news has previously told about “Kaja”, who felt discriminated against in the rental market because she receives work clearance money from Nav. An investigation by the Consumer Council also shows that people with a low income or a Nav guarantee are discriminated against more than others in the rental market. Landlord Petter Norheim believes he is not discriminating when he writes that he does not want tenants who use the Nav guarantee. – I have actively checked that this is legal to write. I don’t want to discriminate or be noisy, says Norheim. Through the family business, he rents out five houses in Ålesund and three in Stavanger in addition to his job as a project manager in the construction industry. Several landlords write on Finn.no that they do not accept tenants with a Nav guarantee. Photo: Screenshot from Finn.no About the Nav guarantee If you do not have the opportunity to provide a deposit to landlords in other ways, you can apply for deposit support from Nav. The parties to the tenancy are the lessor and the lessee. Nav is not a party to the tenancy, even if Nav has given help with the deposit. When NAV gives a guarantee for the deposit, no money is paid out, but a guarantee document is written for the landlord. In the circular to the Social Services Act, it is specified that the decision should contain conditions and consequences for the guarantee, if the guarantee is fulfilled. Furthermore, it is specified that the guarantee should take care of the interests of both tenants and landlords. If the landlord puts forward a demand for the payment of a deposit, the Nav office must try to contribute to an agreement between the user and the landlord before they fulfill the deposit guarantee. Source: Nav The reason is previous experiences with Nav after a tenancy with a person who used this guarantee. – It was an unpleasant experience that demanded a lot from me over time, and which ended very badly for tenants, says Norheim. Read the response from Nav further down in the case. Norheim believes that the Nav guarantee is not a real guarantee for landlords. Photo: Remi Sagen / news Tenancy obligation At the start of the tenancy, Norheim did not particularly think about the tenant using the guarantee from Nav, according to him. He claims that the rent gradually came in sporadically, often with the wrong amount, and some months not at all. He therefore contacted Nav to collect money from the guarantee. – It was not easy. PNPetter Norheim: Hello! I have been contacted by Nav on a couple of occasions where Nav has confirmed that they will guarantee the deposit and pay rent on a flat I rent out. I was also promised a written confirmation of this agreement by e-mail. This has not happened. I would like to have stated who is the case manager in this case and contact information, so that they can get this sorted. I have no need for verbal guarantees from Nav, so I would prefer them to answer me by e-mail. Petter NorheimKNKunderådgivar Name: Hello, PetterWe unfortunately cannot answer your questions regarding social services in this channel. You can see if you can find an answer to your question at: http://www.nav.no/sosialetjenester If you have general questions, you can contact us on our chat: http://www.nav.no/person/kontakt-oss/ chat/social assistanceYou can also call us on 55 55 33 33, key selection 1. He says that they tried to get in touch repeatedly via both the phone and by physically turning up at the Nav office. – Then I was told that the case manager for this person has a duty of confidentiality. In the end, they were forced to terminate the lease and ask the person to move out. – I think that Nav works against its purpose in that way. They make it difficult for Nav users to enter the private rental market. Nav: Can be fulfilled afterwards The Nav guarantee is part of Nav’s municipal service. Each guarantee must be in line with general guidelines, which Nav offices can adapt the guarantee to the individual user. This means that the practice may vary from municipality to municipality. Acting manager of Nav Ålesund, Yvonne Sande, says that they usually have good cooperation with landlords. – In individual cases, it may still take time before guarantees are fulfilled, for example where there is disagreement between the parties in the tenancy. When asked why Norheim found it difficult to get in touch with Nav, Sande replies that Nav’s head of justice has a duty of confidentiality. She says that landlords must submit a written claim after the lease has been terminated. – The guarantee does not cover ongoing rent in a tenancy, but can be fulfilled afterwards. Rettleiar in Nav appears from the guarantee document that the lessor is sent. – What do they think about the landlord saying that the scheme, which is supposed to help people enter the private rental market, ends up making it worse for them? – We experience that many people get a place to live through the use of a guarantee from Nav, and the intention is to look after both landlords and tenants, says Sande. Read more of the answer from further down in the case. Thinks the guarantee is too bad Norheim thinks that it is not the people who are the problem, but the guarantee from Nav. – There is no guarantee. Norheim got back the missing monthly rent from Nav two months after the tenant had moved out. Landlord Petter Norheim says it was difficult to get in touch with Nav when he rented to a person with a Nav guarantee. Photo: Remi Sagen / news Several landlords news has spoken to say that they do not rent to people with a Nav guarantee. The landlords say that the guarantee provided by Nav is poor: They think it is difficult to get in touch with Nav because there are different case managers. They believe they receive too little information about the terms. They believe that the guarantee agreement is often too short compared to the lease. Some landlords also claim that the guarantee does not cover compensation for damage to the home or lack of cleaning. Daily manager of the platform husleie.no, Kjetil Olsen, says that their members experience many of the same challenges. For example, there is no standard warranty. Several landlords say that it is difficult to redeem the guarantee when there is documented damage. In addition, it takes a long time to get the money. – Of course, this is not the case in all cases, but in any case this has become a common opinion among many landlords. And that unfortunately has major consequences for many tenants, says Olsen. He says that uncertainty surrounding the Nav guarantee can lead to tenants who make use of the Nav guarantee often experiencing lower priority when they have to find new rental accommodation. – This is of course regrettable and could have been avoided. Nav: The landlords get what they are entitled to news has sent questions about the criticism from the landlords to Nav Bergen, Nav in Oslo, Nav Trondheim and Nav Ålesund. The office believes that they give landlords information about what the guarantee entails, and that the landlords get back what they are entitled to. Several of the offices say that they have not received feedback from landlords that it is difficult to get in touch with Nav. Duration of the Nav guarantee Nav Ålesund: One year unless otherwise specified. Nav Trondheim: Usually one year. If the landlord requires it, the guarantee can be extended to three years. In the case of fixed-term contracts of less than one year, the guarantee lasts as long as the contract. Nav Oslo: Normally lasts as long as the lease, with an addition of three months to cover situations where tenants may not move out by the set date. Nav Bergen: The guarantee corresponds to the lease. Source: Nav Ålesund, Nav Lerkendal and Nav Falkenborg, City Council Department for Work, Inclusion and Social Services and Agency for Social Services in Bergen Municipality. According to Nav, the guarantee must cover damage to the house and lack of cleaning when moving out. Nav believes that landlords will be notified. Nav does not pay out more money than the amount stipulated in the guarantee. The reason why it may take time before the landlord is paid the claim is that the tenant may have objections to the termination. If a problem arises, the landlord can take the matter up with the Tenancy Dispute Committee. – In the cases that go to the Tenancy Dispute Committee, we understand that homeowners may perceive the guarantee from Nav as worthless, but then Nav is not a party to the case, says department director of Nav Falkenborg Unni Valla Skevik. When asked what Nav thinks that, according to the landlords, the guarantee is counterproductive, the answer is: – We do not share the assessment that the scheme with a deposit guarantee from the municipality makes it worse for people to enter the private rental market, says agency director for social services in Bergen Municipality Hilde Larsen. The Nav office in Oslo does not recognize the problem, and believes that the guarantees cover what they are supposed to cover. Nav in Trondheim has not been contacted by landlords who are dissatisfied with the arrangement. – But we know that some landlords in Trondheim do not approve the Nav guarantee. We also think that this is about “Nav users” being perceived by landlords as “problematic” tenants with an unstable relationship with finances, says Skevik in Nav Falkenborg.
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Landlords are dissatisfied with the Nav guarantee – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
