When a tenant sends you a complaint, your first instinct might be to respond immediately and fix everything they mention. That's not always the right move. Some complaints require urgent action. Others are maintenance requests you can schedule at a reasonable time. Some aren't your legal responsibility at all. Knowing the difference protects you from both liability and LTB applications — and it protects your relationship with your tenant.
Here's how to sort, respond to, and document tenant complaints in Ontario.
What Ontario Law Actually Requires
Under Section 20 of the Residential Tenancies Act, you're required to maintain your rental in a "good state of repair and fit for habitation." This obligation exists regardless of what the lease says. You cannot contract out of it.
That obligation doesn't mean you respond to everything instantly. It means you respond appropriately — meaning the severity and nature of the complaint sets the timeline.
The key questions to ask when any complaint comes in:
- Is it a health or safety issue?
- Is it a maintenance issue you're legally responsible for?
- Did the tenant cause it?
- Is it something outside your control or outside your property?
The answers determine what you owe, and when.
Complaints You Must Respond to Promptly
Some complaints carry legal weight and require action within hours or days — not weeks.
Heat and Cooling
Ontario law requires landlords to maintain a minimum indoor temperature of 20°C between September 1 and June 1 (the exact standard varies by municipality, but this is the general benchmark). If heat fails in January and you don't respond by the next business day, you're creating serious legal exposure. Fix it fast, document what you did, and keep receipts.
Air conditioning is different. If the unit has A/C and it fails during a heat event, you need to act — courts and the LTB have found this to be a serious issue. If the unit never had A/C, a tenant can't demand it.
Plumbing and Water Supply
No running water, a sewage backup, or a burst pipe — these require same-day response. A slow-draining sink is different; schedule it within a reasonable time (typically 1-2 weeks is defensible for minor plumbing).
Pest Infestations
Cockroaches, mice, and bedbugs are your responsibility to remediate. You don't have to respond the day the complaint comes in, but you should acknowledge within 24-48 hours and have a licensed exterminator booked within a week. Document everything. See our post on pest control in Ontario rentals for the full process.
Structural Issues
Roof leaks, broken windows, doors that won't lock, electrical hazards — these are urgent. A broken exterior lock is a safety issue. Address it the same day if possible, within 48 hours at most.
Complaints You Can Schedule at a Reasonable Time
Not every maintenance request is urgent. Ontario courts and the LTB have consistently held that landlords are entitled to a "reasonable time" to make non-emergency repairs. What's reasonable depends on context, but for non-urgent issues, 2-4 weeks is generally defensible.
Examples of non-urgent items you can schedule:
- Worn or peeling paint (unless it's a lead paint issue in an older building)
- Worn flooring or carpeting
- Minor appliance issues (a stove burner that doesn't work when three others do)
- Slow-draining fixtures
- Minor weatherstripping gaps
- A bathroom fan that sounds louder than usual
When you schedule a non-urgent repair, acknowledge the request in writing and give the tenant a realistic date. Silence creates problems — tenants who hear nothing assume nothing is happening.
Complaints You Are Not Obligated to Act On
This is where many landlords get confused. Not every complaint is your legal responsibility.
Tenant-caused damage. If your tenant's child put a hole in the wall, that's the tenant's responsibility — not yours to repair at your cost. You can choose to fix it and deduct from their last month's rent deposit at move-out, but you're not required to fix it on demand. Review our post on tenant damages in Ontario for the proper process.
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Issues outside your property. If a tenant complains about their neighbour's barking dog, street noise, or the smell coming from the unit next door, you're not responsible for what other people do outside your property. You can try to help mediate, but you have no legal duty to fix it.
Cosmetic preferences. A tenant who wants you to repaint because they don't like the colour, or replace a functional (but older) appliance with a newer model, is asking for upgrades — not repairs. You're not required to upgrade a working unit.
Disputes between tenants. If you have a duplex and the upstairs tenant is complaining about the downstairs tenant, you have some obligation to address ongoing disturbances (see Section 64 of the RTA), but you're not a mediator. Read our post on handling noise complaints for how to navigate this.
Response Timelines: A Practical Guide
| Complaint Type | Suggested Response Time |
|---|---|
| Heat failure in cold months | Same day / within 24 hours |
| No running water | Same day |
| Sewage backup | Same day |
| Burst pipe / active leak | Same day |
| Pest infestation | 48 hours to acknowledge, 1 week to treat |
| Broken exterior lock | 24-48 hours |
| Broken window (weather exposure) | 24-48 hours |
| Appliance failure (major — fridge, stove) | 3-5 business days |
| Minor plumbing (slow drain) | 1-2 weeks |
| Non-urgent general maintenance | 2-4 weeks |
These aren't LTB-mandated timelines — they're the ranges that have held up under scrutiny. Always err faster on health and safety.
How to Document Complaints Properly
Verbal complaints don't protect you. If a tenant calls to say the heat is out, follow up with a written message the same day: "Confirming our call — I'm aware the heat is off and have a technician booked for tomorrow morning."
Your documentation should capture:
- Date and time the complaint was received
- How it was received (text, email, phone call)
- What the tenant said, in their words
- Your response and when you sent it
- What action you took and when
- Receipts and invoices from contractors
Keep a log, even a simple spreadsheet, for every complaint and repair. If you ever end up at the LTB, this paper trail is the difference between winning and paying an abatement. Our post on landlord record-keeping in Ontario covers what to store and for how long.
When a Complaint Becomes a T6 Application
If a tenant believes you've failed to maintain the property and their complaints have gone unaddressed, they can file a T6 application at the Landlord and Tenant Board. A T6 is a maintenance complaint application.
If successful, the LTB can order you to:
- Complete the repair by a specific date
- Pay a rent abatement (a percentage reduction for the period the issue existed)
- Pay the tenant's LTB filing fee
- In serious cases, pay an administrative fine
Abatements typically range from 5-25% of monthly rent, depending on the severity and duration. A furnace that failed for a week in February could cost you $200-$400 in abatement for a $2,000/month unit, on top of repair costs.
The best defence against a T6 is documentation that shows you responded promptly and took reasonable action. A landlord who acknowledges the problem, communicates clearly, and makes the repair — even if it takes a few days — is in a much stronger position than one who ignores the complaint.
What T6 Applications Cover
The T6 covers failures to maintain the unit or common areas. It does not cover disputes about rent increases, lease renewals, or eviction notices — those have separate forms and processes. If a tenant files a T6 in response to receiving an N4 or N12, that's a separate matter from the maintenance complaint and should be treated as such.
Building a Complaint Process That Protects You
Rather than reacting differently to every complaint, build a repeatable process:
- Acknowledge within 24 hours — even if just to say you received it and are looking into it
- Assess severity — use the categories above to set your response timeline
- Send a written update with the expected action and date
- Complete the repair and document it — photos before and after, plus the invoice
- Follow up with the tenant — a quick message that the work is done and asking if everything looks good
This process makes you look professional, reduces tension, and creates a paper trail that will hold up at the LTB if it comes to that.
The Bottom Line
Most tenant complaints are legitimate maintenance requests — and responding to them efficiently is both a legal obligation and good property management. The landlords who end up at the LTB on T6 applications aren't usually the ones who made slow repairs; they're the ones who ignored complaints entirely. Document every complaint, communicate your timeline, and make the repair. That's what keeps you out of trouble.
Prospera Properties manages rentals in London, St. Thomas, and Strathroy, Ontario. Get a free rental analysis or call (519) 697-1227.