§ 5-22. Exemptions from the rules on credit agreements (kredittavtaler)

Chapter 5 gives consumers (forbrukere) and other customers many rights when it comes to credit. This section takes some forms of credit completely out of the chapter. Among them are factoring (where a business sells on its receivables), overdrafts on an account and credit that is the result of a court settlement. Loans to the employer's own employees are exempt when the interest rate is lower than the market rate and lending is not part of the employer's main business.

A final exemption concerns deferred payment from a seller. It is exempt when it is given free or almost free and is not intended to last longer than 90 days. The exemption no longer applies if the monetary claim is sold on before it has fallen due. The customer then gets the protection of the chapter.

The second subsection has a separate rule for pawn loans, meaning credit where the customer is liable only with an item handed over as collateral (pant). Only two provisions apply here: § 3-22 on the duty to provide information before the agreement is entered into, and § 5-1 on the duty to explain. Under § 3-22, the service provider (tjenesteyter) must give the customer the contract terms and relevant information in good time, unless otherwise provided. Under § 5-1, the bank must give consumers tailored explanations of the main features of the credit agreement, what any additional terms mean and what the consequences of default are.

This section must be read together with § 5-23, which keeps lease agreements without an obligation to become the owner outside the chapter. § 1-2, which sets out the scope of Chapters 2 to 6, refers to this provision. The rules in the chapter on co-debtors (samskyldnere), for example § 5-21, therefore do not apply to credit that is exempt here.

Example: A consumer has a pawn loan where only the item handed in is liable for the debt. The bank must nevertheless provide information before the agreement and explain what kind of loan it is.