What can happen if I’m behind in my rent?
If your rent is overdue by even one day, your landlord might give you a Notice to End your Tenancy Early for Non-payment of Rent (Form N4).
You can cancel this by paying all the rent that you owe within 14 days after you get the notice. You must pay within 7 days if you rent by the day or week. If you don’t pay what you owe, your landlord can apply to the to you.
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). 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 what length of time.
You cannot cancel this notice 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 Landlord and Tenant Board to evict you.
Demand for payment
In some situations, your landlord might choose to demand payment without giving you a notice to end your . Your landlord could apply to the Landlord and Tenant Board for an to make you pay.
Landlords sometimes do this if they think they will not be able to find a new tenant, or if you have a and they want to keep you responsible for the rent until the end of the .
Credit report
Your landlord could 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.
