How to File and Win Tenant LTB Applications
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Looking to file an application against your landlord, but not sure how? We’ve created a practical, step-by-step guide below to the tenant application process at the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board (“LTB”), including what application(s) to file for a given scenario, how to prepare your application, and how to effectively and successfully pursue your case.
What Tenant Application Should You File?
There are quite a few options, but the most common tenant applications against landlords are T2s (Application About Tenant Rights) and T6s (Application About Maintenance). Generally speaking, we find it often appropriate for tenants to file both a T2 and T6 against their landlord. This can be done as a single filing (with a single filing fee) via the LTB’s online filing system.
Below we describe in greater detail the two application types and when they may be appropriate, but we will note here that if you think both apply, we strongly recommend filing both together at the same time. If the applications are not both filed at the same time, it is possible submit a request to combine them to be heard together, but this is a more cumbersome option.
What is the Difference Between a T2 and a T6 Application?
Although they may arise from the same underlying circumstances, T2 and T6 applications address different legal rights and obligations found under the Residential Tenancies Act (“RTA”), and are not interchangeable.
What is a T2 Application?
All tenant claims permitted under a T2 can be classified generally as harassment. Below, however, are the specific violations that a T2 application may cover:
Harassment, coercion, threats, or interference;
Illegal entry;
Changing locks without consent;
Interference with reasonable enjoyment of the rental unit and/or complex; and
Withholding vital services (heat, water, electricity).
What is a T6 Application?
T6 applications generally apply with respect to a landlord’s repair and maintenance obligations. Where a landlord has failed to meet their repair and/or maintenance obligations, or has failed to otherwise maintain a property in accordance with applicable health, safety, housing, or maintenance standards, a tenant can file a T6 application against their landlord.
What Other Tenant Applications Exist at the LTB?
Other applications tenants can bring against their landlord at the LTB include
These applications, however, are less common than T2 and T6 applications, and thus will not be specifically discussed in this post.
When to File a Tenant Application
Per s. 29(2) of the RTA, tenant issues generally cannot be the subject of an application filed more than one (1) year from the day of occurence or resolution. So, don’t sleep on your claims - move to file shortly after something has occurred. And if more issues arise between when you file and when your application is heard, we recommend serving and submitting a request to amend your application at least one (1) month prior to your hearing date to update it. We’ll discuss amendments more below.
How to Write a Tenant Application
When completing your T2 and/or T6 application(s), rather than writing all reasons in the spaces provided on the form, we recommend tenants draft a separate Schedule “A” to be filed with the T2 and/or T6 applications. This is simply a separate document (which we’ll discuss more below) one can draft in Word, Google Docs, by hand, or otherwise, with “Schedule “A”” written at the top.
Then, in the spaces provided on the application form for your reasons, simply write “See attached Schedule “A”” in each box. The Schedule “A” should then be included as a PDF attachment with the filing. This is common practice for most legal professionals who appear before the LTB.
Because the relevant details of a claim can be ascertained more easily from a clean, organized, and chronological Schedule “A” rather than the various scattered boxes of an LTB application form, this method allows an adjudicator to easily read and reference your application details at the hearing. As a result, the adjudicator is more likely to understand your claim and award you appropriate remedies.
Provide All Relevant Dates (“Sufficient Particulars”)
Your Schedule “A” should describe the relevant details and facts of your application, and include specific dates for all notable events. If issues are raised without specific dates attributed to incidents, the application will be dismissed for “failure to provide sufficient particulars”.
For maintenance issues in a T6, specific dates as to when a maintenance issue was brought to the landlord’s attention (ideally by email or text message) will be crucial. The controlling precedent for this commonly encountered issue is Ball v. Metro Capital Property and Lockhurst. Though Ball pertained to a landlord application, the Board has consistently applied the same rule to tenant applications found to be “vague and lacking in details and dates” (see, e.g., TET-08886-20).
How to Write a Successful Tenant Application
We generally recommend writing the details of your Schedule “A” in numbered paragraphs, each with specific dates for all relevant events, as follows:
On December 26, 2025, the landlord emailed me and wrote that if I didn’t pay an above guide rent increase of $50, they would have to evict me. I refused to pay this, given that it was clearly illegal.
On January 1, 2026, the landlord entered my unit at 2 PM without any notice whatsoever, and began yelling at me because I refused to pay the illegal rent increase requested on December 26, 2025. They were shouting things like, “you just don’t want to pay more because you’re greedy and lazy.” This persisted for roughly 30 minutes, while I told the landlord to stop yelling and leave. The experience was incredibly unpleasant and caused me considerable stress and anxiety.
On January 5, 2026, the landlord shut off my heat. I emailed them that day and brought the issue (lack of heat) to their attention. At first, I thought it was simply a mechanical failure. However, the landlord responded immediately and said in their email they would only turn the heat back on if I agreed to pay the illegal increase they requested on December 25, 2026. I refused, and simply had to suffer through the next day without any heat. It was -5 degrees outside. I went about my business in my apartment with all my winter clothes on (jacket, hat, gloves, etc.) because it was so cold. At night, I slept only 3 hours, because I kept waking up with my teeth chattering.
On January 6, 2026, due to the lack of heat, a pipe in the apartment’s washroom burst and began leaking water in the unit. I emailed the landlord to advise them as to this issue. They told me by reply email the same day that they would not address it, because I was refusing to pay more rent.
Except when describing how long an issue persisted, broad date ranges are to be avoided, as the LTB will not regard these as sufficiently specific (e.g., “the landlord harassed me all the time from January through June 2026”).
Also, you don’t need to submit evidence with your application. You can (and should) do that later, at least seven (7) days before your hearing.
How to Write About Each Issue
When detailing each issue make sure to describe
The issue;
When the issue began;
When and how the issue was brought to the landlord’s attention;
How it impacted you, including any costs incurred as a result (aka “out of pocket costs”); and
Whether the issue is still ongoing (if the issue has ceased, the end date should be noted as well).
When filing a joint T2/T6 application (or any other joint application), you should submit just one Schedule “A” for both applications. There is no need to draft or submit multiple separate Schedule “A”s, but the issues pertaining to each application should be discussed separately.
Ideally, you should indicate what in your Schedule “A” relates to the T2 vs. the T6 application (or any other application). Though if this makes it more difficult to write what happened chronologically, just write what happened chronologically. Then, when you write out your request remedies (discussed below), separate remedies into those pertaining to T2 issues vs. T6 issues.
How to Request Remedies
The Schedule “A” should list the remedies you are seeking against your landlord. These can include, but are not limited to
Specific performance (i.e., an order from the LTB telling your landlord to perform a specific task, often maintenance or repairs, though it could also be an order for the landlord to stop some form of harassment);
Rent abatements (i.e., a partial refund of your rent for the time that the issue in question persisted);
Compensation for out-of-pocket expenses;
Legal costs of up to $700 per hearing; and
Fines paid by the landlord to the LTB.
The Schedule “A” should list the specific amount requested for each remedy as well as the total amount of remedies requested.
Out-of-pocket expenses are some of the easiest remedies to obtain as their cost can be proven by receipts, invoices, etc., so we often tell tenants that rather than living under poor conditions, they’re better off paying someone to handle repairs, then seeking reimbursement from their landlord in the form of rent abatement. Filing fees for the applications can also be requested as a part of out-of-pocket expenses.
Rent abatements for harassment or any sort of tenant suffering can be subject to significant discretion. Our rule of thumb is always to ask for more than you expect to get, ideally with reference to case law where another party in a similar situation received a similar abatement.
Lastly, legal fees and fines payable to the LTB are very rarely ordered.
You should always ask for more than you expect to receive – the LTB will almost certainly not award more than you ask for – but we recommend keeping your requested remedies within the realm of reason. If you request an amount that seems absurd to the LTB given the circumstances, it may cost you your credibility. And that can cost you your case.
How to File a Tenant Application with the LTB
Tenant applications can be filed online through the Tribunals Ontario Portal, and application fees can also be paid online.
Note that tenants do not need to serve their applications to their landlord or other parties involved (i.e., tenants only need to submit their application to the LTB). The LTB will automatically serve the application to the landlord and other listed parties to the application, typically by email.
How to Amend a Tenant Application
Amendment are the subject of Rule 15 of the LTB’s Rules of Procedure. Nonetheless, the LTB otherwise provides few instructions pertaining to amendments, and there is no official form for them.
What we typically do is write a ‘request to amend’ letter, setting forth in an organized manner how we want to amend the application. Some other legal professionals will take the original application and actually mark it up by hand with all changes bolded and/or underlined.
We find that as long as this is handled reasonably, timely served on the other side, and submitted to the LTB (with a completed certificate of service), the LTB will generally accept the amendment. But they do not like them - perhaps because the rules around amendments are so poorly outlined.
There are no real rules regarding when an amendment must be filed (except per 15.3(a), “as soon as the need for it was known”), so it’s entirely up to the adjudicator to determine what constitutes a timely amendment causing no prejudice to the other side. Our general rule is amendments should be served as soon as possible and practical. Often, serving one before an Adjudicative Case Conference (ACC), discussed below, and then using the ACC to get the amendment accepted is a good move.
When Will My LTB Case Be Heard?
Tenant applications are given less priority than landlord applications. They generally are scheduled for an ACC within perhaps 4-8 months, and then perhaps another 4-8 months later they are scheduled for a full hearing on the merits.
What is an Adjudicative Case Conference (ACC)?
An ACC is essentially a settlement conference, where the LTB will:
Look at your application with a view to raising any preliminary issues, so that you have an opportunity to amend your application into compliance before a hearing on the merits (otherwise your case could be dismissed on preliminary grounds); and
Explore whether a settlement between the parties is possible.
ACCs are very low-stakes; nothing too bad or too good is likely to happen, as long as everyone shows up. We often like to use them as an opportunity to amend tenant applications; either to improve them, or update them if there’s been ongoing issues between the parties.
How to Serve and File Evidence for an LTB Hearing
Parties often mistakenly believe evidence must be included with an application at the time the application is filed. This is incorrect. Evidence does not need to and should not be submitted with the initial application. Evidence simply must be served on the other party and submitted to your LTB portal file at least seven (7) days before a hearing date.
Do not simply upload your evidence to the LTB portal and then tell the LTB the landlord ‘knows it’s there’ or is otherwise aware of everything. That’s going to get you into trouble. You want to email the landlord your evidence, and then submit it to the portal.
All evidence, aside from video and audio recordings, should be compiled into one PDF document that is clean and logically organized. We like to order documents chronologically and group similar documents by type (e.g., all emails together, all photos together, etc.). The document should have an index, everything should be divided into tabs, and the pages should be numbered (per . Videos and audio recordings should be uploaded separately to the LTB portal.
Be prepared to tell your adjudicator what evidenceID numbers to look for in the portal for specific evidence submissions, and what pages in your evidence submissions they should look at.
Conclusion
So, that’s a lot to digest. Let’s break it down a bit. When filing a tenant application with the LTB, you’re basically going to want to:
Determine which application(s) you need to file;
Draft a detailed Schedule “A”;
File the application(s) online or by other means with your Schedule “A”; and
Compile all non-video/audio evidence into one package to be served and submitted at least seven (7) days before your hearing.
Although we no longer handle these applications, if you need help, we invite you to consult our paralegal referrals page. And if you’re unhappy with the outcome of your hearing, we do assist with reviews and appeals (see our housing practice page for more info); you can book a consultation to discuss obtaining our assistance with this using the button below.