The commissioner can investigate and penalize
Connecticut's October 1 banking-law change expressly allows the banking commissioner to order civil penalties for specified rental security-deposit violations after investigation. Public Act 26-79 adds the penalty route alongside cease-and-desist and compliance orders.
The official legislative summary explains that existing general authority can reach penalties of up to $100,000 for covered violations. That is an enforcement ceiling, not a promised payment to any individual tenant or proof that every late deposit return receives the maximum.
Your deposit claim is a separate calculation
The enacted section refers to particular security-deposit provisions within the commissioner's jurisdiction. A lease dispute needs to be matched to those rules rather than treating every landlord disagreement as a deposit-law penalty case.
Keep the lease, payment record, move-out details and any deposit accounting if asking for review. The new tool strengthens a regulator's ability to address violations; it does not itself determine the amount of a household's deposit, interest or damages. A headline about a large possible fine should not replace checking what was paid and what the applicable return rules require.