How to respond to an Alberta rental dispute
If someone files a rental claim against you, read the hearing notice. Gather your records, share them as the rules require, and attend the hearing.
Immediate steps
- Read the Notice of Telephone Hearing for its date and instructions; identify the claims and remedies requested.
- Prepare a clear timeline, lease, receipts, photos, texts and any dispute evidence.
- Give evidence to both RTDRS and the applicant as soon as possible and at least 24 hours before the hearing, subject to current rules and directions. If submitting through eFiling, allow at least one full business day for the documents to appear on the case file.
- Attend the hearing on time; ask for accommodations or procedural directions in advance if needed.
Access the case and prepare your defence
- Check the package. Write down the case number, applicant's claimed remedies, hearing date and telephone instructions. Compare the allegations with the lease and your own timeline.
- Get portal access if needed. Alberta directs respondents to call RTDRS at 403-297-2861 (Calgary) or 780-644-4330 (Edmonton) for a case access code. In the eFiling account, add the case and upload defence documents.
- Serve both recipients. Provide your evidence to the applicant and RTDRS at least 24 hours before the hearing. For portal uploads, allow at least one full business day for processing and keep copies of everything submitted.
- Organize the hearing. Give each document a short name, label photos with dates, and outline which claim each item answers. Confirm RTDRS has the correct hearing phone number.
The hearing officer may reject late or improperly served evidence or adjourn the hearing. Check the current government respondent instructions if the hearing is close.
Defending a claim is not the same as making one
If the landlord asks for $900 in repairs and the tenant disputes it, the tenant can submit move-in photographs and repair records as defence evidence. If that tenant also wants a separate $1,100 deposit refund, simply describing it in a defence statement does not make it a claim for an award. The tenant needs their own RTDRS application, and must file and serve it before the existing hearing if they want the officer to consider hearing both together.
The applicable counterapplication fee depends on the amount and whether an active case already exists. See the tenant application guide and fee-waiver guidance.
On the hearing day
Be available at the time listed on the Notice of Telephone Hearing, with the case number and evidence open. A representative can attend, but RTDRS needs that person's current telephone number. If you need to update your own hearing contact number, the government gives 403-297-8550 as a message-only line and asks for your name, case number and phone number. If neither you nor your representative attends, the hearing may proceed and an order may be made without you.
Do you need your own financial award?
Merely defending a claim does not make RTDRS decide your own compensation request. If you seek monetary remedies against the applicant, file a separate counterapplication using the appropriate official process and pay the correct filing fee or seek a waiver.