Residential Tenancies Office Newfoundland: What It Does and How to Contact It

The Residential Tenancies Office (RTO) is the government office that handles landlord-tenant disputes in Newfoundland and Labrador. It sits within the Department of Government Services, Consumer Affairs Division.

What the RTO Does

The Residential Tenancies Office handles four main functions for landlords and tenants:

Prescribed forms. The RTO distributes the official termination notice forms (RT-2018-00039 for standard and RT-2018-00040 for cause-based), the Application for Dispute Resolution (RT-2018-00053), affidavit of service forms, and other prescribed documents. All are free PDF downloads on the Government Services website.

Dispute resolution. When a landlord needs an order of vacant possession, a security deposit ruling, or a decision on a breach claim, the application goes to the RTO. The filing fee is $20.

Mediation and hearings. The RTO offers voluntary mediation before a hearing when both parties consent. If mediation is declined or fails, the matter goes to a hearing before an adjudicator. Under section 46, the Director may require a hearing to be oral (including by telephone, teleconference, or other electronic means), in writing, or partly oral and partly in writing.

Procedural information. RTO staff can explain how to complete forms, what documents to file, and how the hearing process works. They provide procedural guidance, not legal advice — they will not tell a landlord whether a specific notice will succeed.

The Director of Residential Tenancies

The Director is appointed under section 5 of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2018 and holds the statutory decision-making authority. Under section 6, the Director may assign duties, including mediation and adjudication, to persons the Director considers appropriate.

Unlike provinces that use multi-member tribunal boards (Ontario's Landlord and Tenant Board, for example), Newfoundland and Labrador uses a single-director system. Individual adjudicators render binding decisions on behalf of the Director.

An order may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador on a question of jurisdiction or law under section 50, no later than 30 days after a copy of the Director's order is provided to the person starting the appeal.

How to Contact the RTO

The online portal has the prescribed forms, procedural guides, and published tribunal decisions. Applications can be completed electronically and submitted by email or in person at any Government Service Centre.

What the RTO Cannot Do

The RTO does not draft notices for landlords, provide opinions on whether a notice is valid, or offer legal advice on specific situations. For legal advice, landlords should contact the Public Legal Information Association of NL (PLIAN) at 1-888-660-7788 or use PLIAN's Lawyer Referral Service ($40, including taxes, for a 30-minute consultation).

The RTO also does not enforce orders directly. If a tenant ignores an order of vacant possession, enforcement goes through the Office of the High Sheriff — the landlord files the certified order and the Sheriff's office handles physical eviction.

Using the RTO in the Termination Process

Filing with the RTO is the step that sits between serving a notice and getting enforcement. The Ending a Tenancy in Newfoundland and Labrador guide walks through the full sequence: choosing the right ground, completing the prescribed form, calculating dates, serving the notice, and — when the tenant stays — filing the application with the RTO and preparing for the hearing.

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