§ 3-3. Securing assets and wage deductions during the debt negotiation

The section gives the enforcement officer two tools that prevent assets from disappearing while the debt negotiation (gjeldsforhandlingen) is ongoing. The first concerns assets that are to be used to cover the creditors. The second is deductions from wages and other payments.

If the debtor has assets which under § 4-6 are to be sold to give the creditors cover, the enforcement officer must secure them. The securing follows the Enforcement Act § 7-19, and works like attachment (the creditor's security in the asset). This means you can no longer freely dispose of the assets, and this also applies in relation to third parties. What the securing means in practice depends on the asset. If it is registered in a property register, a notice is sent to the register. Movable property can be taken into custody. Money is also taken into custody and deposited in a Norwegian bank.

The second paragraph concerns protective wage deductions. The enforcement officer must decide on deductions from wages and other payments covered by the Creditors Recovery Act § 2-7, and decide how large the deduction will be. Under the Creditors Recovery Act § 2-7, only what exceeds what the debtor and the household (husstanden) reasonably need for living costs (underhold) can be deducted. The provision also covers pensions and social security benefits, not just wages. The enforcement officer notifies the Norwegian National Collection Agency of the deduction and of who is to make the deduction. The deduction is carried out as a wage deduction order, and the remaining amount, once claims with better priority have been covered, is passed on to the enforcement officer.

The connection with § 3-4 is important. Under § 3-4 fifth paragraph, an existing wage deduction order is replaced by the protective wage deduction, and certain maintenance claims that are already to be covered by a wage deduction order take precedence. A constructed example: a debtor has wage income, and the enforcement officer decides on a protective wage deduction. The creditors cannot themselves attach the wages during the period, because the payment suspension (betalingsutsettelsen) in § 3-4 prevents this. What happens to funds that have been secured when a debt settlement (gjeldsordning) does not come about is set out in § 7-3.

The section follows the opening in § 3-1 and the call to submit claims in § 3-2. The debtor's duties during the period are set out in § 3-5, and the lapse of attachment liens (utleggspant) has its own section in § 3-6.