Real estate

Ownership sections and other joint ownership

Residential property consisting of several housing units is usually organized as an owner-section
condominium or housing association. There are also still housing cooperatives organized as limited
liability companies, but establishing establish new housing limited liability companies is no longer an
option.

The legal construction of owner sectional condominiums is that each sectional owner owns an ideal
share of the property, determined as a fraction. Each section owner has the exclusive right to use a
limited area of ​​the property, called a unit of use. The sections can be residential sections or
commercial sections. The Owner's Section Act has provisions on how an owner's section
condominium is established, on changes to the sectioning, on the section owners' right to dispose of
their section and on management of the property.

Co-ownership of real estate may also arise in connection with inheritance or cohabitation, joint
purchase or other means. For such condominiums, there are legal provisions that apply to the extent
that the owners do not have agreements that regulate the management of the property. Any co-
owner can demand to be released from such a co-ownership, if necessary by compulsory dissolution
of the co-ownership if the owners do not agree on the release sum.

Rights in real estate and between neighbours

The content of the owner's right to immovable property can be defined as those rights which do not
belong to other specific persons or the general public. The general right of way in outlying areas is an
example of a public right that applies to all properties that include outlying areas. Special rights to
real estate can be e.g. right of way, fishing right, or the right to deny the owner certain forms of use
of the property. Such special rights may be personal, or the rights holder is the person who at any
time owns a certain other property.

Owners of neighboring properties also have rights that limit the owner's use of their own property.
The relationship between neighboring properties is regulated by a separate law.

Odel - family members’ redemption rights to agricultural estates

The Norwegien term “odel” refers to a right for a certain circle of family members, in a legally
prescribed order, to buy a property that has been sold to someone who has no right of “odel” or
inferior right of “odel” to the property. Redemption must be claimed within six months subsequent
to the transfer of title to a new owner. Whoever disposes of a property on odel is obliged to reside
on the property and to perform agriculture. In the event of a breach of these obligations, other
family members may be entitled to buy the estate.

If the parties do not agree on the value of the property, this shall be determined by judicial
discretion. The purchase price shall be set at the property's market value, provided that it is mainly
used as agricultural property. In many cases, the value of the house, and other assets independent of
the agricultural value, have a major impact on the assessment. If the person claiming redemption
belongs to a certain circle of successors to the seller, the price may be set somewhat lower than the
market value.

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