We settled before the TAL hearing, what do I have to do?
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Short answer
A single document of the Tribunal administratif du logement covers both ways out before a hearing: "Discontinuance or agreement" (TAL-013A-E). The form says it itself: "A discontinuance closes the record with the Tribunal", and where there is an agreement, "the Tribunal closes the record upon the filing of a copy of the agreement signed by the parties", unless the plaintiff files a written request to have the record suspended.
In detail
The two situations do not have the same effect, and the form separates them into two sections signed separately. A discontinuance is the withdrawal of one's own application · "I am discontinuing the present application" · under the printed statement "A discontinuance closes the record with the Tribunal". An agreement is a settlement between the parties: "We, the undersigned, have reached the attached agreement" or "agree to the following agreement", signed by the plaintiff and by the defendant.
Filing the agreement closes the record, unless the plaintiff asks otherwise. The form: the Tribunal "closes the record upon the filing of a copy of the agreement signed by the parties, unless the plaintiff files a written request to have the record suspended". If suspension is requested, the record is not closed, but it does not restart on its own either: "Thereafter, the case will only be placed on the roll upon the written request of a party."
An agreement reached on the day of the hearing carries a particular consequence. The form: "Where an agreement is made or filed at the hearing, it must be signed by the parties. The Tribunal may ratify it, provided it is in accordance with law, in which case it has the same effects as a decision." Once ratified, the agreement is no longer a promise: it is enforced like a decision.
The form carries no time limit · neither for discontinuing, nor for filing the agreement. It asks for the record number and the application number, both of which appear on the documents received from the Tribunal, as well as the address of the dwelling in question and the identification of the parties.
What to document
The dates: of the notice, of its receipt, of each rent payment. A notice is proven by how it was sent; a payment, by the statement that carries it. The condition of the dwelling is photographed · an image carries its date, a recollection does not. And every exchange with the landlord or tenant keeps its timestamp.
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Official sources
- formulaire « Désistement ou entente » (TAL-013-E ; version anglaise TAL-013A-E), Tribunal administratif du logement · read on 2026-08-09
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.