The LTB Ordered Your Tenant to Pay — and They Haven’t. How Ontario Landlords Actually Collect

Whether an LTB money order is worth chasing depends less on how much you’re owed than on what you know about your former tenant. Match the information you hold to the right Small Claims Court tool.

I’m Arthur Zhao, a Toronto real estate broker. When a landlord tells me the Landlord and Tenant Board ordered a former tenant to pay and nothing has come in, the first question I put back is not “how much?” It’s “what do you actually know about this person now?” Collecting on an order costs time, court filing fees and sometimes enforcement-officer fees before a dollar comes back. Whether that spend makes sense depends on whether there is an income or an asset you can point the court at — and the court can only point where you point. So this piece is organized around the information you hold, not around the list of tools. Find the situation that matches yours and the tool follows from it.

You know where they work

This is the strongest position a landlord can be in, because wages recur. Under Rule 20.08 of the Small Claims Court Rules, a creditor can enforce a money order by garnishment of debts other people owe the debtor — and an employer owes its employee wages.

Where you file. You file an affidavit for enforcement request (Form 20P) with the clerk of a court in the territorial division where the debtor lives or carries on business. It names one debtor and one garnishee, the amount still owing, and why you believe the garnishee owes the debtor money. The clerk then issues a notice of garnishment.

How much it can take. According to the Wages Act (s.7(2), Ontario e-Laws 2026), 80% of a person’s wages is exempt from garnishment, so the most an employer can redirect toward an ordinary debt like unpaid rent is 20%. “Wages” here excludes amounts the employer is legally required to deduct (s.7(1)), so the 20% is calculated on pay after mandatory deductions. Disability insurance payments meant to replace lost income are treated as wages for this purpose (s.7(1.1)). A judge can lower or raise the exemption on a motion (s.7(4) and (5)).

How long it runs. A notice of garnishment stays in force for six years from issue and can be renewed for further six-year periods (Rule 20.08(5.1)). It reaches money payable at the time of service and money that becomes payable within six years after issue (Rule 20.08(8)). The employer pays the clerk, not you. The clerk distributes the first payment 30 days after receiving it and later payments as they arrive (Rule 20.08(20.1)).

The catch. If the tenant changes jobs, the notice is tied to the old employer. A new employer needs a new notice. If other creditors are garnishing the same person through the same clerk, payments are shared equally among them (Rule 20.08(10)).

You know where they bank

A bank account is also a debt the bank owes its customer, so the same Rule 20.08 garnishment applies. The bank becomes the garnishee instead of the employer. What changes is what you need to know.

You need the branch, not just the bank. When the garnishee is a financial institution, the notice and every later notice must be served at the branch where the debt is payable (Rule 20.08(6.2)). A cheque the tenant once gave you, or an old pre-authorized debit form, may show which branch holds the account. A bank name alone usually isn’t enough to serve properly.

What the bank must do. The garnishee has to pay the clerk what it owes the debtor, up to the amount in the notice, within 10 days after service or 10 days after the debt becomes payable, whichever is later (Rule 20.08(7)). A bank that disputes the garnishment, or pays less, must file a garnishee’s statement within 10 days of service (Rule 20.08(11)). A garnishee that neither pays nor files a statement can be ordered to pay the amount itself, unless the court orders otherwise (Rule 20.08(17)).

Joint accounts. If the debt is owed to the debtor and someone else together, one-half can be garnished unless the court sets a different share at a garnishment hearing (Rule 20.08(2)). The co-owner gets notice and has 30 days to request a hearing (Rule 20.08(14) and (16)).

Garnishing an employer vs. garnishing a bank

You know they own a car or real property

Assets that don’t produce a payment stream are reached with writs. The Small Claims Court Rules provide two kinds, both issued on an affidavit for enforcement request stating the amount still owing.

Personal property, such as a vehicle. A writ of seizure and sale of personal property is issued to a bailiff, who enforces it for the amount owing, postjudgment interest, and the bailiff’s own fees and expenses (Rule 20.06(1)). Before a sale, notice of the time and place must be mailed at least 10 days ahead to both creditor and debtor and advertised publicly (Rule 20.06(6)). The Execution Act limits what can be taken from an individual. Section 2(1) exempts, at the debtor’s option, items such as necessary clothing and one motor vehicle worth no more than a prescribed amount. If the vehicle sells for more than that amount plus sale costs, it can be sold and the debtor receives the prescribed amount out of the proceeds (s.3(2)). So a modest car may yield nothing, while a valuable one may yield the excess.

Real property. A writ of seizure and sale of land is issued to the sheriff the creditor names (Rule 20.07(1)), and once issued it is governed by the Rules of Civil Procedure (Rule 20.07(2)). It expires on its sixth anniversary unless renewed (Rule 20.07(3)). The Execution Act also exempts a debtor’s principal residence when the debtor’s equity in it does not exceed a prescribed amount (s.2(2)). Above that amount, the residence is subject to seizure and sale (s.2(3)).

Why the land writ is worth knowing about even if you never force a sale. Three different court orders put ordinary enforcement on hold: an order for periodic payment, a consolidation order and an order as to payment after an examination. Each carves out the same exception: the creditor may still issue a writ of seizure and sale of land and file it with the sheriff (Rules 20.02(2), 20.09(9) and 20.10(8)).

You know nothing about their finances

This is where many landlords give up, and it’s the situation the examination of debtor exists for. Under Rule 20.10, if the order is in default, the clerk of a court in the territorial division where the debtor lives or carries on business issues a notice of examination at your request.

What they must bring. A debtor who is an individual has to complete a financial information form (Form 20I), serve it on you without filing it with the court, give a copy to the presiding judge (Rule 20.10(4.1)), and bring documents that support it (Rule 20.10(4.2)).

What you can ask. Rule 20.10(4) lists the subjects: the reason for non-payment, the debtor’s income and property, debts owed to and by the debtor, any property disposed of before or after the order, the debtor’s present, past and future means to pay, and whether they intend to obey the order. The examination is held in private unless the court orders otherwise, under oath, and recorded (Rule 20.10(6)). The point, practically, is to come out with an employer or a branch name. That moves you into one of the situations above.

If they don’t show, or won’t answer. The court may order a contempt hearing (Rule 20.11(1) and (2)). At that hearing, the court can order the person to attend another examination, or be jailed for not more than five days, among other orders (Rule 20.11(7)).

One trade-off. After the examination, or on the debtor’s consent, the court may make an order as to payment (Rule 20.10(7)). While it is in force, you cannot take other enforcement steps except issuing and filing a land writ (Rule 20.10(8)).

What every situation has in common

Getting the order into the court system. According to Tribunals Ontario (2026), an LTB order for payment of money can be filed with the Small Claims Court for enforcement. Separately, s.19 of the Statutory Powers Procedure Act lets a party file a certified copy of a tribunal order in the Superior Court of Justice. Once filed, it is deemed an order of that court. The party must notify the tribunal within 10 days of filing, and a sheriff who receives a certified money order enforces it as an execution of the Superior Court (s.19(1) to (3)).

The six-year line. More than six years after the order, a writ of seizure and sale of personal property, a writ of seizure and sale of land and a notice of garnishment can each be issued only with the court’s leave (Rules 20.06(1.1), 20.07(1.1) and 20.08(2.1)).

When you’re paid. Once a garnishment has collected the full amount, the creditor must immediately serve a notice of termination of garnishment on the garnishee and the clerk (Rule 20.08(20.2)). Rule 20.12 sets out how full satisfaction of the order is recorded.

When to bring in a professional

Everything above describes the procedure, not what you should do on a particular file. Several situations benefit from a lawyer or licensed paralegal: a debtor who has moved out of Ontario, a jointly owned asset, a claimed Execution Act exemption, a debtor who files a consolidation motion, or a land writ you want registered efficiently. On that last point, Rule 20.07 lets an authorized Teranet user — defined to include a lawyer or paralegal — have the writ issued electronically through the Teranet software.