Ontario landlords and their representatives need to pay close attention to recent Court of Appeal decisions involving N12 applications.
Landlord and Tenant Board applications are being dismissed where landlords have failed to disclose previous N12 notices when filing their eviction applications.
In July 2026, the Ontario Court of Appeal released two important decisions: Shafiq v. Ramsay, 2026 ONCA 517 and Miller Estate v. Arguelles, 2026 ONCA 518.
The decisions reinforce that the disclosure requirements under section 71.1 of the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA) are mandatory. A landlord’s failure to provide the required information about previous N12 notices can result in an otherwise legitimate application being dismissed.
What Must Landlords Disclose?
Section 71.1 of the RTA requires landlords filing certain own-use applications to disclose information about previous N12 notices given during the applicable two year period.
This requirement is broader than many landlords realize as it is not necessarily limited to the same tenant or the same rental unit. Landlords and their representatives should therefore review the landlord’s complete history of relevant notices before filing an application.
Previous N13 notices can also trigger disclosure requirements under section 71.1.
The practical lesson is simple:
Do not complete an L2 application from memory.
Review your records. Identify every applicable previous N12 and N13 notice and make the required disclosures before filing.
Shafiq v. Ramsay: A Missing N12 Can Invalidate the Application
In Shafiq v. Ramsay, the landlord had previously served the tenant with an N12 in July 2021 but did not proceed with it.
A second N12 was served in April 2022, followed by an eviction application.
The landlord indicated on the application that no other N12 notices had been given during the previous two years. The earlier notice was not disclosed.
The LTB initially allowed the eviction. The Board concluded that the omission did not necessarily require dismissal, particularly because the tenant already knew about the earlier N12.
The Court of Appeal disagreed.
The Court determined that the statutory disclosure requirement was mandatory. The application did not contain the information required by the RTA and could not proceed as filed.
This is extremely important for small landlords.
The issue was not necessarily whether the landlord genuinely required the property.
The issue was that the application failed to comply with the legislation.
The Word “Shall” Matters
Section 71.1 provides that where the required information has not been provided, the Board “shall refuse to accept the application for filing.”
That word has significant consequences as it restricts the LTB’s ability to treat missing disclosure as a minor procedural error that can simply be corrected at the hearing.
A landlord may have a legitimate reason for requiring the property.
The tenant may already know about the previous N12.
There may have been no attempt to conceal anything.
Nevertheless, failure to comply with the statutory disclosure requirement can jeopardize the entire application.
For a small landlord, the consequences can be substantial: another notice, another termination date, another application, another filing fee, and potentially months of additional delay.
Miller Estate v. Arguelles: What Happens When a Landlord Dies?
The companion case, Miller Estate v. Arguelles, raises an equally important issue.
An N12 had been served because the rental unit was intended to be occupied by landlord Ann Miller’s daughter.
However, Ann Miller died before the LTB hearing.
The LTB initially allowed the proceeding to continue by substituting the Estate of Ann Miller. The case also involved a failure to properly disclose previous N12 notices.
The Court of Appeal ultimately quashed the eviction order, but the decision raises a difficult question for small housing providers:
What happens when a landlord legitimately requires a property for a qualifying family member but dies before the LTB can hear the case?
A landlord cannot plan the timing of their death around an LTB hearing.
The family member’s housing need may not disappear because the landlord has died. Yet the legal ability to continue an own-use application can change dramatically.
The Court must interpret the legislation as written. The broader policy question is whether the RTA adequately deals with circumstances such as death during a legitimate own-use proceeding.
If it does not, that is an issue the Ontario government should examine.
Form Versus Substance
These decisions raise a broader concern for small landlords.
Landlords should absolutely be expected to follow the Residential Tenancies Act and disclose information relevant to an eviction application.
But there should also be a discussion about proportionality.
Should an otherwise legitimate application automatically fail because of an innocent disclosure error, even where the tenant already knew about the previous notice and suffered no procedural prejudice?
Should the LTB have greater authority to correct genuine administrative mistakes while protecting tenants from deliberate non-disclosure?
Section 212 of the RTA already gives the Board certain powers concerning procedural irregularities. However, mandatory statutory wording can limit how far those powers extend.
This is an area where legislative clarification may be appropriate.
The goal should not be to weaken legitimate tenant protections. It should be to distinguish between deliberate non-disclosure and an innocent procedural mistake.
What Small Landlords Should Do Now
Until there is further legislative clarification, landlords must operate within the law as interpreted by the courts.
Before filing an L2 involving an N12 or N13:
- Review your records for the previous two years.
- Identify all applicable N12 and N13 notices.
- Do not assume an abandoned or unsuccessful notice is irrelevant.
- Do not assume a notice involving another tenant or unit can automatically be ignored.
- Ensure the information required by section 71.1 is disclosed accurately.
- Confirm that all other N12 requirements, including compensation requirements where applicable, have been satisfied.
- If circumstances have changed — particularly because of a death, transfer of ownership, or change in the intended occupant — obtain legal advice before proceeding.
Do not assume that an adjudicator will allow an incomplete application to be corrected at the hearing.
The Bigger Issue
The Court of Appeal has clarified how the existing legislation must be applied.
Landlords now have to respond accordingly.
But the Ontario government should also consider whether the current legislation achieves the proper balance between procedural compliance and substantive justice.
Small landlords should not lose otherwise legitimate applications because a complicated form was completed incorrectly where there was no deliberate attempt to conceal information.
At the same time, tenants are entitled to know whether a landlord has repeatedly used N12 or N13 notices and to have that history considered when good faith is in question.
Both objectives can exist together.
The law should protect tenants from abuse while providing a reasonable mechanism to correct honest procedural errors.
Until that balance is addressed legislatively, landlords and their representatives need to treat N12 and N13 disclosure as a critical part of every application.
Before you file, check your records.
Check every applicable previous notice.
Make the required disclosures.
Because a missing disclosure can now be enough to derail an otherwise legitimate application.
References and Additional Resources
Ontario Court of Appeal – Shafiq v. Ramsay, 2026 ONCA 517
Court of Appeal decision addressing mandatory disclosure of previous N12 notices.
Ontario Court of Appeal – Miller Estate v. Arguelles, 2026 ONCA 518
Court of Appeal decision addressing N12 disclosure and the consequences of the landlord’s death during an own-use proceeding.
Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario (ACTO)
Ontario Court of Appeal Affirms Tenant Protections in Landmark ‘Own-Use’ Eviction Decision
Residential Tenancies Act, 2006
Ontario Residential Tenancies Act
Landlord and Tenant Board – Tribunals Ontario
Landlord and Tenant Board
Landlord and Tenant Board – Forms, Filing and Fees
LTB Forms, Filing and Fees
