Checking a rental payment ledger before an LTB hearing

A rent arrears dispute often turns on the accounting. Prepare a ledger showing each rental period, rent charged, payment received, credit, and running balance. Compare it against bank records and receipts rather than relying on memory.

Keep explanations for cash payments, returned transfers, and payments made by another person. Distinguish rent from utilities, deposits, or other charges whose treatment may differ. Identify any disagreement about how a payment was allocated. Updated figures should comply with the LTB's disclosure requirements. If you also want to raise maintenance or tenant rights issues at a landlord's arrears hearing, review the current additional requirements promptly. A corrected balance can change settlement options and the amount genuinely in dispute, even where other issues remain unresolved.

Use one line for each charge, payment, and credit, and keep the supporting record beside the entry. A transfer sent on one date but accepted later should be described accurately. If a third party paid, obtain information linking that payment to the tenant and rental period. Reconcile opening balances instead of carrying forward an unexplained number. Differences often arise because one party has applied a payment to an earlier month or included a charge the other party does not recognize.

Prepare a short list of the remaining disagreements after reconciliation. The dispute may concern the rent amount, an uncredited payment, the treatment of a deposit, or the legal character of another charge. Explain each separately and keep the arithmetic easy to verify. Update the ledger before settlement discussions and the hearing as required, while retaining earlier versions to explain changes. A good account does not decide every tenant-rights issue, but it can prevent avoidable disagreement and support a realistic payment proposal based on the amount actually owed.

Sources

• LTB L1 rent arrears application instructions
• LTB issues a tenant intends to raise at a rent arrears hearing

Read next: Preparing tenant evidence for an LTB hearing

General Ontario legal information, not legal advice for your matter, and reading it does not create a retainer. Sources checked 15 October 2026: check the current law, forms and dates before you act.

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This article is general information for people in Ontario, not legal advice. Rules, forms and deadlines change, and every situation is different. Check the current rule or speak to a licensed legal professional before you act.