§ 2-3. The enforcement officer's duty to investigate the case

This section makes the enforcement officer responsible for making sure the case is clarified well enough before any debt negotiation (gjeldsforhandling) is opened. The first paragraph sets out the main rule. The rest of the section says how the enforcement officer is to proceed.

The enforcement officer must first check that the application has all the information required under § 2-1 second paragraph, that is, about income, assets, debt and living expenses (leveomkostninger). If anything is unclear, the enforcement officer can require you to document it. Next, the enforcement officer must obtain information about registered encumbrances on your assets. Encumbrances means security (pant) and similar rights others have in what you own.

The enforcement officer can also ask third parties. Here, the Enforcement Act § 5-7 applies correspondingly. Under that section, the enforcement officer can ask the parties for information and evidence, and can also demand answers from outsiders who may hold something of importance to the case. Information one enforcement officer has obtained can be shared with other enforcement officers when it may matter to the case. For certain information, the duty applies regardless of any duty of confidentiality (taushetsplikt). The enforcement officer can also demand information from the population register authority. If you appeal (klager) such an order to the district court (tingretten), the appeal as a main rule has suspensive effect (oppsettende virkning), meaning the order must wait. This does not apply if the appeal is clearly unfounded.

The duty to investigate is closely linked to the rest of Chapter 2. The application and the debtor's declaration releasing others from their duty of confidentiality are governed by § 2-1. The guidance is set out in § 2-2. The enforcement officer can reject the application under § 2-6 if the debtor does not contribute, as far as they are able, to clarifying the case. If the court (retten) is to decide on the opening, the case must, under § 2-7, be so well clarified and prepared that the negotiation can be completed within four months.