Charges double

– The landlord is obliged to fulfil the contract until the end of the tenant’s period of notice. Among other things, this means that the flat must be left at the tenant’s disposal during this period of time. In this situation, the flat has no value for the tenant, says Jørund Tuveng, lawyer with the Norwegian Consumer Council.

In November, Skrede moved out of the student flat he rented at Bjølsen. According to the tenancy agreement, he had two month’s period of notice. Since he moved out the same day, rent for the following month was withdrawn from his deposit, in accordance with the contract. However, in December, SiO Housing hired out the same flat to someone else. Hence, two people were paying rent for the same flat, at the same time.

– It’s an easy way to swindle people out of money, says Skrede, who did not find out about the double rent until afterwards.

– We think it is important to keep people out of the waiting-line, says Tom Olstad, Director of Student Housing at the Foundation for Student Life in Oslo (SiO).

The Norwegian Consumer Council, on the other hand, thinks that Skrede has the right to get his money back in accordance with the Norwegian tenancy act, since SiO Housing has breached the contract.

Not aware of this practise

Leader of the student welfare body The Velferdsting (VT), Stine W. Minde, was not aware of the fact that SiO Housing was charging double rent for their flats.

– We feel that it is unnecessary for students to pay rent in the period of notice if there are other students waiting in line to take the place of the person who moves out. If this was a whole month’s rent, it is VT’s opinion that the student should get his money back.

Olstad says that he must look more closely into the matter before he can make any promises about paying the money back.

– We base every case on the tenant contract, and in principle, it is not our problem if a tenant decides to move out before his period of notice is up, he adds.

According to Olstad, new tenants can choose between all the flats that are empty, even if the previous a tenant’s contractual relationship is terminated only in practise, not formally. Hence, incidents like this may sometimes arise, but Olstad does not know the extent of such cases.

– A matter of principle

Per Oddvar Pallum, lawyer with the Norwegian Tenant’s Association, does not buy into the argumentation from SiO Housing.

– Landlords like SiO will always have empty flats. That does not mean that the landlord can juggle the tenants that move in. If one tenant moves out and a new one comes in, the payment obligations for the first tenant should be ended.

At the beginning of December, Skrede sent a written complaint to SiO, demanding his money back. He has not heard back from them since. He stresses that it is a matter of principle, and that if the case does not come to a close soon, he will bring the dispute before the Rent Disputes Tribunal.

– Interesting

– Worst case scenario is that a tenant decides to provoke a situation by showing up at SiO and demanding the key back for a weekend. That will make it very clear that the landlord can’t deliver what the tenant is paying for, says Pallum.

Olstad cannot say how a situation like that would have been handled.

– It is difficult to say what would happen, and I’ve never heard of any such situation. In this case, the tenant has delivered his keys and moved out, but it would be interesting to see how something like that had been handled. At the moment, I have no idea.

– Do you agree that charging double rent for a student flat can seem a bit rude?

– I wouldn’t call it rude. It generates a bit more money to SiO Housing, which in the end benefits the students. After all, that is what student welfare is all about

Promises to look into the matter

Olstad is sorry that Skrede has not heard back from SiO after the complaint, and promises to look into the matter right away.

– We want to act as upright as possible, and most of the time cases are solved before they end up in court.

Minde, on the other hand, would like the practise of charging double rent to stop right away:

– The Velferdsting will follow the matter up, and see to it that SiO takes hold of it, she says.