A basic guide to the TAL

The Tribunal Administratif du Logement (TAL) is an administrative tribunal and the provincial authority about housing law. 

The TAL responsibilities include: 

• informing landlords and tenants of their rights and obligations and explaining anything in a lease or in the Act respecting the Administrative Housing Tribunal. 

• providing standard forms for signing a lease, for ending a lease and for subletting 

• doing studies and compiling statistics on the housing situation in Quebec 

• hearing cases involving tenants and landlords and making written decisions in these cases 

• publishing a collection of decisions made by the TAL 

• helping landlords and tenants reach agreements 

On the TAL website, you can find and download for free several notice forms such as: 

• Notices about terminating the lease 

• Notices of modification of the lease, apartment or sublet 

• Other forms for tenants 

• Calculation Tool for rent increase 

• All hearing-related forms 

When do you file at the TAL as a tenant? 

When there is an issue related to the leased unit or with the lease contract itself, a tenant should properly communicate with the landlord by sending a demand letter clearly exposing the issue.  The tenant will then send such a formal letter via registered mail, bailiff or by hand with proof of reception. 

If the landlord doesn’t answer or take action after 10 days from the reception of the formal letter, at that point the tenant may file at the TAL to have the issue examined by an administrative judge. 

Do I need a lawyer for a hearing at the TAL? 
No, unless your case is for more than 15,000 dollars a lawyer will be authorized. 

What if I can’t be at the hearing? 

You can mandate your partner, a lawyer or someone who has knowledge of the issue to represent you at the hearing.  You will need to write a mandate letter for the person that will represent you without any compensation. 

Email us at hojo@csu.qc.ca for more guidance about the TAL.