§ 9-11. Notice to the municipal social services before eviction
The landlord (utleier) should notify the municipal social services (sosialtjenesten) in your municipality before he requests forced eviction. This gives the municipality two weeks to help you with your housing situation. You can opt out of having the notice sent.
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)
When there are grounds for requesting eviction (fravikelse) from the rented premises (husrommet), the landlord may, if there is reason to do so, send written notice of the breach (misligholdet) to the municipal social services. Any request for forced eviction (tvangsfravikelse) should be submitted to the enforcement authority no earlier than two weeks after written notice has been sent to the municipal social services. The landlord may authorise others to send such notice. The tenant (leier) may, in a written message to the landlord, opt out of having such notice sent to the municipal social services.
The landlord shall, no later than at the same time as sending the notice to the municipal social services under the first paragraph, send a copy of the notice or other information about its content to the tenant.
What does this mean?
This section is about giving you a last chance to get help from the municipality before you are forcibly evicted.
How it works:
If the landlord has grounds to request forced eviction — that is, to have the enforcement officer (bailiff) (namsmannen) remove you — he can notify the municipal social services (NAV (the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration)) in your municipality of the breach. It is not a duty, but it is strongly recommended.
The municipality then has two weeks to contact you and assess whether they can help. This may be help finding a new home (bolig), paying outstanding rent (husleie), or other measures.
You get a copy. The landlord must send you a copy of the notice or inform you of its content at the same time as it is sent to the municipality.
You can opt out. If you do not want the municipal social services to be involved, you can ask the landlord in writing not to send the notice. That is your right — some people feel it is private and do not want the municipality involved.
The role of NAV: Most municipalities have housing assistance schemes, emergency housing, or can help with a deposit (depositum) or rent arrears. The notice activates these options.
Example
Lars has failed to pay rent for three months and the landlord has grounds for termination with immediate effect (heving). The landlord sends notice to the municipal social services and a copy to Lars. NAV contacts Lars and helps him apply for housing allowance and a rent guarantee (garanti). The situation is resolved without forced eviction.
Common mistakes
- Ignoring all contact in the hope that things will sort themselves out. They rarely do. Contact NAV and the landlord proactively.
- Opting out of the notice without having a plan. The right to opt out does not remove your responsibility — it only takes away the municipality's chance to help.
What should you do?
If you are in a situation where you risk eviction: Contact NAV yourself — do not wait for the landlord to notify them. The sooner you seek help, the more options there are. Also contact the Rent Disputes Tribunal (Husleietvistutvalget) to see whether anything can be done about the dispute itself.
- § 9-9Termination with immediate effect for material breach
- § 9-8Objection to the notice of termination
- Termination of a tenancy agreement with immediate effect: when can the landlord or tenant end it at once?
- Tenant not paying: the landlord's options from notice to eviction
- Do I have to notify the municipal social services before requesting eviction?
- From warning to termination: a timeline for landlords with a problem tenant