Unpaid Rent: How to Garnish Wages and Bank | Jordan Nieuwhof (Coach, Author, Former Paralegal)

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About Jordan Nieuwhof

Our special guest speaker for this session on unpaid rent is Jordan Nieuwhof. Formerly a paralegal, Jordan brings vast experience from practicing extensively at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) and serving thousands of clients. Openroom CEO, Weiting Bollu, personally highlights Jordan's expertise, noting he was the very first paralegal Weiting contacted for her own challenging $35,000 unpaid rent eviction case, assisting with both the LTB hearing and debt collection.

Jordan now focuses on coaching and educating landlords, aiming to empower more owners to effectively handle and prevent problematic tenancies. He is also authoring a book based on his LTB insights. Throughout this session, Jordan shares deep practical knowledge of the Ontario residential tenancies process, emphasizing the importance of following legal procedures precisely to build a strong case.

What you’ll learn

• Understand the garnishment process as a post-eviction enforcement tool, including the role of the Sheriff’s office and the direct use of a certificate of judgment (no need to sue again in Small Claims Court).

• Differentiate between wage and bank garnishment, including how each method works and the legal requirements for initiating them.

• Calculate the total amount owed for garnishment, including per diem rent beyond the termination date, and know how to document it properly.

• Identify exempt and non-exempt income/assets, such as ODSP, child benefits, WSIB, and private insurance payments.

• Use investigative strategies to discover a tenant’s employer or banking information for garnishment purposes.

• Apply timing strategies to increase garnishment success—e.g., targeting bank accounts at month-end.

• Correctly complete and file garnishment forms (Forms 20P, 20E, 20F, and 8A), and serve both the debtor and garnishee appropriately.

• Take enforcement action when garnishees ignore orders, including pursuing court hearings or collecting from a tenant’s corporation.

• Understand the legal limits and restrictions on garnishment, such as the 20% wage cap and issues with joint accounts or improperly named garnishees.

• Navigate related enforcement myths and procedural tips, such as N4/N8 notice rules, the 72-hour eviction rule, impact of bankruptcy, and how to ensure credit bureau reporting is used effectively.

Key Takeaways

• You can proceed directly to garnishment after obtaining an LTB order for unpaid rent, bypassing the need to sue the tenant again in Small Claims Court using a Form 7A, which is described as a myth and a costly mistake.

• The garnishment process is handled by the Sheriff's office, usually located at the Small Claims Court in your area, and it begins by obtaining a Certificate of Judgment after presenting your LTB order and paying a fee (around $42-$46).

• You can pursue wage garnishment (limited to 20% of the debtor's gross earnings) or bank garnishment; for bank garnishment, you need the specific bank branch location, not just the bank name.

• When calculating the amount for garnishment, you can include the debt from the LTB order plus any per diem amount for the days the tenant remained in the unit past the termination date, even if this amount exceeds the original order.

• The garnishment process requires specific forms (Form 20P, 20E, and 20F) for each entity you are garnishing, along with separate fees, and you must properly serve these forms on both the garnishee (employer or bank) and the debtor (tenant) and file Affidavits of Service

• That the Sheriff's office handles various enforcement matters, including garnishments.

• What types of income or assets cannot be garnished, such as ODSP, welfare, or government support payments. Child benefits cannot be garnished directly, but funds in a bank account containing child benefits may be subject to bank garnishment.

• What types of disability payments can be garnished, such as WSIB or private insurance intended to replace wages.

• The legal limit for wage garnishments by a standard creditor (landlord) is 20% of gross earnings.

• The significant impact of reporting debt to credit bureaus on a tenant's ability to obtain future financing, potentially for many years.

• The process of serving the garnishment forms on both the garnishee (employer/bank) and the debtor (tenant), including serving the tenant at their workplace if their home address is unknown. Note is made of some landlords' success serving at the old address, although this is not provided as legal advice.

• The debtor's right to file a garnishment hearing in Small Claims Court and the different approach judges take compared to the LTB (requiring proof, unlikely to cancel but may vary the amount).

• Restrictions on garnishment, including certain types of property or joint bank accounts.

• The importance of correctly identifying the legal entity of the employer or bank when filing garnishment forms.

• The specific forms required for garnishment: Form 20P, Form 20E, and Form 20F.

• The critical importance of completing and filing Affidavits of Service (Form 8A) for all served documents, as money collected may be held by the court until these are filed.

• What happens if a garnishee (employer/bank) ignores the garnishment notice; you can file a hearing and potentially obtain an order requiring them to pay the debt directly.

• The possibility of getting an order against a tenant's corporation if they ignore a garnishment, allowing collection from business assets.

• Clarification on the 72-hour rule after a sheriff eviction for property retrieval; it is 3 calendar days from when the notice is posted.

•The effect of bankruptcy or consumer proposals on arrears (frozen at the time of filing; new arrears are collectible, and payments made after filing apply to new debt).

• No refund of the sheriff's fee if an eviction is stayed by the LTB, but the fee is held and applied when the stay is lifted.

• Confirmation that signatures are required on N4 notices.

• You do NOT need to serve N4 notices before issuing an N8 notice for persistent late payment; the requirement is typically based on the frequency of late payments (often 6-8 in 12 months) documented in the rent ledger.

• Advice to act promptly by issuing an N4 notice immediately after rent is late, rather than waiting for tenant excuses.

• When filing the L1 application, you should include all rent owed up to the filing date, even if subsequent months' rent was not listed on the original N4 notice

 In this course, we cover

(0:02:09) Understanding Garnishment Process - Calculating total amount owed

(0:05:00) Types of Garnishment

(0:11:13) Avoiding Small Claims Court Mistakes

(0:14:47) Legal Limits on Garnishment

(0:18:53) Credit Reporting Impact

(0:28:20) Forms and Documentation

(0:33:22) Garnishment Hearings

(0:42:15) Sheriff Demands

(0:47:05) Limitation Period for a Notice of Garnishment

(0:50:58) Fill out Affidavit for Enforcement Request

(0:51:00) Prepare Notice of Garnishment

(0:55:35) Serving the Documents

(0:59:52) Complete Affidavit of Service

(1:09:00) Defining Debt Types

(1:14:00) Serving the Dispute Notice

(1:17:03) Garnishment Hearings

(1:18:48) Co-Ownership of Debt

(1:20:30) Special Cases in Garnishment

View Jordan’s Slide Deck

Resources Referenced

• Jordan Nieuwhof https://ca.linkedin.com/in/jordan-nieuwhof

• Ontario Landlord & Tenant Board https://tribunalsontario.ca/en/

• Fee Waiver Form - LTB https://tribunalsontario.ca/documents/ltb/Other%20Forms/Fee%20Waiver%20Request.pdf

• Service Ontario - Alternate application method https://www.ontario.ca/page/serviceontario

• All LTB FORMS https://tribunalsontario.ca/ltb/forms-filing-and-fees/#panel1

• Equifax Canada – Landlord/Tenant Credit Reporting https://www.equifax.ca/personal/

• Form 20 P, 20 E, 20 F - Ontario Court Forms https://ontariocourtforms.on.ca/en/

About Openroom University

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