How to End a Tenancy in Newfoundland and Labrador: A Landlord's Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Identify Your Statutory Ground

Every lawful termination in Newfoundland and Labrador starts with one question: which section of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2018 applies to your situation?

The Act gives landlords two broad paths. Standard termination under Section 18 lets you end a tenancy without alleging fault — you simply give the required notice and wait. Early termination for cause under Sections 19–22 and 24 covers specific problems: unpaid rent, material breach, premises made unfit for habitation by the tenant, property damage, or interference with peaceful enjoyment.

NL has no separate short-notice ground for personal use, property sale, or renovations. If you're selling the property or moving back in, you use the same Section 18 standard notice with its three-month window.

Step 2: Use the Correct Prescribed Form

You must use one of two government-issued forms:

• Form RT-2018-00039 — standard termination (Section 18)
• Form RT-2018-00040 — early termination for cause (Sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 24)

Section 34 requires the prescribed form, the recipient's name and address, identification of the residential premises, and the statutory section. The applicable termination section also requires a signature and move-out date. The government forms include postal-code fields. Custom letters, text messages, or templates from other provinces may not meet these requirements.

Step 3: Calculate the Notice Period

The minimum notice depends on your tenancy type and the ground you're using:

• Standard (Section 18): Three months for month-to-month or fixed-term; four weeks for week-to-week; six months for mobile home sites
• Rent arrears (Section 19): Ten clear days for monthly/fixed-term (rent must be five or more days overdue); three days for weekly (rent three or more days overdue)
• Material breach (Section 20): One month before the end of a rental period for monthly; at least seven days before the end of a rental period for weekly — but only after you've first given a written notice requiring the tenant to fix the problem within a reasonable time
• Property damage/cleanliness (Section 22): After a notice to comply and a failure to correct the issue within 3 days (or a reasonable time), five clear days after the termination notice is served
• Peaceful enjoyment (Section 24): Five clear days after service
• Uninhabitable (Section 21): Immediate only if the tenant's action or failure to act makes the premises unfit for habitation

For standard Section 18 terminations, the notice must be given no later than the first day of a rental period, and the move-out date must fall on the last day of a full rental period. If rent is due on the first, that means the last day of a calendar month.

Step 4: Serve the Notice Properly

Section 35 permits personal delivery; delivery to a person 16 or older who apparently lives with the tenant; posting in a conspicuous place; placing it in the tenant's mailbox or under a door; prepaid registered mail, express post, or courier to an address provided by the tenant or where the tenant carries on business; and electronic service in the same or substantially the same form to an address the tenant provided for receiving documents. Registered mail or express post is deemed served on the fifth day after mailing. Electronic service is same-day if sent by 4:00 PM, and otherwise on the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday. Any other method requires an order from the Director of Residential Tenancies.

Document everything. Be prepared to prove service at a hearing; an Affidavit of Service or other delivery evidence can do that.

Step 5: Wait — and Watch the Calendar

For rent arrears under Section 19, the tenant can void the notice by paying the full amount owed before the move-out date. The exception: if you've served two or more Section 19 notices to the same tenant within 12 months, the third payment doesn't cancel the notice.

Step 6: If the Tenant Stays, Apply to the Tribunal

A notice alone does not give you the right to re-enter the property. If the tenant remains past the move-out date, file an Application for Dispute Resolution (Form RT-2018-00053) with the Residential Tenancies Office. The filing fee is $20. You must serve the application and hearing notice on the tenant at least 10 clear days before the hearing.

If the adjudicator grants an Order of Possession and the tenant still doesn't leave, the order is certified and filed with the Office of the High Sheriff for physical enforcement. Self-help eviction — changing locks, shutting off utilities — is a summary offence under Section 51.

The Mistake That Costs Landlords Months

The most common error, documented in multiple tribunal decisions, is issuing a termination notice for a lease breach without first giving the tenant a written notice to remedy the problem. Section 20 requires a two-step process, and skipping the first step makes the entire termination notice invalid.

The Ending a Tenancy in Newfoundland and Labrador guide includes the date-calculation worksheets, service logs, and breach workflow templates that walk you through every one of these steps without missing a deadline.

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