§ 12-5. The Rent Disputes Tribunal — your free help with tenancy disputes
The Rent Disputes Tribunal (Husleietvistutvalget, HTU) handles disputes between tenants (leiere) and landlords (utleiere) quickly, professionally and free of charge. For most disputes about renting a home (bolig), you must go to HTU before you can go to the district court (tingretten). The Conciliation Board (forliksrådet) cannot handle disputes about renting a home.
Machine-translated from Norwegian. The Norwegian text is the one that applies. Read the original in Norwegian.Norsk English العربية Polski Українська
The text of the law (unofficial translation)
The Rent Disputes Tribunal handles disputes under this Act and under the Act of 16 June 1939 No. 6 on rent (husleie).
The Rent Disputes Tribunal is professionally independent and cannot be instructed on the handling of individual cases or on its professional activities otherwise.
The Rent Disputes Tribunal may, notwithstanding the duty of confidentiality, obtain information from the National Population Register that is necessary for carrying out tasks under this Act and regulations laid down pursuant to this Act.
Disputes about renting a home must be handled by the Rent Disputes Tribunal before they can be brought before the district court if it follows from the legislation on civil procedure that handling by the Conciliation Board would otherwise have been necessary. The Conciliation Board cannot handle disputes about renting a home.
Bringing a case before the Rent Disputes Tribunal shall be treated as equivalent to a lawsuit (søksmål) under the Enforcement Act (tvangsfullbyrdelsesloven) § 5-11 first paragraph, second sentence.
The Ministry may issue regulations on the Rent Disputes Tribunal.
What does this mean?
The Rent Disputes Tribunal is the most important body for resolving conflicts between tenants and landlords in Norway. It is free to use, it has strong expertise, and it is much faster than the ordinary courts.
What can HTU help with?
Almost anything to do with the tenancy (leieforhold): disputes about the deposit (depositum), unlawful notice of termination (oppsigelse), rent reduction (leieavslag) for defects (mangler), lack of maintenance (vedlikehold), unlawful clauses in the contract, claims for compensation (erstatning), subletting (framleie), discrimination — the list is long.
Mandatory for most disputes about renting a home. For disputes that the Conciliation Board would otherwise have handled, you must go to HTU before the district court. It is not a choice — it is a requirement.
The Conciliation Board is out of the picture. The Conciliation Board — the lowest local body for resolving disputes — does not handle disputes about renting a home. HTU has taken over that role, and does it better.
HTU is professionally independent. This means that neither the municipality, the Storting nor the parties can influence how HTU handles your individual cases. It is an independent professional body.
The decisions are binding. A decision from HTU is treated as equivalent to a lawsuit and has legal effect. If you want to challenge the decision, you must bring the case to the district court within one month.
Examples
Anne and her landlord disagree about the deposit after she moves out — the landlord wants to keep the full NOK 30,000, while Anne believes it was only normal wear and tear (alminnelig slitasje). Anne reports the case to HTU. The handling of the case takes a few weeks. HTU decides that the landlord can only withhold NOK 8,000 for documented repairs. The landlord must pay out the rest within the deadline set in the decision.
Petter receives an invalid notice of termination. He reports the case to HTU. HTU concludes that the notice of termination is invalid — it lacked reasons and information about the right to object (protestrett). Petter can stay in the home.
Common mistakes
- Going straight to the district court without going through HTU. The district court will dismiss the case if you have not been to HTU first, in the cases where this is mandatory.
- Believing that HTU is only for the tenant. HTU handles cases from both parties — landlords can also report cases.
- Waiting too long to report the case. Cases can become harder to win over time — report it as early as possible.
What should you do?
If you have a dispute with your landlord that you cannot resolve between you: go to htu.no and report the case. It is free, simple and effective. You do not need a lawyer — HTU is designed for people without a legal background. Keep all documentation: the contract, photos, emails, receipts.
Frequently asked questions
Does it cost anything to use the Rent Disputes Tribunal?
Can the landlord refuse to take part in HTU?
Does HTU cover the renting of commercial premises?
- § 12-1Arbitration (voldgift) is invalid for tenants of homes
- § 12-2Valuation panel (takstnemnd) for setting values
- § 9-8Objection (protest) to the notice of termination
- § 4-1Ban on unreasonable rent
- Conflict while you live in the flat: how to resolve it without losing your home
- Water damage in a rented home: how responsibility is split between tenant and landlord
- Compensation from the landlord: when must the landlord cover your loss?
- Renting from a letting company or through an agent: what applies to you