Exploited by cynical landlords

– Many students experience the landlord as an authority that’s difficult to stand up to. The fear of getting into a conflict with the landlord is often high among students, so they often choose to pay what they are told instead, says Mathias Stang.

He and Vjosa Maxhuni from Juss-Buss (see facts) say they work mainly with cases where students enter into an oral rental agreement, and that they don’t dare fight with the landlord for fear of losing the apartment or other sanctions.

– One of the things we try to make our clients aware of, is to get all communication with the landlord in writing, saying Maxhuni.

Vulnerable students

Many students do not know their rights as tenants. A survey Consumer Council (Forbrukerrådet) has conducted shows that 15 percent are not at all aware of their rights as tenants. The survey also shows that respondents under 30 years accepted claims and demands to a greater extent than older respondents.

Ann Hege Skogly in the Consumer Council says they receive many inquiries from students who have accepted worse conditions than they really should.

Communication Consultant Ann Hege Skogly in the Consumer Council can also tell that they receive approximately 5000 inquiries per year about rent.

– We have no idea of ​​how many of those are students, but we know they are a vulnerable group. It can be hard getting a room in a student dormitory, and some take chances or accept more than they really want in order to secure a place to live, she says.

Mould in the bedroom

Stang in Juss-Buss says that the survey results do not come as a surprise. He receives many inquiries from frustrated students.

– Students often come to us when they are not going anywhere with the owner of the apartment, or because they suddenly find that something is strange with one of the bills from the landlord. They often get a «revelation» when they come here – you notice that ignorance is quite widespread, he says.

As a rule, the problem is that students do not know what they are entitled to. Juss-Buss is working to spread knowledge about how students can avoid being exploited by money hungry landlords. Stang and Maxhuni have heard pretty much everything.

– We have seen cases where the landlord has tried to get students to pay for sun bleached floors or other natural wear and tear, says Stang. Maxhuni tells of a student who lived with harmful mould all over the bedroom window because the landlord would not fix it. She was only offered a curtain to cover the mould.

– In this case it ended up with the girl staying with her boyfriend paying double rent until she got out of the contract, says Maxhuni.

Deposit Trap

– The classic problem is students who pay the deposit directly into the landlord's private account, says Stang.

By law, this is an illegal transaction in a tenancy, and you are entitled to get back the money immediately. This is a requirement which applies regardless of whether the apartment is damaged in the meantime. It is the landlord's responsibility to ensure that the deposit is handled appropriately, and must in this case also claim money for damage afterwards.

– The tenant may have vandalized the apartment, but can still claim their money in that kind of case, says Stang.

A typical scenario is that the tenant withholds rent if they notice anything improper in the tenancy. Maxhuni points out that this can also be problematic, as the tenant in this situation also violates its part of the contract.

Favours the tenant

Maxhuni experiences that students now are more cautious than before, but that there are still many who do not know their rights.

– The Tenancy Act actually «favours» the tenants in many cases, providing an important protection. This is something you as a tenant can use in a conflict. A precondition for this is of course that you know about your rights, she says.