Vilde Risa (19) and cohabitant Ida Jacobsen (21) experienced far too many young people meeting when they were going out on the rental market for the first time. A basement apartment with mold and miserable air that they rented for NOK 7,500 outside Stavanger a year ago. Mold all over At first everything seemed fine. But after a month, the young couple peeked behind a large wardrobe. There they found a thick layer of mold. MOVED OUT: The cohabiting couple Ida Jacobsen (left) and Vilde Risa (right) were looking forward to moving into the basement apartment, but they did not stay as long as they had hoped. Photo: Privat They then went through the entire apartment. – We found mold in the living room, in the bedroom, in the kitchen and in the bathroom. There was mold behind the shower and inside the cupboards in the bathroom. And not least in the windowsills. The mug also tormented Risa physically, and she could feel it on her breath. – I was constantly stuffy in the nose. The 19-year-old says that she informed the landlord about the mold in the apartment, and was told that they could wash it away. He thought there was mold because they didn’t ventilate enough. THE KITCHEN: There was mold in the cupboards in the kitchen. Photo: Private – We trusted the landlord The roommates paid NOK 7,500 a month for the basement flat. The deposit was deposited into the landlord’s private account. According to the law, the deposit must be placed in a separate account. – We are so young, we know nothing about it, and we trusted the landlord, says Risa. They were 18 and 20 years old when they moved into the apartment. They moved out of the apartment after living there for less than a year. She believes it is difficult to be taken seriously in the rental market when you are so young. – Especially when you don’t have much experience. Most people have not lived in five different places with lots of references, says Risa. The landlord tells news that the mold arose because Jacobsen and Risa did not ventilate enough. He has subsequently set up a deposit account for new tenants. Read the full response from the landlord at the bottom of the case. Have you recently moved into a collective? Then maybe you should pay attention to these things. Watch out for this This autumn, many new people, including students, will enter the rental market. news has spoken to three people who know a lot about what you must look out for, and what you are entitled to when renting a home. 1. Viewing You should not rent a property without having seen it first. Attend open house. – If you rent the property unseen, you may get a nasty surprise when you move in. That’s according to Thomas Iversen, senior legal adviser at the Norwegian Consumer Council. If you are unable to go to a viewing, get someone else to view the property for you. Iversen also recommends the Consumer Council’s checklist before you rent. The Consumer Council’s checklist before you rent a home When you take over the home, you and the landlord should go through the home to see what condition the home is in. Is the home tidy and clean, are there cracked windows or a leak from the kitchen tap? Do the heaters work? Notes about this should be recorded in writing. If the home is rented fully or partially furnished and white goods and kitchen equipment are included, it is a good idea to draw up an inventory list. The condition of the inventory should be described or documented with pictures. For the tenant, the review is important to prevent the landlord making a claim for coverage of damage that was already in the house at https://www.forbrukerradet.no/forside/bolig/husleie/sjekkliste-husleie/ Source: Forbrukerrådet It is important to check for any errors, defects and damage to the display. Check, for example, that white goods work as they should, and that there is no moisture damage in the apartment. MOULD: This is what the window sill in Vilde and Ida’s bedroom looked like. PHOTO: PRIVATE 2. The contract – It is important to read the contract carefully, check the notice period and examine what you and the landlord are responsible for. This is according to the head of the Norwegian Student Organization (NSO), Maika Godal Dam. She says it’s a good idea to have someone review the contract with you. – You must check how you will pay the rent, by when, and to whom. Check whether electricity is included in the rent. See what you have to arrange yourself such as internet, TV and hot water. If electricity is not included in the rent, it is important to ask the landlord how high the electricity consumption is. Before you sign the contract, it is also a good idea to go through the property with the landlord and write a condition report. – Also take pictures and document any damage so that you are not blamed for something you did not do, says Godal Dam. This applies in particular when you take over the apartment. UNDER THE SINK: Mold in the cupboard under the kitchen counter. Photo: Private 3. Collective Yngve Gran Andersen in the Tenants’ Association recommends that those who are going to live in a collective where they have a joint contract with the landlord, also enter into a written agreement between themselves. – If, for example, one member of the collective does not pay rent, the landlord can demand that one of the others pays the rent. The agreement should therefore be clear about who will pay what, at what time. – You are each other’s “guarantors”. This means that if one of you cannot, or refuses to pay his rent, the others are responsible for paying the rent to that person, says Andersen. The agreement makes it easier to recover payments from the person who owes money. Ten tips for those who are going to enter the rental market Here are some tips from the head of the Norwegian Student Organization, Maika Godal Dam: Familiarize yourself with the Rent Act. Here you have a number of rights and obligations that it is important to know about before you enter into a tenancy. Create your own budget, so you know how much you can pay each month. Also remember the extra costs that are not included in the rent itself. Find out how you want to live, whether you want to live alone, with friends or in a collective. Consider where you want to live. It affects how long it takes to get to campus, and what surroundings you have around you. Start in good time. The better time you have to find housing, the better time you have to survey and go through what you may need to make a good assessment. Go on multiple views. This gives you more information and a broad starting point before making a decision. Contact several landlords. It is not certain that you will get the job done on the first try, so here it is important to contact all relevant parties. Apply for student accommodation. Here it is possible to put yourself on a waiting list at the student associations, or apply for available housing. Get contents insurance, if necessary check whether you lack other insurances. Check whether the home is furnished or not, so you know what you need to get on your own. Source: Maika Godal Dam, head of the Norwegian Student Organization. You can demand this 1. Contract If a rental agreement has been entered into orally, you can demand a written contract. Godal Dam, recommends everyone to use the standard contract. You can find it on the Consumer Council’s website. By signing the tenancy agreement, you have several rights according to the Tenancy Act. Both landlord and tenant must comply with it. It is important to see if the landlord has written anything in the contract that is not legal in relation to the Rent Act. If this has happened, you can demand that it be adjusted so that the contract becomes legal. 2. Deposit Andersen in the Tenants’ Association says that the deposit must always be deposited into a deposit account. – The money must not go into the landlord’s private account, that is illegal, says Andersen. Neither party has the opportunity to withdraw money from the account on their own. 3. The home When you move in, the home must be in the condition as agreed. And you must pay the sum you agreed upon. – If something is not as it should be, you can demand that the landlord corrects the errors, says Iversen in the Consumer Council. If you notice errors and omissions in the apartment when you move in, you must complain within 14 days, according to the Rent Act. You can get help here If, for example, you discover that the dormitory lacks an escape route after you have moved in, you must notify the landlord in writing as soon as possible. This also applies if you find other faults in the home. That there is no proper escape route in the home will be grounds for terminating the lease, Andersen concludes. What is an escape route and what are the requirements? An escape route must lead to a safe place in a clear and easy-to-understand way. It must have sufficient width and height, and be arranged for quick and efficient escape. There are different requirements for where this escape route should be, whether it is through a window, a ladder, door or stairs. The main requirement is that there must be at least one escape route that leads directly out into the open, but this will vary depending on the type of housing. If you are unsure whether there are legal escape routes in the home you are renting, you can contact the local fire and rescue agency. Source: The Directorate for Building Quality and the Norwegian Fire Protection Association. If contact with the landlord about errors and omissions does not lead to progress, you can contact the Housing Disputes Committee. The committee is a government agency that provides guidance to landlords and tenants, according to their websites. If you or the landlord want to terminate the tenancy, you can read what rights you have on the Consumer Council’s website. This is what the landlord who rented to Vilde and Ida says: The landlord tells news that he has been renting out the basement apartment since the family bought the house 20 years ago. At that time, they have not heard that previous tenants have complained about damp or mould. He believes the dampness arose because Jacobsen and Risa did not open the windows and ventilate. There were also valves in several places in the apartment that worked. The landlord believes it was just to wash away the mug, and he did that after the women had moved out. However, he acknowledges that no deposit account had been set up, but that the deposit was transferred to his private account. – It was something we agreed on, he says. The landlord points out that he has created a deposit account afterwards. He also says that he did not receive any notice from the women about mold until the end of the tenancy. Hello, do you have any thoughts about the case you have read, or input on other cases we can make about students on the rental market? Have you experienced discrimination, expensive rental prices or have you simply mastered the rental market? We want to hear your story! Feel free to send us an email.
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Experienced the rental nightmare – This is what you need to watch out for – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
