The Tenancy Act states that everyone who pays a deposit must have a separate deposit account with a financial institution. This is a law to ensure fairness after a tenancy, by an external party having control over the money. In a new scientific article in Critical Law, Marius Storvik, who is a jurist Ph.D. and associate professor in jurisprudence, what he believes to be illegal practices at the associations. Here it appears that eight out of fourteen student associations themselves have control over the accounts, where students are asked to deposit a deposit for dormitory rent. – The cooperatives have had their own arrangement for deposits, where they believe they should be allowed to receive the interest on the deposit money, so what they have done is to have the deposit amounts paid into their own company account, says Storvik. It was Khrono who mentioned the matter first. Can withdraw money from students One of the consequences of the cooperatives having their own deposit accounts is that they can also withdraw students’ deposits after moving out. For example, if the association believes the student has destroyed objects in the apartment or washed too badly. The cooperatives have claimed that through a regulation they have an exception to the general rule on deposit accounts in a financial institution, says Storvik. This is rejected by the lawyer, who believes that the companies have knowingly broken the law. – This question is not that difficult. There is a great deal of evidence that the solution they have chosen is not legal, he says. Marius Storvik is an associate professor in jurisprudence and is critical of the practice of several cooperatives with their own deposit accounts. Photo: Privat Storvik points out that there was a review of the deposit rules in the Storting in 2008 and 2009. It was then determined that such joint deposit accounts that are managed by the cooperatives are illegal. – It would be surprising if they have now changed their minds. This is a very serious matter, says Storvik. Awaiting changes The lawyer’s criticism of the joint ventures has already begun to have consequences. Norway’s Arctic Student Association recently decided to discontinue the deposit scheme. They will now pay back 20 million kroner deposit to the students during the autumn, according to Nordlys. The student association in Gjøvik, Ålesund and Trondheim (Sit) is one of the associations that Storvik believes are breaking the law. They are currently waiting to make changes to the deposit practice, says housing director Lisbeth Glørstad Aspås. – Questions have been sent to the ministry, and if we do something illegal, we will of course rectify it. But it is important that we, the co-ships, look together at a common solution, says Aspås. – Has Sit been aware of the possible illegality of this? – No, I was not aware that there could be any illegality around it and it is therefore important for us to get clarification on this from the ministry. It is very rare that we deduct from the student’s deposit, and when we do so it is in dialogue with the student. – We want solutions that are the best possible for the students, says Aspås. Lisbeth Glørstad Aspås is director of housing at Sit and was not aware of the possible illegality of Sit’s deposit account arrangement. Photo: Marit Langseth / news Should be discontinued Lawyer Storvik believes this explanation is not good enough. This is because, in any case, what the Ministry of Knowledge says in Parliament will not be binding, because it is the Ministry of Local Government that works with the Rent Act. Storvik believes that the students must now get on the field and clean up, as they sit in the majority on the boards of the co-ships. And according to the lawyer, there is no doubt about what the cooperatives must now do: – Either they must abolish the deposit scheme, as half of them have done. Or have the deposit money placed in a bank.
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Lawyer believes half of student associations are breaking the law – now one of them is making changes – news Trøndelag
