Lease Breach Notice in Newfoundland: The Section 20 Two-Step Process

Why One Notice Isn't Enough

Section 20 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2018 is the ground landlords use when a tenant violates a fundamental term of the rental agreement — unauthorized pets, unapproved occupants, subletting without consent, or other material breaches. But Section 20 demands a two-step process, and skipping the first step is the most common reason landlord applications get dismissed at the Residential Tenancies Tribunal.

Step 1: The Written Remedy Notice

Before you can serve a termination notice, you must give the tenant a written notice that:

1. Identifies the specific breach
2. Gives a reasonable time to fix it

This is not the termination notice. It's a separate document telling the tenant what they're doing wrong and what they need to do about it. The Act doesn't prescribe a specific form for this remedy notice — it just requires it to be in writing.

What counts as "reasonable time" depends on the breach. An unauthorized pet might warrant 7–14 days to remove the animal or obtain written landlord consent. An unauthorized occupant might need a similar window. The key is that the time must be genuinely reasonable — an adjudicator who sees a 24-hour cure demand for a non-emergency breach will question the landlord's good faith.

Step 2: The Termination Notice

Only after the remedy period expires and the tenant has not corrected the breach can you serve Form RT-2018-00040 (Landlord's Notice to Terminate Early — Cause) citing Section 20.

The notice period is:

• Monthly, fixed-term, or mobile home site tenancy: Not less than one month before the end of a rental period
• Week-to-week tenancy: Not less than seven days before the end of a rental period

For a monthly tenancy where rent is due on the 1st, this means the move-out date must be the last day of a month, and the notice must be served at least one full month before that date. The notice must also be given no later than the first day of a rental period.

What Happened When a Landlord Skipped Step 1

In Tribunal Application 2025-0235-NL, landlords applied for an Order of Possession after serving a termination notice over an unapproved dog. The adjudicator found the notice invalid because the landlords did not identify a reasonable time to remedy the breach before issuing the termination notice. The landlords' claim for an Order of Possession failed.

Common Material Breaches in NL

The most frequent breach scenarios landlords face:

• Unauthorized pets — the rental agreement prohibits pets or limits them, and the tenant brings one in without consent
• Unauthorized occupants — someone not on the rental agreement is living in the unit
• Subletting without permission — the tenant sublets to a third party without the landlord's written consent (which the landlord cannot unreasonably withhold)
• Property modifications — the tenant makes structural or cosmetic changes that weren't agreed to

Each of these follows the same Section 20 two-step path. You cannot jump straight to a termination notice for any of them.

Building Your Evidence File

If the breach goes to a tribunal hearing, you'll need to show that you followed both steps. Keep copies of:

• The written remedy notice (with the date it was served)
• Proof of service for the remedy notice
• Documentation of the ongoing breach after the remedy period expired (photos, inspection reports, witness statements)
• The termination notice (Form RT-2018-00040)
• Proof of service for the termination notice

The Ending a Tenancy in Newfoundland and Labrador guide includes a breach compliance tracker and the full Section 20 workflow, from the remedy notice through to the tribunal application.

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