Section 9: Financial penalties
This section allows the enforcement authority to impose a financial penalty on a person if the authority is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the person has breached section 3(1) by requiring a tenant to make a payment of a prohibited rent.
	The amount of the financial penalty is at the discretion of the enforcement authority, subject to a minimum of £500 and a maximum of £30,000 (subsection 2).
	A landlord who commits multiple breaches in relation to the same lease is generally only liable to one financial penalty. However, they will be liable for a further penalty if, having previously had a financial penalty imposed for an earlier breach, they then commit a further breach (subsection (3)).
	Subsection (4) clarifies that for the purpose of subsection (3) ‘"landlord’" includes a person who has ceased to be the landlord.
	Subsections (5), (6) and (7) deal with multiple breaches in relation to multiple leases. Where a person has committed one or more breaches in relation to two or more leases, an enforcement authority may choose to impose a single financial penalty in respect of all those breaches. If a single penalty is imposed in respect of multiple breaches, the amount of a penalty must not be less than the total minimum amount that would have been imposed or exceed the total maximum amount that could have been imposed if each breach had been penalised separately (taking into account the effect of subsection (3)).
	Subsection (8) provides that an enforcement authority may not impose a penalty on a person if another enforcement authority has already imposed a penalty on the person for the same breach.
	Subsection (9) enables the relevant authority to make regulations amending the minimum and maximum penalty amounts set out in subsection (2) by way of regulations. This power may only be exercised where the relevant authority considers it expedient to do so to reflect changes in the value of money (subsection 10).