§ 3-1. Opening of debt negotiation and conditions for opening

The section says who opens the debt negotiation, and what happens when it has been opened. The main rule is that the district court opens the negotiation when the conditions in §§ 1-2 to 1-4 are fulfilled and the application has the content that § 2-1 requires. If it is obvious that the conditions are met, the enforcement officer can do the job itself.

The enforcement authorities (namsmyndigheten) (the enforcement officer or the court) can attach conditions to the opening. As an example, the law mentions that the sale or valuation of assets must have been done first. If it is the court that has set the condition, the case goes back there from the enforcement officer when the condition has been fulfilled, and the court then decides whether the negotiation is opened.

The form of the decision depends on who makes it. The court uses a court ruling, while the enforcement officer uses a written decision.

The fourth paragraph regulates appeals. When the enforcement officer has opened the negotiation, the creditors can appeal within one week after they received notice of the opening. The notice is regulated in § 3-2 second paragraph. If the negotiation is opened on conditions, the debtor can also appeal or appeal to a higher court. If the district court opens without conditions, the decision cannot be challenged. A constructed example: a debtor is granted an opening, but only on the condition that an asset is sold. The debtor thinks the condition is unreasonable and can then appeal or appeal to a higher court, while a creditor who thinks the enforcement officer has opened too readily must appeal within the short deadline.

The section is the first in chapter 3. Right after the opening come the public notice (kunngjøring) and the call to submit claims in § 3-2, securing of assets and wage deductions in § 3-3, payment suspension (betalingsutsettelse) in § 3-4 and the debtor's obligations in § 3-5. The case can also be dismissed during the debt negotiation period (gjeldsforhandlingsperiode) under § 3-7.