The case in summary Ingrid Bjugan Halvorsen has started renting out her clothes and has earned a thousand kroner from this. There has been a gradual increase in the number of people who rent clothes, according to Kathrine Opshaug Bakke in FINN. The digital platform Vibrent has experienced an increase of around 10 per cent every month in the number of people renting clothes. But the Consumer Council warns against players with consumer-hostile contract terms. The Consumer Council wants a separate law regulating the renting of things. The Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness is responsible for possibly creating a new law regulating the renting of things. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – It was a thousand kroner in total, so it’s very good, says 29-year-old Ingrid Bjugan Halvorsen. When she became a mother of two a couple of months ago, she saw that it was becoming difficult to wear her nice clothes. Instead of leaving the dresses hanging in the closet, she did something other than sell. – I saw that there were a lot of people renting out. Then I was a little inspired to do the same myself. – It started with me looking for dresses myself. I was going to a Christmas party, and many of these dresses don’t fit me right now. Photo: Frode Meskau / news In December she started renting out. Twice she rented out dresses, and she charged NOK 500 for one evening per dress. Great interest She believes that the price of NOK 500 for an evening and NOK 650 for a weekend is not unreasonable. Especially considering that some of the dresses, according to her, have a value of almost NOK 7,000. Ingrid Bjugan Halvorsen works in a clothes shop, and therefore has several clothes she sells. Photo: Frode Meskau / news – There is a small guarantee that those who borrow the dress can also afford to replace it if something were to happen. Halvorsen is experiencing great interest from several people in the country. She also believes that she will continue with renting. It can be expensive if the dress is damaged. Ingrid has drawn up a contract using artificial intelligence, which the tenant must sign. The contract states that the renter must replace the value of the dress if it is damaged. Photo: Frode Meskau / news – As long as it’s not used, it’s just fun that someone else can benefit from it. Would you consider renting clothes? Yes absolutely! 😊 Not sure! 🤔 No, I don’t think this is for me😶 Show result More people want to rent nice clothes The numbers on renting clothes at Finn are small, but there has been a gradual increase, second-hand expert Kathrine Opshaug Bakke tells FINN. – It shows a slight tendency that there are slightly more people looking for rent. Popular things to rent are usually trailers, boat trailers or child seats, she says. Kathrine Opshaug Bakke is a second-hand expert in Finn. At the top of the Finn search, sofa has usually been the most searched for, but last year “give away” was what people searched for the most, says Opshaug Bakke. Photo: Caroline Roka The digital platform Vibrent has been renting out clothes since 2016. Managing director, Kristin Vaag, says they have experienced an increase of around 10 per cent every month. – We have gone from having clothes only for special occasions, to also having everyday clothes that you can subscribe to, through a membership with us. Vaag says they have over 60,000 users and around a thousand monthly subscribers. The garments are sent to be cleaned after they are used. They also charge around NOK 500 per garment you rent out. Kristin Vaag is general manager of Vibrent in Norway. The company was previously known as “Fjong”, but changed its name last autumn to reach internationally. They have over 10,000 garments that they rent out. Photo: Vibrant – It may feel unusual to pay so much money for something you don’t get to keep, but we know that many garments just hang in the closet, so there is certainly money to be saved by renting. The Consumer Council: – Not as safe as it should be But the Consumer Council warns against players with consumer-hostile contract terms. – Today it is not as safe as it should be to rent things, and we think it is a great shame, says Thomas Iversen, senior legal advisor at the Consumer Council. The survey carried out by the Consumer Council shows that consumer protection in the rental market is worryingly poor. – We would like people to rent more and buy less, he says. The terms of the agreement determine which rights you have. Thomas Iversen of the Consumer Council says they encourage the government to start work on investigating a consumer services act. He says that a Consumer Services Act would place restrictions on freedom of agreement, so that rental operators can no longer make consumer-hostile reservations, clauses and conditions. Photo: Consumer Council For example, what happens if what you rent is damaged? Then you risk not getting your money back or a replacement product. – The entire risk is simply on you, and it becomes a bit like rolling the dice. Want own law Today, the rules are based on an agreement being kept. – For renting things, you have to use rules that are not written down, and that provides neither concrete rules of the game for the buyer and lessor, nor the predictability that consumers need. There are some small safety valves in the regulations which mean that the most unreasonable agreements can be set aside, says Iversen. – But a lot needs to be done, and there are obviously a lot of agreements that are just bad and not consumer-friendly, but which are not so bad that they are unreasonable. The Consumer Council wants a law, since there is no separate law that regulates the renting of things. The Consumer Council’s advice for landlords Check that you offer the following rights to your customers: Price reduction – right to a reduction in the rental amount if the rental item is not in the agreed condition, or if the rental period is shorter than agreed. Compensation – the right to have costs incurred by the consumer due to defects in the rental item or delayed delivery covered. Termination – the right to terminate the rental agreement and get the money back if the rental item has significant defects or is significantly delayed. Source: The Consumer Council It is the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness that is responsible for possibly creating a new law. Senior communications advisor Merete Romestrand says on behalf of the ministry in an e-mail that it is only partially correct that there is no law that protects consumers when renting. These dresses are rented out by Ingrid Bjugan Halvorsen. Photo: Frode Meskau / news She writes that Norwegian law has customary rules that can apply to lease agreements in consumer relations. – We of course agree with the Ministry of Justice that there are some basic legal principles also when you rent things. But we can’t expect people to read the legislation before they buy something, much less familiarize themselves with principles that aren’t even enshrined in law before they rent something, replies Iversen. But the ministry cannot comment on specific contractual terms for renting products. – We must emphasize that the situation is completely different if a consumer rents to another consumer. Common law contract law still applies, but there will be greater access to deviate from otherwise applicable legal rules by agreement. This is what the Ministry of Justice and Emergency Preparedness says about renting clothing. Section 36 of the Contracts Act on unreasonable contract terms will still apply. When a consumer enters into a lease agreement with a trader, certain consumer protection rules cannot be waived by agreement to the detriment of the consumer. The alternative is then repair, a reduction in the rental price or to terminate the agreement. The tenant may be entitled to have the costs of renting a replacement product covered. As mentioned, we cannot take a position on specific terms of the agreement. But we can mention that even if the tenant causes damage to the rental property, it will normally be the case that the tenant will reimburse the repair costs. Having to replace the price of a new rental object will normally only be applicable where repair is not possible or where repair has a higher cost than replacing the product. Even where the tenant must replace the product in its entirety, a deduction will normally be made for use/wear and tear. It will therefore only be where the rental object must be considered new at the time of rental that compensation can correspond to the price of a new product. It is a general common law principle that one should not profit from the other party’s breach of contract. I think a law could be good. Vibrent is one of those mentioned by the Consumer Council in June last year as not having good enough contractual terms. Kristin Vaag says they became aware that they had not written clearly enough what the customer was entitled to, and that they have now changed that. – If such a law comes into being, it’s just great for us. Because then it might lead to more people wanting to test renting, says Vaag. – It would really be great if there could be a law that also gives us better guidelines on how to present it here to the customer, says Vaag. The company has already done a lot, she says. They send clothes to be cleaned, have cover for minor damages that may occur, and insurance if something goes missing in the post. Photo: Eivind Senneset / Eivind Senneset
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Ingrid (29) rents out dresses online – earned NOK 1,000 in two evenings
