§ 4-7. Valuation of your home and other assets you keep

This section decides who sets the value of assets you are going to keep. If you own your home and are going to stay living there, the enforcement officer determines the market value (what the home can be sold for). The enforcement officer does this together with two court-appointed assessors (people with special expertise) whom the enforcement officer appoints. If you are going to keep other assets that are pledged, they are valued only when this is needed to see how much the secured debt exceeds the value. In that case the enforcement officer may use one or two court-appointed assessors.

The value matters a great deal for how the claims are treated. Under § 4-8, claims with security (pant) in the home receive the agreed interest to the extent they fall within the market value plus an additional 10 percent. Security beyond this is treated as claims without security. The valuation therefore decides where the limit lies. It is also used in assessing whether you have to sell your home, see § 4-4.

The valuation itself follows the rules in the Enforcement Act on the valuation of movable property. The starting point there is that the enforcement officer and any court-appointed assessors determine the value. If they disagree, the majority decides. If only one court-appointed assessor takes part, the enforcement officer's vote carries the most weight. The enforcement officer must also write a short explanation of the reasons in the enforcement record (namsboken).

If you want to challenge the valuation, the rules on appeals in the Enforcement Act apply. The appeal can be submitted up to one month after the parties were informed of the outcome. If the court itself has carried out the valuation, you cannot dispute the assessment as such, only errors in the procedure or in the application of the law. If the court carries out a new valuation, lay assessors (skjønnsmedlemmer) take part.

This section is closely linked to its neighbouring sections. § 4-5 says what you are entitled to keep, and what cannot be kept is sold under § 4-6. The values are used in the distribution under § 4-8.