What can happen if I don’t pay my rent on time?

There are a few different things that your landlord can do if they think that you have not paid your rent on time.

If you owe rent

If your rent is late by even one day, your landlord can try to you. But they must follow certain steps.

First, your landlord must give you a Notice to End your Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent (Form N4). This  must include details about the amount of rent your landlord says you owe.

You have 14 days to cancel the Form N4 by paying all the rent that you owe if you rent by the month or year. You must pay within 7 days if you rent by the day or week. Make sure the landlord gives you a receipt for your payment.

Your payment must also include any rent that comes due after the date on the notice.

If you don't pay everything that you owe by the deadline, your landlord can apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) to evict you.

After that, you will have other chances to stop the eviction by paying, making an agreement with your landlord, or winning your case at the LTB.

Use CLEO's Eviction Solution Explorer for free to help you put together a payment agreement if your landlord wants to evict you because you owe rent.

Demand for payment only

Your landlord might choose to ask for payment without asking you to move out. Your landlord could apply to the LTB just for an  to make you pay.

Landlords sometimes ask only for payment when they don't want to lose a long-standing tenant or think they won't be able to find a new tenant. They might also do this if you have a   and they want to keep you responsible for the rent until the end of the .

Your landlord could also report your overdue rent to a credit reporting agency. This can affect your credit rating and make it harder in the future for you to rent a place or get a loan.

And the landlord might also demand payment if you have already moved out. But they must do this within one year after the date you moved out.

If your rent is often late

If you are often late with your rent, your landlord might give you a different notice, called Notice to End your Tenancy at the End of the Term (Form N8). On the form, your landlord would check the box called, “You have persistently paid your rent late.”

There is no exact definition of what “persistently” paying rent late means. It can depend on many things, including how late the rent was paid and how often the rent was late over a of time.

You can't cancel a Form N8 by paying the rent that you owe. In fact, your landlord can give you this kind of notice even if you have paid all your rent.

After giving you this notice, your landlord can apply to the LTB to evict you.

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