– Scrap the new law! – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

– The level of conflict was described as unacceptable before the change in the law. The fact that after two years shows such strong growth cannot be seen as anything other than unsustainable, says Christoffer Askjer, managing director of Sem & Johnsen Eiendomsmegling in Oslo.

– The new Disposal Act is a big one failure and should be scrapped, he believes.

The Disposal Act was amended in 2022.

It must ensure safe property trading and require the seller to provide thorough documentation of faults and defects in the property to avoid disputes later on.

Askjer refers to numbers from insurance broker Söderbergs & Partners, which represents many home seller insurance policies:

• Two years after the new law came into force, an increase in complaints of 23 per cent has been recorded.
• In 2023 alone, the increase was 38 per cent.

– We see a decrease in complaints about bathrooms and an increase in electrical installations and area deviations. Although it is too early to conclude, because there is no case law yet, it is clear that the legislator’s desire to reduce the number of conflicts between buyers and sellers has not taken off, Askjer believes.

Rejects the presentation

But this representation is flatly rejected by Carl O. Geving, managing director of the Norwegian Real Estate Association (NEF).

– This is completely misleading and gives the impression of reading numbers like the devil reads the Bible! It is completely uninteresting how many inquiries the insurance company receives from the buyers. What this is about is what follow-up the buyer gets.

NEF receives insurance data from two large Norwegian companies, Gjensidige and Fremtind, which shows that the level of conflict is now lower than before.

– We have gone from a record number of legal disputes to a situation where cases are resolved quickly and efficiently, and with good customer care so that the degree of conflict escalation is at a historically low level, says Geving.

Daniel Ø. Helgesen in Norsk Takst also reacts to Sem & Johnsen-topp’s presentation.

– That there have been as many or more inquiries than before may be the case. But there is a long way from that to an actual escalation and disagreement between the insurance company and the customer, he says.

– Look at Denmark

But Askjer thinks we should look to Denmark, where both buyer and seller enter into joint insurance with one company.

– Instead of home buyers and home sellers each having their own insurance to protect the interests of the parties and creating arguments, they should join together on joint insurance that solves any problems that arise. The experiences are of a significantly lower level of conflict where the focus is on correcting the error that has appeared instead of arguing about who is responsible for him.

This claim is also refuted by Geving in NEF.

– This is without knowledge. We know the Danish system quite well, and in Denmark housing trade is far more fraught with conflict after the new rules were introduced a few years ago.

Olav Kasland, professional director of the Consumer Council wrote in an e-mail to NRK that they has worked for many years to change the Disposal Act.

– We have seen that housing sales all too often lead to conflict, unforeseen extra expenses and arguments about responsibility. The new rules for the purchase and sale of used housing increase the information requirement and shift more responsibility to the seller. He knows the person who owns and lives in the house best, and that is where the responsibility should also lie, writes Kasland.

He has no doubt that he will retain the law that was changed two years ago.

– In this matter, we are completely in line with NEF and Norsk Takst, writes Kasland.