Tenant Silence After Repossession Notice Quebec: The Bill 31 Refusal Rule

The Old Rule vs. the New Rule

Before Bill 31 took effect on February 21, 2024, a tenant who received a repossession notice and said nothing was deemed to have accepted it. The landlord could proceed on the assumption that silence meant agreement. That rule is gone.

Under current law, if a tenant does not respond to a repossession or eviction notice within one month of receipt, that silence is legally treated as a refusal. The French legal shorthand: le silence vaut refus.

This applies to both repossession notices (Article 1957 CCQ; the current TAL model is Form TAL-809A-E) and eviction notices (Article 1959; the current TAL model is Form TAL-815A-E).

Why This Catches Landlords Off Guard

The old rule had been in place for decades. Landlords who last dealt with repossession years ago — or who learned the process from older resources — still operate under the assumption that no news is good news. Online guides, forum posts, and even some property management materials written before 2024 still reference the old presumption.

The practical consequence is severe: a landlord who serves a valid repossession notice and then waits for the tenant to object may unknowingly burn through the one-month TAL filing window, thinking the tenant has silently consented.

The One-Month Filing Window

When the tenant refuses explicitly or stays silent (which now equals refusal), the landlord has exactly one month from the date of refusal — or from the expiry of the one-month response period — to file an application with the TAL.

Here is the timeline for a standard scenario:

1. Notice served: tenant receives the repossession notice on December 15
2. Response deadline: tenant has until January 15 to respond
3. Silence period expires: January 15 passes with no response — this counts as a refusal
4. TAL filing deadline: landlord must file by February 15

If you file on February 16, your repossession rights for that lease cycle are forfeited. The lease renews for another year.

What You Should Do Differently

Start the TAL application process as soon as the response deadline passes, not weeks later. In practical terms:

• Mark the response deadline on the day you serve the notice — one calendar month from the date the tenant received it
• Prepare the TAL application during the response period so it is ready to file
• File immediately once the response deadline passes without a reply
• Keep records of any written refusal and when you received it. The TAL's current response model for repossession notices is Form TAL-811A-E.

The TAL filing fee for a repossession application is $92 as of April 2026.

The Eviction Notice Works the Same Way Now

Bill 31 changed the silence presumption for eviction notices (subdivision, enlargement, change of destination) in the same direction. Before the reform, tenant silence on an eviction notice was treated as acceptance. Now it is also deemed refusal. The TAL's current response model for an eviction notice is Form TAL-826A-E.

Protecting Your Repossession Timeline

The reversed silence rule makes service of notice even more critical. You need proof that the tenant received the notice on a specific date, because every deadline counts from that date. Use a judicial bailiff or registered mail with a signed delivery slip — not a casual text message or a note slipped under the door.

The Quebec tenancy notice compliance guide includes a statutory deadline worksheet that calculates every critical date from the moment of service through the TAL filing window, so nothing falls between the cracks.

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