It is important you leave a forwarding address or an email address for the landlord to send:
- a refund of the security deposit;
- a notice of claim on the security deposit; or
- a claim for a portion of the security deposit and a refund of the balance.
If you do not get the security deposit or a written claim on the security deposit after your tenancy ends, or if you don’t agree with the landlord’s claims, you can apply to the ORT for an order directing the landlord to return the security deposit.
If you receive a written claim from the landlord and you wish to dispute it, simply fill out the bottom of the claim form and send it to the ORT.
You may also fill out a Tenant Application for Return of Security Deposit and Interest if you have provided a forwarding address or email address and your landlord has not returned your security deposit within seven business days.
Your application is free, but it must be received within two years after of the end of the tenancy. A hearing will be scheduled and you and your landlord will be notified of the hearing date by letter. Both the landlord and the tenant are deemed to receive the letter on the third day after it is sent. The landlord must pay the security deposit to the ORT, or may lose the right to the security deposit.
A hearing officer will hear both sides, make a decision as to the validity of the landlord’s claims, and make an order directing how the security deposit will be distributed. There is no interest payable on the security deposit if the tenancy was less than five years.