Housing, search | Obtains the reference: committed a violation related to the number of bedrooms

The Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority examined the housing advertisements of the largest real estate agencies, and I found a surprising number of mistakes in bedroom marketing.

In the campaign carried out at the end of January, the inspectorate found violations of the law by up to 9 out of 10 operators.

“We expected to find violations of the law, but we did not think we would find such a number,” says Trond Ronningen, director of the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority, in a press release.

The Norwegian Consumer Protection Agency examined a random selection of housing advertisements on Finn.no from the ten largest real estate companies.

– Must be cleaned

The inspectorate has now sent letters to nine of the companies it examined, pointing out errors in marketing and giving them a comprehensive introduction to the rules that apply.

“We expect companies to clean up and play by the rules in future housing ads,” says Ronningen.

These real estate agents receive references:

Proaktiv Eiendomsmegler, Vest DNB Eiendom, Nordvik Housing, Aktiv Eiendomsmegling, Eiendomsmegler 1 Norge, Privatmegleren, Eie Franchise and Krogsveen. They only found fault with Eiendom & Partners.

If companies do not comply, the Norwegian Consumer Protection Authority has the opportunity to make a decision.

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Enters illegal rooms

When the number of bedrooms must be stated in marketing, only rooms that have been approved for use as bedrooms should be included. If not, this may be a violation of marketing law.

– What we see a lot of people doing is they list the number of bedrooms based on current usage. It's not enough. In order to know which rooms are approved as bedrooms, real estate agents have to obtain floor plans from the municipality, writes Forbrukertilsynet.

If a room is not certified as a bedroom, it cannot be included in the bedroom count summary in the ad either.