LTB Application Guide
The L4 Form: When a Tenant Breaks an LTB Settlement or Order
The L4 is a fast-track eviction for one situation: an earlier LTB case ended in a settlement or order, and the tenant broke its terms. When you can use it, and how to file.
Filing after an N4? You want the L1.
The L4 is not the next step after an N4. Once the N4 termination date passes and the tenant still owes rent, you file an L1. The L4 only comes into play if that L1 ends in a settlement or order that allows an L4, and the tenant breaks it. Read the L1 guide →
What Is the L4 Form?
The L4's full name is the Landlord's Application to End a Tenancy and Evict a Tenant: Tenant Failed to Meet Conditions of a Settlement or Order. It comes from section 78 of the Residential Tenancies Act.
The usual story: you file an L1 for unpaid rent. In mediation or at the hearing, the tenant agrees to pay the arrears in instalments, and the agreement says you can file an L4 if they miss one. They miss one. Instead of starting over with a new N4 and waiting months for another hearing, you file the L4, and the LTB normally issues an eviction order without a hearing.
When Can You File an L4?
All four of these have to be true:
- You previously applied to the LTB to end the tenancy or evict the tenant, usually with an L1 or L2.
- That application ended in a settlement mediated by the LTB, or an LTB order that set conditions the tenant had to meet.
- The settlement or order says you can file an L4 if the tenant does not meet those conditions.
- The tenant missed one of those conditions within the last 30 days.
If your settlement or order has no L4 term, the L4 is not available. Read the document before you do anything else.
Repayment plans use the Payment Agreement Form
Since July 1, 2026, a repayment plan filed with the LTB has to be on the Board's mandatory Payment Agreement Form. On an L1, the form has an optional L4 term, and the tenant must initial it for it to count. Without the L4 term, a missed payment still lets you ask the Board to re-open the application within 30 days.Payment Agreement Form guide →
The 30-Day Deadline
File the L4 no later than 30 days after the tenant missed the condition. The clock starts on the day of the breach, such as the date a missed instalment was due, not the day you notice it. Your declaration has to describe a breach from within those 30 days.
What It Costs
Nothing, if you file through the Tribunals Ontario Portal. The LTB's fee schedule lists the L4 as no charge on the portal. For comparison, the L1 that usually comes before it costs $186 on the portal or $201 by mail, courier, or at ServiceOntario.
What to Attach
The LTB refuses an L4 that is missing any of these:
Download the current L4 free from Tribunals Ontario (also listed on the LTB forms page). The portal walks you through the same questions if you file online.
Claiming Money on an L4
Part 3 of the form asks why you are applying. Pick Reason 1 alone, or Reason 2, 3 or both:
- Reason 1, eviction only. Available whatever the earlier application was. You only fill in sections A and E of the declaration.
- Reason 2, eviction plus rent. Only if the earlier application was an L1 and the settlement or order required rent or arrears payments. You can claim what is still unpaid under it, plus any rent that has come due since.
- Reason 3, eviction plus damages. Only if the earlier application was an L2 and the settlement or order required payment for damages.
With Reason 2 or 3, you can add NSF charges: what your bank actually charged, plus an administration charge of up to $20 per cheque. The declaration also asks about any rent deposit you hold and every payment the tenant made under the settlement or order.
Work out the amount with our free Arrears Calculator
What Happens After You File
- No notice, usually no hearing. You do not have to warn the tenant before you file, and the LTB normally issues an order ending the tenancy without a hearing.
- The tenant gets 10 days. The tenant can file a Motion to Set Aside (Form S2) no later than 10 days after the order is issued. Filing it stays the order, so it cannot be enforced until the Board hears the motion.
- Enforcement. If there is no motion, or the Board does not set the order aside, you enforce it through the Court Enforcement Office (Sheriff), the same as any other eviction order.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Filing an L4 instead of an L1
After an N4 expires, the application is the L1. The L4 follows a settlement or order, not a notice.
Missing the 30-day window
Count from the day of the breach. Put the date in your calendar the day the payment is missed.
Assuming the settlement allows an L4
It has to say so. On the Payment Agreement Form, the tenant must initial the L4 term.
Leaving out the settlement, order, or declaration
The LTB refuses the application if any of them is missing.
Relying on an informal payment plan
A handshake plan is not a settlement or order, so it gives you no L4.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Resources
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