Regulatory background

• Author: Bergsaker, Trygve
• Pages: 7-11

Consum er mar ket stud y on the fun ctio ning of the r eal estate servi ces for consum ers in the EU – Coun try Fiche Norw ay

7

1. Regulat ory backgrou nd

1.1 Lev el of regulat ion in the country

Ta ble 1: L eve l o f r egu lat ion

Leve l of reg ula tion

Sou rce of re lev ant leg isla tio n

On going dis cussi on on

re gula tio n/ de re gulat ion ( if app lica ble ):

curr en t st at e o f a ffa irs a nd m ain ar gum ent s

in th e d ebat e

Re al esta te

tr a nsactions

Stri ctly regulated

• Sale of Real Prop ert y Act 19 92;

• Const ruct ion and Sale o f New

Houses Act 1 997;

• Tena ncy Act 1 999;

• Prevent ing Mon ey Laun derin g an d

Terror Fina ncing Act 200 9.

There is a const ant di scussion whet her the Sal e of

Real Propert y Act is t he basis of se vera l di sput es

bet wee n sel lers an d b uyer s. The n umb er of

dispu tes befo re court s of law ro se af ter t he

ena ctment in 199 2. It h as been argu ed t hat t he

act is not su fficien tly clear when it comes to th e

rights an d ob ligat ions of th e par ties. Suggestion s

have been ma de t hat the act sh ould be amend ed.

No ta ry syst em ( or

la wy er/ con ve yan cer

syst em ) 2

No not ary sy stem , no licence d

con veyanc ers b esides licenced

real estate a gent s an d lawyers

N/ A

N/ A

Pr ofessio n of est at e

ag e nts

Stri ctly regulated

Real Estate Agen cy Act 20 07, Real

Estate Ag ency Regulation 2007

N/ A

• Sales contracts and tenan cy contr acts f or resid ent ial pr oper ty are regu lat ed i n t he Sa le of Real Property Act 19 92 and the Tena ncy Act 19 99. Ther e ar e

also oth er acts an d r egula tion s of interest: Th e Const ruct ion an d Sal e of New Houses Act 199 7, mo ney-l aund erin g r egul atio ns et c.

• There is no notary system in Norw ay. Wh en d ealing wit h real estat e transact ions, the task s of cont inen tal notaries are t o a lar ge ext ent p er formed by

th e real estat e ag ent handli ng t he sale ( e.g. check of legal rest rict ions and en cumb rances, t ransfer and reg istr ation of ti tle deed and of p aym ent) .

• Conv eyan cers d o no t ex ist ou tsid e th e pr ofession of licenced rea l est ate agents.

• Lice nced ad voc ate s ( law ye rs, sol icit or s) m ay con duct r eal est at e a gen cy on th e b asis of th eir a dvo cat e li cen ce. They m ust wor k wit hin th e leg al f ram ewo rk

of the Real Estat e Ag ency Act.

2 Only in coun tri es wh ere nota ries do n ot e xist or do n ot h ave a mo nopo ly on con veya ncing .