The N4 is the Ontario form a landlord must serve before applying to evict for unpaid rent — it fixes the arrears amount as of the date served and starts the minimum notice period before an L1 application can be filed.
The notice period depends on how rent is paid: “at least 14 days before the termination date” for monthly or yearly rent, or “at least 7 days” for weekly or daily rent, and the form “must correctly set out how much rent the tenant owes as of the date the Form N4 is given to the tenant”. Under RTA s.59(3), the notice is void the moment the tenant pays the full amount owing — plus any rent that comes due before the payment is made, and once that happens the landlord cannot proceed to file.
The filing sequence is strict: “the landlord cannot file the L1 Application until the day after the termination date in the Form N4”, and only the Board itself can issue an eviction order — serving the N4 is a precondition to applying, not an eviction in itself.
Filing the L1 currently costs $201, or $186 through the Tribunals Ontario Portal, per the LTB’s published fee schedule — and like every LTB filing fee, it is non-refundable once paid, whatever the outcome of the application.Rent is $2,000, due on the 1st. The tenant misses June rent, and on June 10 the landlord serves an N4 showing $2,000 owing, with a termination date of June 24 (14 full days later, the minimum for monthly rent). If the tenant pays the full $2,000 on June 23 — and July rent has not yet come due — the N4 is void under s.59(3) and the landlord cannot file an L1. If instead the tenant pays only $1,500 by June 24, the notice stays valid and the landlord may file the L1 starting June 25, for the unpaid balance.
See also: Rent deposits: what a landlord may hold · Maintenance standards for rental housing · How do you follow up on rent arrears politely?.
A 30-minute call is enough to tell you whether AI pays for itself here.
