When is my letter officially counted as received if I send it by post?

The situation

I am currently dealing with a difficult situation regarding my rental flat here in Ontario. My landlord, who is quite aggressive, has been demanding that I pay an extra 450 dollars for some alleged repairs that I don't believe are my responsibility. To resolve this properly, I have prepared a formal written response explaining why I am not liable for this cost and I want to make sure the Landlord and Tenant Board gets my letter before the deadline next Tuesday. I am worried about the timing because I cannot drive to their office to drop it off in person due to my work schedule. I am planning to go to the post office tomorrow morning, which is Thursday, to send it via standard mail. If the post office takes a few days to deliver it, I am confused about the exact date the Board will consider my document as having been officially handed in. If I mail it on Thursday, does the clock start ticking immediately, or do I have to wait until they actually hold it in their hands? I need to know if the date they receive it or a specific number of days after I post it is what actually matters for my deadline.

Detailed Analysis

Under the Residential Tenancies Act, there are specific rules for how you give documents to the Landlord and Tenant Board (the Board). Because you are mailing your response regarding the $450 repair dispute, you are using one of the approved methods for providing notice^[1].

Regarding your timing, the law uses a 'deeming' rule to decide when your letter counts as being handed in. The statute states that a "notice or document given to the Board by mail shall be deemed to have been given on the earlier of the fifth day after mailing and the day on which the notice or the document was actually received"^[1].

In plain language, 'deemed' means the law treats something as true even if it might not be physically true in every sense. For your situation, if you mail the letter on Thursday, the Board will officially consider it received no later than five days after that Thursday. However, if the post office delivers it to the Board office sooner than five days, the date they actually hold it in their hands is the official date^[1].

Because your deadline is next Tuesday, you should be aware that if you mail it this Thursday, the 'fifth day after mailing' rule would likely protect you, as the fifth day would fall on the following Tuesday. However, this calculation depends on the exact timing of your mailing and how the Board interprets the calendar days.

Note that state, provincial, or local laws may add further rules, such as specific Board Rules regarding service, which you should check.

Statutory Citations

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