying. The instructions use $201, but filing on the Portal costs $186. Carry this total back to Part 2.

Part 7, signing. Either you or your legal representative signs and dates. Representatives list contact details and their Law Society number. The LTB turns away unsigned applications.

Payment Information Form. Credit card, money order or certified cheque, the last two made out to the "Minister of Finance". For card payments by mail or courier, the Credit Card Payment Form is required. Card numbers never go in an upload or an email.

On the Portal. The same questions appear online, and you can pay by card there. Review the rent table before "Ready to Submit", since the draft is locked from that page on. Tribunals Ontario does not publish screen-by-screen Portal steps, so follow what the screens ask.

Filing it

Section C of the L9 Instructions keeps it simple: the completed form plus the fee (or an approved Fee Waiver Request). No notice was required, so you attach neither a notice nor a Certificate of Service.

On the LTB forms page, the Portal is the listed route. The instructions add two more routes: an LTB office by mail or courier, or a participating ServiceOntario Centre in person. Paralegals and lawyers licensed in Ontario have to use the Portal.

The Board, not you, sends the application and Notice of Hearing to the tenant. A landlord with unpaid LTB fees, fines or costs loses urgency on rent applications, and the application can be discontinued until the debt is paid (Rules 6.1–6.3).

Why L9 applications go wrong

  1. The tenant had already left when you filed. An L9 depends on the tenant being there that day. If the hearing reveals an earlier move-out, the LTB may let you amend to an L10, provided the former tenant is aware of both the claim and the hearing (Guideline 11; Rule 15.4).
  2. You actually want an eviction. An unpaid L9 order still cannot evict. You would have to start over with an N4 and an L1.
  3. Non-rent items in the arrears. Unpaid utilities, damage, deposits and late fees are not rent arrears on an L9. Use the right application for them.
  4. Overstated NSF charges. An administration charge above $20 a cheque, or the cheque's face value in the NSF table, inflates the claim. Put the rent the cheque was supposed to pay into the rent table instead.
  5. Numbers that do not add up. Every rent row has to balance, and Part 2 must match Part 6. Mistakes like these can lead to dismissal, according to the official checklist.
  6. A tenant in possession was left off. The order binds only the tenants who are named.
  7. No Information Update. Rule 10.3 lets the LTB have you complete it on the spot, and your filing fee may not be awarded.
  8. An outdated form from November 30, 2026. A new L9 replaced the old one on September 21, 2026, and anything dated before 2026/09 is refused from November 30, 2026.

If you are the tenant

An L9 cannot evict you, now or later, even if you do not pay the order. What it produces is a debt order. You will receive the application and Notice of Hearing from the Board, and the landlord's Information Update should reach you at least 5 days before the hearing. Check it: only rent belongs in the arrears, the NSF administration charge cannot exceed $20 a cheque, and rent that has not come due yet cannot be ordered. If you want to raise maintenance, harassment or other issues on an L9 filed on or after September 21, 2026, see the half-arrears rule below. Paying into the LTB does not count; the payment has to go to the landlord.

What happens next

The Board serves the tenant and schedules the hearing. Repayment plans agreed between landlord and tenant must, since July 1, 2026, be written on the LTB's Payment Agreement form. Filed ahead of the hearing, it can turn into a consent order under s. 206, and the hearing is not needed.

The half-arrears rule. By RTA s. 87(2), the s. 82 tenant-issues rules apply to L9s. Guideline 11 and the new L9 spell out the result for applications with a filing date of September 21, 2026 or later. Tenants hoping to argue other issues, like harassment or maintenance, have two tasks, both due 7 days or more before the hearing:

  • pay the landlord half of the arrears claimed; and
  • describe every issue in writing, to the landlord and to the LTB.

Paying it into the LTB is not allowed (Rule 19.4; O. Reg. 516/06, s. 8.3). If the tenant wins on the issues, the arrears are reduced by any abatement.

At the hearing. Have the ledger, the Information Update and your NSF records from the bank. The resulting order fixes a sum that is collected like any debt; the tenancy itself carries on. Read it when it comes. Spot an error? Ask to have it amended, or seek a review inside 15 days if the order dates from July 1, 2026 onward.

What changed recently

  • September 21, 2026
  • Both the L9 and the Information Update were revised. Pre-2026/09 L9s stop being accepted on November 30, 2026.
  • Raising other issues on a rent application filed from this date costs the tenant half the claimed arrears, paid to the landlord a week or more ahead (s. 82, applied through s. 87(2); Guideline 11).
  • July 1, 2026
  • Section 206 repayment plans must use the Payment Agreement form.
  • Review requests: 15 days rather than 30, for orders issued from that date.
  • A seasonal air-conditioner charge can now be part of rent.

Common questions

Is an N4 needed before an L9?

No. Nothing is being terminated, so there is no termination notice. The tenant just has to be living there when you file.

What if the tenant never pays the L9 order?

You collect it as a debt. It will never support an eviction; for that you would start again with an N4 and an L1.

Is the last month's deposit applied to an L9 award?

Generally not. The deposit is meant for the final rental period, Guideline 11 explains, and an L9 tenancy keeps going. The LTB deducts it only on a finding that the tenancy is already over.

Does the half-arrears rule cover L9s?

It does when the L9's filing date is September 21, 2026 or later. Section 87(2) carries the s. 82 rules into rent applications, so a tenant who wants to raise other issues must first pay half the claimed arrears to the landlord, at least a week ahead (updated L9; Guideline 11).

How much can an L9 order include?

What is owed as of the hearing date, possibly extended to the end of the hearing month, but never rent not yet due. The cap is $50,000.

Official sources