9Vicarious liability of landlord for agent and agent's employees

9 Vicarious liability of landlord for agent and agent's employees (1) For the purposes of this Act, including a prosecution for an offence against this Act: (a) conduct engaged in on behalf of a landlord by an employee or agent of the landlord within the scope of the employee or agent's actual or apparent authority is to be taken to have been engaged in also by the landlord; and (b) conduct engaged in on behalf of a landlord's agent by an employee or agent of the landlord's agent is, if the conduct was within the scope of the employee or agent's actual or apparent authority, to be taken to have been engaged in also by the landlord's agent and the landlord. (2) A landlord may be prosecuted for and found guilty of an offence by virtue of subsection (1)(a) whether or not the employee or agent has been prosecuted or found guilty of the offence. (3) A landlord or a landlord's agent may be prosecuted for and found guilty of an offence by virtue of subsection (1)(b) whether or not the employee or agent has been prosecuted or found guilty of the (4) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence committed by virtue of subsection (1) if the landlord or landlord's agent establishes that: (a) the act or omission that constituted the offence took place without the landlord's or the landlord's agent's authority, permission or consent; or (b) the landlord or the landlord's agent did not know, and ought not reasonably be expected to have known, the offence was to be or was being committed and took all reasonable steps to prevent or stop the commission of the offence or a similar offence; or (c) the landlord or the landlord's agent could not by the exercise of reasonable diligence have prevented the commission of the offence by the person who committed the offence. Residential Tenancies Act 1999 9 (5) For the purposes of this section, a reference to engaging in conduct is to be read as including a reference to failing or refusing to engage in conduct.