Repossession in 2027: No response from your tenant means a refusal
West Island landlords, take note — and take note soon. If you are planning to repossess a dwelling for a lease ending next summer, a key deadline is coming up on December 31, 2026.
Repossession is a strict, exceptional mechanism that allows a landlord, in certain cases, to end a tenant's lease. To use it, several conditions must be strictly met, the Québec Landlords Association (APQ) warns in a new notice.
The first is timing. For a fixed-term lease of 12 months, the landlord must send the notice of repossession no later than six months before the end of the lease. That means for 12-month leases ending on June 30, 2027, the notice must be sent no later than December 31, 2026.
How you send it matters, too. If you send it at the last minute, the APQ says registered mail is the only method that will let you show you met the deadline. With any other method, you will have to prove that your tenant actually received the notice before the deadline expired — not just that you sent it.
Once your tenant has received the notice, they have one month to respond. And here is the part to be careful about: if they do not respond, they are presumed to have refused the notice when that one-month period expires.
That presumed refusal starts another clock. You then have one month from the refusal — whether it was an actual refusal or a presumed one — to file an application for authorization to repossess the dwelling with the Tribunal administratif du logement (TAL).
For example, the APQ explains: if your tenant replies in writing that they refuse, say 10 days after receiving the notice, you have one month from that refusal to apply to the Tribunal. If they do not respond at all, they will be presumed to have refused when the one-month period expires, and you will in turn have one month from that date to file your application.
Repossession, the notice, compliance with dates and deadlines, the hearing and the required evidence are all crucial elements to prepare carefully, the APQ says.
This article is a summary of the APQ notice and is not legal advice. Landlords and tenants with questions about a specific situation should contact the APQ or seek legal advice.
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