Form T1 is Ontario's refund claim at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). A tenant, former tenant or would-be tenant files it to get back money that, in their view, a landlord took or held onto in breach of Ontario's tenancy statute, the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 (RTA). The landlord is the respondent. Whichever side you're on, a T1 is usually won or lost on dates and documents, so this page goes through both.

Overview
Applicants Current or former tenants; prospective tenants (only for illegal charges or a deposit not returned); subtenants, claiming against their tenant
Window Up to one year after the money was taken or kept
Warning to landlord first? Not required
Filing and service The tenant files (Portal, post, courier, ServiceOntario); delivering the Notice of Hearing to the landlord is the Board's job
Fee $48 on the Tribunals Ontario Portal, $53 otherwise
If you disagree with the result Request to Review an Order, 15-day limit

Grounds for a rebate

Under s. 135(1), a tenant or ex-tenant can get an order requiring the landlord (or a superintendent or agent) to refund money collected or kept in breach of the Act. Subsections (2) and (3) extend that to would-be tenants and to subtenants. The form breaks this into eight reasons:

# The claim
1 Rent paid above the lawful amount
2 A charge the Act forbids, like a premium, fee, penalty or key money (s. 134)
3 LMR deposit kept: not put toward the final period, not paid back
4 Deposit retained after the landlord failed to give possession (s. 107)
5 Unpaid yearly interest on the LMR deposit
6 Missing N12/N13 compensation, due on or before termination (ss. 55.1, 135(1.1))
7 A former tenant's share of the proceeds after the landlord sold their abandoned property (ss. 41, 42)
8 No notice given, as required, of an Order Prohibiting a Rent Increase

Section 207 sets a ceiling on what the Board can award, which the instructions give as $50,000. Filing a T1 means waiving any excess.

Is the T1 the right form?

Only for money. Other complaints have their own forms: harassment, interference and similar conduct go on the T2; repair problems use the T6; and a bad-faith N12 or N13 calls for the T5, where unpaid compensation can be ordered too if the tenant clearly requests it.

The clocks that matter

The one-year bar. If a T1 is filed more than a year after the money was taken or kept, no order can be made for it (s. 135(4)). Every payment has its own date. Example: a tenant paid a $250 non-refundable "admin fee" on June 10, 2026 and monthly overpayments starting July 1, 2026. Filing on May 1, 2027 catches all of it. Filing on August 15, 2027 misses the fee and the July and August 2026 overpayments.

Old rent becomes lawful. Under s. 136, rent (subsection 1) and any increase (subsection 2) that nobody challenged within twelve months of first being charged cannot be attacked later.

Increases given without proper notice. Missing the 90-day notice would normally void an increase. But s. 135.1 says that if the tenant pays it for a full 12 consecutive months and doesn't apply inside that year, it stands.

Compensation. Because s. 55.1 makes N12 and N13 compensation payable on or before the notice's termination date, that date starts the one-year count.

The form itself

The current T1 (v. 01/04/2022) runs to three parts, then payment.

  • Part 1 – General Information: address of the unit; names of tenants and landlord; a yes/no on adding a superintendent or agent as a party (they go on a Schedule of Parties); related files by number.
  • Part 2 – Reasons: shade the reasons that apply and put a dollar figure beside each. Some reasons need more: a year of rent history for Reason 1, itemized charges for Reason 2, the date the tenant left and the deposit sum for Reason 3. A box under each reason, "Explaining your Reasons", is where the dates and calculation go.
  • Part 3 – Signature. After it come the accommodation and French-language section and the payment page.

Filing

The Portal is the cheapest route at $48; mail, courier and ServiceOntario centres taking LTB filings cost $53. No fee and no waiver, no application. Under Rule 5.1 the Board, not the tenant, serves the landlord with the application and Notice of Hearing.

Preparing for the hearing: both sides

Tenant (applicant)

  • Make a list of every amount, the date it was paid or should have been returned, and which reason it falls under. Drop anything older than a year; it can't be ordered.
  • Gather proof: receipts, bank statements, e-transfer records, the lease, every rent increase notice you received, and the N12 or N13 if compensation is the issue.
  • Show the math in the "Explaining your Reasons" box, so the Member can follow the numbers.

Landlord (respondent)

  1. Start with the calendar. Date-stamp every item claimed. Items over a year old fail under s. 135(4), and ss. 135.1 and 136 may protect year-old rent and increases.
  2. Match records to grounds: - Rent. The lease; every N1 or N2 notice and proof it was served; the guideline in force at the time. - Charges. Receipts, and what each payment was for. Some payments are lawful under O. Reg. 516/06, s. 17 despite s. 134: refundable deposits for keys or fobs, up to their replacement cost; what extra keys, or replacements, actually cost (not where the landlord chose to rekey); NSF fees the bank charged; and up to $20 as an NSF administration fee. - Deposits and interest. Collection date; how it covered the last rental period; and, year by year, the interest paid, calculated at whatever the guideline was on the date that interest was due. - Compensation. A record showing payment on or before termination, or a reason none was due. One such reason since September 21, 2026: an own-use N12 with a minimum of 120 days' notice and a termination date at the end of a period or term (s. 48.1(2)).
  3. Disclose in time. Rules 19.1–19.2: seven days before the hearing for your evidence, five days if it answers the tenant's, delivered to both the Board and the tenant.

Where T1 claims fall down

  1. Too late. Section 135(4) bars any amount older than one year at filing.
  2. Challenging long-standing rent. A year without challenge makes rent, and increases, lawful by deeming (ss. 135.1, 136).
  3. The wrong person applying. Reason 7 (sale proceeds) is for former tenants or a deceased tenant's estate only. A prospective tenant can claim only under Reasons 2 and 4.
  4. Fee neither paid nor waived. The application is not accepted.
  5. No breakdown. Leave out the rent history or the arithmetic and the Member has little to go on; the claim may simply not be proven.
  6. Claiming compensation that was never owed. Two examples: a post-September 20, 2026 own-use N12 that gave 120 days or more, and an N13 where a statute-based order required the repairs (s. 54).

After the hearing

A hearing is held and an order follows. Unhappy parties have two routes: a review request at $58, due 15 days after any order issued from July 1, 2026 (RTA s. 209(3); Rule 26.5); or a Divisional Court appeal limited to legal questions, due in 30 days (RTA s. 210).

Recent changes

Neither the 2022 form nor the 2023 instructions reflect Bill 60, which matters for Reason 6. Since September 21, 2026, a landlord's own-use N12 that gives 120 days or more and ends on the final day of a period or term triggers no compensation (s. 48.1(2)). Purchaser N12s are unaffected and still require payment.

Questions

How much past rent can be claimed?

Twelve months back from the filing date, no more. Beyond that, unchallenged rent is treated as lawful.

Are key deposits allowed?

A refundable one, capped at what a new key, card or fob is expected to cost, is fine: O. Reg. 516/06, s. 17 carves it out of s. 134. Also permitted: charging the actual cost of spare keys the tenant requests, and of replacements, except where the landlord was the one who rekeyed. Non-refundable key fees, and deposits higher than replacement cost, are recoverable on a T1.

Can these issues be raised at the landlord's L1 hearing instead?

Possibly, under s. 82. One condition, for any L1, L9 or L10 filed from September 21, 2026 onward, is that the tenant pays 50% of the arrears claimed. See Issues a Tenant Intends to Raise.

Official sources