Suing a Former Tenant for Property Damage in Ontario Small Claims Court

A tenant moves out, and you walk into a unit with broken fixtures, holes in the walls, or damage that goes well past normal wear and tear. Once the tenancy has ended, many Ontario landlords assume their only option is the Landlord and Tenant Board — but for a tenant who has already left, Small Claims Court is often the venue that actually gets you paid.

Knowing when to sue a former tenant for damage in Ontario Small Claims Court, instead of going back to the Board, can save months of delay. This guide walks through the distinction, what you need to prove, and how the process runs to enforcement.

Landlord and Tenant Board vs. Small Claims Court

Ontario's residential tenancy system is designed primarily around active tenancies — the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) handles disputes between a landlord and a current tenant. Once a tenant has moved out and the tenancy has genuinely ended, a landlord's damage claim can generally proceed as an ordinary civil claim in Small Claims Court instead.

This is a genuinely fact-specific line, and getting it wrong means refiling in the right forum after losing time. If there is any ambiguity about whether the tenancy has ended, or whether an LTB order already covers the same damage, sort that out before filing anywhere.

What Counts as "Damage" You Can Sue For

Ordinary wear and tear from normal living is not damage a landlord can recover for — worn carpet, small nail holes, and faded paint from age are expected costs of renting out a property. What is generally recoverable is damage beyond normal use: broken fixtures, holes punched in walls or doors, damaged flooring, or excessive smoke or pet damage.

Before you sue, separate your claim into categories:

• [ ] Damage clearly beyond normal wear and tear
• [ ] Unpaid rent or utilities the tenant owed, if any (a related but separate claim)
• [ ] Reasonable cleaning costs beyond a normal move-out clean
• [ ] Cost of repairs, supported by quotes, invoices, or receipts

Keep these categories distinct — a court will want to see you are not simply billing the tenant for maintenance you would have had to do anyway.

Building Your Evidence

A damage claim lives or dies on documentation. At minimum, gather:

• Dated photos or video of the unit at move-in and move-out, if you have them
• The lease or tenancy agreement
• Any move-in/move-out inspection reports
• Repair quotes, invoices, and receipts (actual costs, not estimates alone, wherever possible)
• Communication with the tenant about the damage

If you did not document the unit's condition at move-in, your claim is still possible but harder — you will rely more heavily on comparing move-out condition to what a reasonable landlord would expect from normal use.

The Last Month's Rent Deposit Is Not a Damage Deposit

A common misconception is that a landlord can simply keep a security or damage deposit to cover repairs. In Ontario, a landlord may generally collect a last month's rent deposit, but this money is meant to cover the final month's rent, not damage. A damage claim generally has to be pursued separately, rather than by deducting repair costs from that deposit — confirm the current framework with a lawyer before assuming otherwise, since the deposit rules are specific and this area sits at the intersection of landlord-tenant law and civil procedure.

Step-by-Step: Bringing the Claim

1. Confirm the tenancy has ended and Small Claims Court, not the LTB, is the right venue.
2. Calculate your total loss and confirm it falls within the Small Claims Court's monetary limit (currently $50,000, exclusive of costs and interest, as of mid-2026 — verify the current figure, since it is set by regulation and adjusted periodically).
3. Send a demand letter setting out the damage, the amount claimed, and a deadline to pay.
4. File a Plaintiff's Claim (distinct from a Superior Court "Statement of Claim") and pay the filing fee, which varies by how often you file claims — confirm the current fee first.
5. Serve the former tenant per the court's service rules, and keep proof of service.
6. Attend the mandatory settlement conference, required in every defended Small Claims case before trial.
7. Proceed to trial, or seek default judgment if the tenant was properly served and never responded.

After You Win: Collecting From a Former Tenant

Getting a judgment against a former tenant does not guarantee payment — many former tenants who caused significant damage are also difficult to collect from. Ontario's enforcement tools include a writ of seizure and sale against the debtor's property (filed with the sheriff for the relevant county) and garnishment of wages or bank accounts, sometimes preceded by examining the debtor about their income and assets. A portion of a debtor's wages is always protected from garnishment for ordinary debts, so full recovery in one step is not guaranteed.

If you do not know the former tenant's new address or employer, tracking them down is often the real bottleneck — a judgment is only as useful as your ability to locate assets to collect against.

Frequently asked questions