N4 served, tenant pays partial rent two days before deadline — does it cure?

LandlordEzy Team · 2026-05-25T19:42:49-04:00

Common scenario: you serve an N4 for arrears. Two days before the 14-day deadline, the tenant pays a portion of what's owed but not all of it. Does that cure the notice, or can you still apply to the LTB on the original N4? What's the right move here, and what's the timeline if you want to keep things moving?

1 comment

OLH Property Management 📌 Pinned · 1 day ago

Partial payment does NOT cure an N4 under section 74(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act. The N4 is only cured if the full amount owed AS OF THE DATE THE TENANT PAYS is paid in full before the termination date — partial payment leaves you free to file L1.

Your specific steps:
1. Apply the partial payment to the oldest arrears first (this is your default unless the tenant directs otherwise in writing).
2. After the N4's 14-day deadline passes, file the L1 application for the REMAINING balance plus possession.
3. Service of L1: you have 30 days from N4 expiry to file or you must re-serve a fresh N4.

Your strongest move right now: do not accept any further partial payments without writing back "received as partial payment toward arrears, not in satisfaction of the N4 notice." Document everything in writing.

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