Tenant Left Without Paying Rent in Quebec? How to Claim It at the TAL

By StrikeLM. TAL fees, notification rules, execution steps, and Quebec collection agency rules checked on October 11, 2026, against tal.gouv.qc.ca, the Office de la protection du consommateur, LégisQuébec, and Éducaloi. General information, not legal advice.

Your tenant left without paying rent in Quebec. Maybe they stopped paying a couple of months ago, then cleared out the apartment one weekend. You can still claim what they owe at the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL), which replaced the Régie du logement in 2020.

Quebec is different from the rest of the country in two ways that matter here. You can't hold a security deposit, so there's nothing to deduct from. And the TAL's queue for this kind of file is long, so the earlier you file, the better. Here's the claim, notifying a tenant who's gone, the hearing, the decision, and collection, including the wage seizure you can start without a bailiff. A Sherbrooke example pulls it together.

The TAL's own site has the final word if anything here has changed.

Why a TAL decision matters

A TAL decision ordering the tenant to pay is enforceable for 10 years. With it, a huissier de justice (bailiff) can seize wages, a bank account, or property, and for smaller claims you can seize wages yourself. Credit bureau reporting through StrikeLM needs it too.

Your rent ledger is proof for the hearing. On its own, it can't force anyone to pay.

When a Quebec tenant abandons the unit (déguerpissement)

Under article 1975 of the Civil Code of Québec, when a tenant abandons the dwelling and takes their belongings with them, the lease is resiliated automatically. Quebec calls this déguerpissement. You get the unit back, and the tenant still owes the unpaid rent up to the day they left.

Rent you lost after that is a claim for damages, and the duty to minimize your loss (article 1479) applies. Advertise the unit promptly, keep every ad and its date, and log showings and inquiries. The TAL decides how much lost rent is fair based on what you did to re-rent.

Write down the date you learned the tenant was gone and how. Keys in the mailbox, a neighbour's text, an empty apartment on inspection: date it and photograph it.

No deposit in Quebec, so plan around it

Article 1904 bars a landlord from requiring a security deposit or any amount beyond the first month's rent paid in advance. Every dollar the tenant owes has to come through the TAL decision. That's one more reason to file quickly and keep your evidence tight.

How long you have to file

The general prescription period in Quebec is 3 years (article 2925 of the Civil Code). Confirm your deadline with the TAL, since we didn't find a TAL page applying it to a former tenant's rent claim. Don't wait anyway. A file opened now gets in line now.

What the TAL can and can't award you

A TAL decision against a former tenant can cover:

• Rent unpaid up to the day they left
• Lost rent after they left, as damages, if you show you tried to re-rent
• Damage beyond normal wear, backed by photos and invoices
• Your notification costs, within the tariff

Rent for a period the unit was already re-rented isn't claimable, because you lost nothing then. Normal wear from aging or ordinary use is excluded too, under article 1890. Amounts you can't document will likely be cut. Without a deposit to lean on, a claim for repairs needs dated move-in and move-out photos to stand up.

Which TAL application and what it costs

The TAL charges $92 for a "demande relative au non-paiement du loyer" (unpaid rent) and the same $92 for a "demande en indemnité de relocation et dommages" (damages), as of April 1, 2026. People receiving last-resort financial assistance are exempt.

If you're claiming unpaid rent plus lost rent or damage, ask the TAL whether one application covers everything, so you don't pay twice. File online on the TAL website, by mail, or at a TAL office. You can reach the TAL at 514-873-2245 or 1-800-683-2245, though it won't give legal advice.

Notifying a tenant who has left

Quebec calls service "notification," and the TAL accepts any method you can prove: registered mail, a bailiff, or another provable method. After notifying, you have 45 days to file your proof of notification and your list of exhibits with the TAL.

If you can't find the tenant, notification by public notice is possible only with the TAL's authorization. Show what you tried before you ask.

You can ask the TAL to have the tenant reimburse your notification costs within the set tariff: registered mail up to $13.15, a bailiff $27 for an individual or $28 for a company, and $7 for other methods.

If you call people listed on the rental application, keep it to what your lease or application allows, and check Quebec's privacy rules first.

The wait and the hearing

Claims against a former tenant most likely sit in the TAL's general civil causes queue. Its dashboard for 2026-2027 showed an average of about 9.1 months to a first hearing in that category. That number moves, so check the TAL's performance dashboard when you file.

The TAL sends a notice of hearing with the date and format. At the hearing, the judge (called an administrative judge) will want the lease, your ledger, proof the tenant left, proof of notification, and your re-renting evidence. Present the debt in date order and finish with the total. Our [rent arrears hearing prep guide](/blog/articles/how-to-prepare-for-rent-arrears-hearing) has more on organizing evidence.

If you, as the applicant, don't show up, your application can be dismissed. If the tenant was properly notified and doesn't show, the TAL can decide against them without hearing their side. A tenant who wasn't there can ask to have the decision retracted, generally within 10 days of learning about it, by showing they were prevented from attending and outlining their defence.

Worked example: a TAL claim for $3,900

A fictional Quebec file, for illustration. Use your own amounts and dates.

A Sherbrooke apartment rents for $1,300 a month on a lease ending June 30, 2026. The tenant pays nothing for April or May, then leaves with all their belongings on May 31. The landlord finds the keys in the mailbox on June 1 and photographs the empty unit.

1. June 2. They list the apartment on two sites and save dated screenshots. Showings start the next week.
2. The new tenant. A lease is signed starting July 1, so June is the only month lost.
3. The claim. $2,600 unpaid rent for April and May, plus $1,300 for June as damages, with the ads and showing log as proof. Total: $3,900.
4. June 15. They file online and pay $92.
5. Notification. They notify the tenant by registered mail at a new address found through a mutual contact, then file the proof and exhibit list within 45 days. They ask for the $13.15 registered mail cost.
6. Hearing. Months later, the tenant doesn't appear. The judge orders the tenant to pay, with whatever amount for June the judge accepts.
7. Collection. The claim is under $15,000 and only for money, so the decision can be executed 20 days after it's signed. The landlord knows the tenant's employer and starts a wage seizure through the Cour du Québec clerk without hiring a bailiff.

Quebec TAL document checklist

• The lease, signed
• Payment history: rent due and rent received, month by month
• Proof of when and how you learned the tenant left
• Dated photos of the empty unit
• Rental ads, screenshots, and a log of showings and inquiries
• The new lease, if re-rented
• Invoices or quotes for damage
• Proof of notification and your list of exhibits
• Receipts for notification costs
• The tenant's employer name and address, if you know it

For what makes a file credit-reporting ready later, see [documents for a rent arrears submission](/blog/articles/documents-for-rent-arrears-submission).

Mistakes Quebec landlords make

• Waiting to file. The queue is long, and your file only enters it once you file.
• Re-renting slowly, or not documenting it. Lost rent after the tenant left depends on proof you tried.
• Missing the 45-day window to file proof of notification and your exhibits.
• Publishing a public notice without authorization. That needs TAL approval first.
• Skipping the hearing. An absent applicant risks dismissal.
• Trying to execute too early. Small-claim decisions wait 20 days after signature, others 30 days after the parties learn of them.
• Two bureau reports for one debt. If the agency reports, StrikeLM isn't needed.

After the decision: collecting in Quebec

A TAL decision can't be enforced by the TAL itself. Execution goes through the Cour du Québec, usually with a bailiff.

Timing. For small-claim decisions (money only, $15,000 or less), execution can start 20 days after the decision is signed. For others, it's 30 days after the parties learn of the decision. The decision stays executable for 10 years.

Wage seizure without a bailiff. For small-claim decisions where the only measure is a wage seizure, you can prepare the notice of execution (avis d'exécution) yourself, file it with the clerk of the Small Claims Division of the Cour du Québec, and notify the tenant and the employer. The clerk then administers the seized wages. You need the employer's name and full address, and only part of the wage can be seized, depending on income and dependants.

Everything else goes through a bailiff. You give a huissier instructions and the funds to proceed. The bailiff files the notice of execution at the Cour du Québec and serves it. A bank account seizure needs the name and address of the financial institution. Seizing movable property has exemptions, including household furniture up to $7,000.

Execution costs are generally recoverable within the legal tariffs. Ask the bailiff for a written estimate before you start.

Using a Quebec collection agency

An agency can locate the tenant and make the calls, which helps if you don't know the employer. You pay with a share of what it recovers. We compare the two routes in [collection agency vs. credit reporting](/blog/articles/collection-agency-vs-credit-reporting-unpaid-rent).

What it costs. Contingency agencies keep a percentage. Published Canadian rates we found for tenant and consumer debt run from roughly 20% to 50% (Openroom 20% to 45%, Landlord Credit Bureau 30% to 50%, Affinity Credit Solutions 40% for tenant files). If you'd rather sell the debt, expect pennies on the dollar. There's no public Canadian price data, but a 2013 US FTC study put the average at 4 cents per dollar.

Their screening tells you something. According to landlords who've used agencies, a good one checks whether the file is worth chasing before it signs on. They'll want to know if you have a TAL decision, whether the tenant can be found, and whether the tenant works and what kind of job it is. Steady salaried work makes a wage seizure realistic. Cash or self-employed income usually doesn't. A refusal from an agency is a fair signal that a seizure may not work either.

Permit. In Quebec, collection agencies need a permit from the Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC) under the Act respecting the collection of certain debts. Check any agency with the OPC's online search tool at opc.gouv.qc.ca.

Quebec's contact rules. The agency's first contact has to be a written claim notice on paper, and it can only call the tenant 5 days after sending it. Calls and visits are limited to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and never on Sundays or listed public holidays. Saturday is allowed. It can contact the tenant's family, friends, or employer only once, and only to get an address or phone number. The tenant can send a written notice that restricts contact for 3 months. These rules also bind an agency that bought the debt.

Before you sign with a Quebec agency, get these in writing: its percentage on a TAL decision, the smallest balance it accepts, any opening or closing charges, who chooses and funds a bailiff, whether it reports to the credit bureaus, its share of money the tenant pays you directly, the cancellation terms, and whether it's buying your claim or collecting on commission. When the agency handles bureau reporting, there's no need for StrikeLM on that debt.

Where StrikeLM fits in Quebec

StrikeLM's part begins with the TAL decision in your hands. Send us the decision plus your proof of ownership or the lease. Within 24 hours, eligible arrears from that decision are submitted to both Equifax Canada and TransUnion Canada. We can't submit from a ledger alone. Pricing is $99 CAD plus taxes, once per submission, and Quebec is covered like every other province.

Whether the entry appears, and when, is up to each bureau. Nobody can guarantee a listing or a payment. We aren't a collection agency, and if money comes in later, you correct the balance. For ongoing tools, there's CollectorPro ($29 monthly) and CollectorPro+ ($49 monthly). The full process is explained in [our credit reporting guide](/blog/articles/credit-reporting-order-backed-rent-arrears).

Quebec TAL FAQ

My tenant left without paying. Can I still go to the TAL?

Yes. A tenant leaving doesn't erase the rent they owe. File at the TAL and notify them at their new address.

Is the Régie du logement the same as the TAL?

Yes. The Régie du logement became the Tribunal administratif du logement in 2020.

How much does it cost to file at the TAL?

$92 for an unpaid rent application or a damages application, as of April 1, 2026.

Can I claim rent for months after the tenant left?

Yes, as damages, if your ads and showing log prove you tried to re-rent. The TAL decides what's reasonable.

How long does the TAL take?

For general civil files, the TAL's 2026-2027 dashboard showed about 9.1 months on average to a first hearing. Check the current figure when you file.

Can I keep a deposit for unpaid rent in Quebec?

No. Quebec landlords can't require a security deposit, so the full amount has to come through the TAL decision.

How do I collect after a TAL decision?

For small-claim decisions, you can start a wage seizure yourself through the Cour du Québec clerk if you know the employer. Otherwise, hire a bailiff.

Your next step today

List the unit if you haven't, and save the ads. Build your ledger, find the tenant's new address, and file at the TAL so your place in line starts now.

After the decision is signed, StrikeLM can put it in front of both credit bureaus for $99 plus tax. If you own rentals in another province, the [national hub on tenants who moved out owing rent](/blog/articles/tenant-moved-out-owing-rent) links each provincial guide.

For general information about Quebec rentals only, and not legal advice. The TAL can confirm current procedure. A lawyer can help if a lot of money is at stake or the tenant contests.