§ 3-36. Information for guarantors

This section concerns personal guarantees (Chapter 6), that is, when someone vouches for another person's debt. The guarantor must receive the same information as the credit customer. In addition, the guarantor must be told about the general risk of taking on such liability, whether debt insurance or other ancillary services are required, and whether the guarantor must provide security themselves. If the liability covers existing debt, the guarantor must be told whether it is in default and what the credit assessment of the customer showed. The guarantor must also receive information about the right to be released and about the claim against the credit customer.

The second paragraph adds information about the amount. The lender must state the total or maximum amount that the guarantee liability is to secure, and whether the guarantor may also become liable for interest and costs if the credit customer defaults. This builds on the cost information in § 3-28 letter a, to the extent it fits a guarantee agreement. The rules on interest and costs are in § 6-11 and § 6-12: the guarantor does not have to pay special late payment interest (forsinkelsesrente) caused by the credit customer's default, and is liable for court fees and collection costs only if the guarantor has been notified in advance.

The information about release and claims against the credit customer points to two practical rights. Under § 6-9, the guarantor can pay off the liability in full or in part if the credit customer defaults on the credit agreement (kredittavtale) in a way that is not insignificant, or such default is to be expected. The guarantor must then notify the lender and the customer of when payment will be made, and then takes over the credit agreement. Under § 6-13, the guarantor can demand payment from the credit customer up to the amount for which the guarantor can be held liable to the lender, for example when it is clear that the credit will be materially defaulted on.

Before the agreement is entered into, the lender must also give a guarantor who is a consumer (forbruker) tailored explanations and assess the guarantor's creditworthiness (§ 6-1). If the guarantee is to cover existing debt, the credit assessment of the credit customer must be carried out again, and the result passed on to the guarantor before the agreement is entered into. This is linked to the information about existing debt that § 3-36 requires.