A Baerum business executive has demanded NOK 250,000 (USD 37,500) in compensation after buying an apartment that the seller claimed was in an immigrant-free building. The man has filed a complaint, claiming the seller violated his duty of disclosure, and threatened to sue, newspaper Dagbladet reports. The complainant has made his stance clear, and in writing.
“For residents this is a clear drawback. This is a very serious violation of the seller’s duty of disclosure when selling property, bordering on swindle,” the executive wrote. According to Dagbladet, the complainant is a central figure in several major Norwegian firms and has lectured at one of Norway’s leading places of education, among other things on the subject of globalization.
The complaint details that the buyer asked directly if there were immigrants living in the building. In fact the local authority (Baerum) owns transit apartments for immigrants in the complex. The seller claims the question was if there were many immigrants in the area, and the answer was no because two units out of 11 was not considered ‘many’. The seller was insured for change of ownership and the insurance company has rejected the complaint on the grounds that the seller cannot be expected to provide information aimed at satisfying a buyer’s subjective attitudes. The buyer could have found out the necessary information himself easily enough, by checking the names on postboxes or doorbells, if this was deemed so important, the insurer argued. The board chairman of the building’s residents admitted that they have complained to Baerum about the authority’s properties, but that this does not reflect their attitude towards immigrants.
“As I see it this complaint had nothing to do with the ethnic background of those involved. The issue was the authority’s use of these apartments,” the chairman said. The business executive and his family have sold the apartment and moved.
(Source: Afterposten)
