The tenant has gone. The basement unit has holes in the drywall, two months of rent were never paid, and the hydro account has an unpaid balance that was supposed to be in the tenant’s name. Your first instinct, and perhaps your friend’s advice, is to file a claim at Small Claims Court in Brampton. For many residential landlords, that is the wrong first step, and the title of this post assumes something the law may not allow.
Since September 1, 2021, Ontario’s Residential Tenancies Act has given the Landlord and Tenant Board authority over most claims against former tenants. Before then, a landlord generally had to go to court once the tenant had moved out, and plenty of old advice online still says so. Start in the wrong place today and you may lose months, pay a filing fee for nothing, and run out the deadline at the correct forum.
This post is general information on Ontario residential tenancies and civil claims. It is not legal advice on your tenancy, and the question of forum can turn on facts that are easy to overlook.
The Board Is the Default for Most Residential Tenancies
Section 168(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 gives the Landlord and Tenant Board exclusive jurisdiction to determine all applications under the Act and all matters in which the Act gives it jurisdiction. Several sections then specifically allow a landlord to apply against a “tenant or former tenant”:
- Section 87: arrears of rent, and compensation for use and occupation after the tenancy ended
- Section 88.1: reasonable out-of-pocket costs from conduct that substantially interfered with the landlord’s reasonable enjoyment or another lawful right, privilege, or interest
- Section 88.2: utility costs the tenant was required to pay under the tenancy agreement and failed to pay
- Section 89: the reasonable cost to repair or, where repair is not reasonable, replace damaged property, where the tenant, another occupant, or a person they permitted in the complex wilfully or negligently caused undue damage
For a former tenant, these apply where the person ceased to be in possession on or after the day the 2020 amendments came into force, which was September 1, 2021. By this point that will cover nearly every recent move-out. The form usually used is the L10, Application to Collect Money a Former Tenant Owes. The Board also has a form for tenants still living in the unit, so make sure you are looking at the right one for your facts.
The One-Year Deadline Is Short and Strict
Each of those sections includes the same timing rule: a landlord’s application against a former tenant must be made no later than one year after the tenant ceased to be in possession of the rental unit.
Treat that one-year date as a hard limit, measured from the date the tenant actually moved out or was removed, which might be different from the end of the lease. It is shorter than the general two-year limitation period for most civil claims, and landlords often miscount because they know about the two-year rule. Take a photo of the empty unit, record the day the keys came back or the eviction was carried out, and put the one-year date in your calendar in bold.
What if a year has passed? Some landlords assume they can simply fall back to Small Claims Court. That is a risky assumption. The Act’s grant of exclusive jurisdiction is a serious obstacle, and courts have not spoken with one voice about every variation of these disputes. If you have missed the Board’s deadline, get specific advice before spending money on a claim, and expect the former tenant to raise jurisdiction as a defence.
How Much the Board Can Award
Section 207 lets the Board order payment to any given person of up to the greater of $10,000 and the monetary jurisdiction of the Small Claims Court, which has been $50,000 since October 1, 2025. Three consequences flow from that:
If your claim is within that limit, it stays at the Board. A landlord cannot escape to a court just because a court seems more convenient.
If your claim exceeds the limit, section 207(2) permits a proceeding in any court of competent jurisdiction, which would likely be the Superior Court, and that court may exercise the powers the Board could have exercised. A claim of that size is uncommon for a basement apartment, but it might arise from serious fire damage to a whole house.
If you claim at the Board an amount equal to or less than the limit, section 207(3) says your rights above that limit are extinguished once the Board makes its order. Estimate the full loss before you choose, including repairs you have not yet completed, as section 89 expressly refers to costs the landlord “has incurred or will incur.”
When a Court May Still Be the Right Forum
The Board is not the answer to every dispute involving someone who once rented from you. Court may be appropriate in several situations, each of which needs its own analysis.
The Act does not apply to the arrangement. Section 5 sets out exemptions. One that is common in Brampton involves shared living. Section 5(i) excludes accommodation where the occupant must share a bathroom or kitchen with the owner, or with the owner’s spouse, child, or parent, and that person lives in the building. A room rented in the owner’s family home with a shared kitchen may therefore fall outside the Act, which would make Small Claims Court the likely path for an unpaid-rent dispute. A separate basement apartment with its own kitchen and bathroom generally would not fit that exemption. Facts matter, including who actually lives in the house and who uses what.
The premises are commercial. A retail unit, a warehouse bay, or a truck yard is governed by commercial tenancy law, not the Residential Tenancies Act. Disputes there go to court. Section 5(j) adds a nuance for premises occupied for business or agricultural purposes with living accommodation attached, under a single lease.
The claim is not really about the tenancy. Suppose, hypothetically, your tenant also borrowed $3,000 from you to buy a car, or scratched your vehicle in a separate incident. Those may be civil claims with no real connection to the Board’s powers. Be careful with labels, though. Calling an ordinary tenancy claim something else will not change where it belongs.
The defendant is not the tenant. A guarantor or co-signer on a lease who never lived in the unit is in a different position from the tenant, and the Board’s power is directed at tenants and former tenants. A claim on a written guarantee may need to go to court. Read the guarantee carefully and watch for limitation issues. Any occupant who was not a tenant raises a similar question, as that person may not be someone you can apply against directly.
Older move-outs. If the tenant left before September 1, 2021, different rules applied, and limitation periods are likely to be a serious issue by now.
Proving a Damage Claim
Whichever forum applies, the outcome depends on your evidence, and landlords often underestimate how much is needed. Section 89 requires “undue damage” caused wilfully or negligently. Normal wear from years of use does not qualify. Faded paint, worn carpet at the door, and minor scuffs from furniture will generally be treated differently from a smashed door or a burned countertop.
Gather these items as early as you can:
- the written lease, and the standard lease form if one was used
- dated move-in and move-out photos or video, ideally showing the same rooms from similar angles
- any condition report completed at move-in
- invoices and quotes from a tradesperson, with enough detail to link the work to the damage
- evidence of the age of the item you are replacing, because a 15-year-old carpet is not worth what a new one costs
- messages in which the tenant acknowledged the damage or the debt
- a rent ledger showing every payment and shortfall
A lower repair bill will usually be easier to defend than a full replacement. Also, don’t turn the claim into a renovation. If you upgraded the unit, the upgrade portion is unlikely to be recoverable, and you should be honest about that before the other side brings it up.
Do your own arithmetic honestly as well. A rent deposit must be applied to the last rent period before the tenancy terminates under section 106(10). It is a last month’s rent deposit, not a damage deposit, so you cannot simply keep it to cover repairs. If you still hold one and its interest, make sure your rent ledger reflects them correctly, and do not claim the same month twice. Under section 88(1), if a tenant left without proper notice, specific rules decide how far the arrears run, so a tenant who disappeared in July does not necessarily owe every month until you found someone new. Efforts to re-rent the unit and any rent you received can also affect the total.
Expect the Tenant’s Side of the Story
Claims against former tenants often trigger a response. Section 87(2) applies section 82 with necessary modifications to an arrears application, so a former tenant may raise certain issues that could be the subject of a tenant application, if requirements are met, such as a failure to maintain the unit. That means a landlord who pursues $4,000 in arrears might face a claim for rent abatement over repairs that were never done, a harassment allegation, or a complaint about illegal entry.
A former tenant can bring their own application too, subject to deadlines. Before filing, review your own conduct during the tenancy with an unsentimental eye. Were repairs handled promptly? Were proper notices given before entry? Did you change the locks or dispose of belongings in a way the Act does not allow? Section 41 has specific rules for property left behind.
If you used a basement unit that was not legal under the city’s rules, get advice before filing. That issue doesn’t automatically end a landlord’s claim, but it could affect how you approach the situation and raises separate concerns about compliance.
Serving Someone Who Has Vanished
You still have to give the former tenant a fair chance to respond, which can be difficult if they have moved without a forwarding address. Check your lease for an emergency contact, review recent messages and emails, and note any employer or new address you know of lawfully. If direct delivery is not possible, the Board or court may have procedures for an alternate method, but you need to be able to show the effort made. Keep a careful record of what you did. A default result obtained through flawed service may be set aside later.
Avoid shortcuts. Do not impersonate anyone to locate the person, do not post their personal details or debts on social media, and do not contact their employer to embarrass them. Conduct like that could cost you far more than the arrears.
After You Have an Order
A Board order for payment is a real step forward, but it does not put money in your account. If the former tenant does not pay, you will normally need to enforce it through the civil enforcement system, which may include garnishing wages or a bank account or filing a writ, often through the Small Claims Court enforcement office or the Superior Court. Each step has its own form and fee. Ask yourself early on whether the person has income or assets. A strong order against someone with nothing may be worth less than a negotiated payment plan signed today.
Payment agreements have their place. A short written agreement, signed and dated, with clear amounts and dates, can save you all of this. Do not let negotiation run past the one-year deadline without first getting advice about protecting your position.
Choosing Before You File
Before paying a fee anywhere, walk through these questions. Is this residential premises covered by the Act? Is the defendant a tenant or former tenant? What type of amount is being claimed? When did they leave? Is the total below the Board’s limit? Is there any other claim that should travel with this one?
If you own a rental in Bramalea, a basement in Springdale, or a small commercial unit nearby, and you are not certain how those answers come out, an hour of advice before filing is usually cheaper than a dismissed claim. Our Small Claims Court matters page outlines the court route, and our civil litigation group can look at any overlap with the Board. You are welcome to send us the lease and your timeline for review.
Landlord disputes get expensive when the first procedural step is wrong. Getting the forum right from the start protects your deadline, keeps your costs under control, and lets you focus on what matters: proving what you are owed and recovering it.