Section 3: Prohibited rent
Section 3(1) prohibits any landlord (or person acting on the landlord’s behalf) of a regulated lease to require a tenant (or tenant’s guarantor) to make a payment of a prohibited rent. A prohibited rent is defined in subsection (4) as any rent that exceeds the permitted rent as defined in sections 4 to 6.
	The meaning of ‘"require a tenant to make a payment of prohibited rent"‘ is explained in subsection (2). A landlord requires a tenant to make a payment of a prohibited rent if they (or a person acting on their behalf) ask the tenant for payment or having received payment, fail to refund it within 28 days.
	Those subsections taken together mean that a landlord or person acting on the landlord’s behalf is prohibited from asking the tenant for a prohibited rent and must, if they receive a prohibited rent, refund it within 28 days after its receipt.
	Section 3(3) explains that in this section references to landlord includes a person who has ceased to be a landlord, and references to tenant include a person who has ceased to be a tenant, a person acting on behalf of a tenant or a tenant’s guarantor.