Tenant Not Paying Rent in Newfoundland and Labrador

The rental agreement sets the due date and time. If rent is due on the first and the agreement names no time, it is due by midnight on the first and is not overdue until the second. See the Failure to Pay Rent policy for how the Office counts overdue days.

Late rent alone does not let you serve a notice to end the tenancy. For a monthly or fixed term tenancy, rent must be overdue 5 days or more first. For a weekly tenancy it must be overdue 3 days or more. Rent due on the first is not overdue until the second, so the earliest day to serve a monthly notice is the 7th.

You may charge a late fee, but only at the amount the minister sets: $5.00 for the first day rent is late and $2.00 for each further day, to a maximum of $75.00. If a rent cheque is returned for insufficient funds, you may charge only the fee your bank charged you. Both are described in the Deposits, Payment and Fees policy.

Once the overdue period has passed, you may serve a written notice that ends the rental agreement and requires the tenant to move out on a stated date.

For rent due on the first, the earliest move-out date on a monthly notice is the 18th.

The notice is also the tenant's chance to pay. If the tenant pays all the overdue rent, plus any late fee, before the date in the notice, the tenancy is not terminated and the tenant does not have to leave. This works only twice in a 12 month period. If you give a third notice within 12 months, paying before the date does not cancel it. A notice cannot be given verbally, so put it in writing, sign it and serve it under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2018.

1. Confirm the amount owing against your rent records. You must keep complete records of rent and deposit money, and give a receipt when the tenant asks.
2. Wait until rent is overdue for the required days. Do not serve early.
3. Serve the written notice and keep proof of service.
4. If the tenant pays everything owing, including any late fee, before the date in the notice, the notice is void. Accept the payment and record it.
5. If the tenant does not pay and does not leave, file an Application for Dispute Resolution with the Residential Tenancies Office. The fee is $20. You may file before the move-out date, but the hearing cannot take place before it.
6. You can ask for vacant possession and for the money owed in the same application. An adjudicator can direct a tenant to pay money to a landlord.
7. After a win, have the order certified and enforced through the sheriff. For the possession steps in full, see our guide to evicting a tenant in Newfoundland and Labrador.

An order for money is not paid by the Residential Tenancies Office. The winning party has the order certified, with a sworn application, and then enforces it like a Supreme Court judgment. A certified order for less than $25,000 is filed with Small Claims Court at the Provincial Court, and the filing adds a $25.00 fee to the amount owed. A larger order is filed with the Office of the High Sheriff. Registering a judgment there costs $75.00 or 0.5% of the judgment, whichever is greater, up to $1,500.00. The sheriff's office then uses enforcement instructions such as instalments, garnishment, or seizing and selling property.

You have one year after the tenancy ends to apply for any claim against the tenant.

The security deposit is a separate path. Adjudicators have let landlords apply a deposit against unpaid rent, but you may keep it only through a written agreement with the tenant or an application to the director. Return the rest, with interest, within 10 days after the tenant vacates. The interest rate for 2026 is 0 percent.

Check your own paperwork before you serve anything. If you did not give the tenant a copy of the signed written agreement within 10 days of signing, the tenant's duty to pay rent is suspended until you do, and the withheld rent becomes payable once you comply.

Do not use self-help to collect. In Newfoundland and Labrador a landlord may not:

• disconnect heat, water or electricity without the tenant's written consent;
• change the locks on the tenant during the tenancy;
• take or keep a tenant's belongings to cover rent. The Act forbids this even when rent is owing;
• end a tenancy or harass a tenant in retaliation for a complaint or application.

Breaking the Act is an offence, with fines up to $3,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a corporation. Tenants also cannot lawfully withhold rent over repairs. They must request repairs in writing and apply to the Office, and their rent must be up to date for that application to be accepted. For the wider picture, see the tenant-side Newfoundland and Labrador eviction process guide.

If the tenant pays in full before the date, the tenancy continues and the notice is void. If the same thing happens a third time within 12 months, payment no longer cancels the notice, and you can proceed to an application. If the tenant ignores the notice, the next step is the Office, not a lock-out. Tenants who think a notice is invalid may apply to have its validity decided, so keep proof of service and your rent records ready.

Our Ask pages cover related questions, including what to do if a tenant does not pay rent and whether a landlord can charge late fees. If the tenant stays after a valid notice, see the guide to tenants who will not leave.

This guide explains the rules in general terms; for a specific case, ask the tribunal or a licensed legal professional.