SiT Disregards its Own Guidelines

Tekst: Frida Alexandersen, Camilla Muren

In the latest edition of Under Dusken, Håvard Bergo told us that he had been fined by SiT for insufficient cleaning in the common rooms in the apartment he rents from the Student Association of Trondheim (SiT). Lawhelp, a pro-bono law organization in central Norway, believes that these fines are illegal. On the other hand, SiT believes that their actions are justified.

Should Have the Opportunity to Improve

In any case, SiT has broken its own rules. SiT requires itself to check the general, periodic cleaning of the common areas at least two times before they can fine the inhabitants for the costs of hiring a cleaning crew. The lessees are supposed to have a chance to the clean areas and thereby avoid a fine. SiT provides the following information on its homepage:

“If the common areas are not sufficiently cleaned and washed, we will send an e-mail to all the residence’s inhabitants with a message to take shared responsibility for cleaning. After a few days, we will return to see if the state of the common rooms has improved. If this has not happened, SiT Housing will hire a cleaning company to clean the common areas. Each resident will then be fined a minimum of 1000 NOK to cover this cost.”

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Håvard Bergo says that they never had a chance to improve the state of the apartment:

“We received an e-mail on the 9th of May telling us that SiT would inspect the apartment for cleanliness. After that, I didn’t hear anything more from them until I received a fine at the end of June. None of us received any kind of warning that we would be fined if the place didn’t get cleaned.”

Bergo and his flatmates aren’t the only people who have experienced this. Thong Xuan Nguyen lived in one of SiT’s dormitories on Klostergata for three years. Last summer, he was also fined, without warning, and forced pay for insufficient cleaning. “The fine came right in the middle of the summer break while I was on vacation in the US. Since I hadn’t received any warning that I would receive a fine, it was very inopportune for me.”

Acknowledges a Breach of the Guidelines

Terje Bostad, SiT’s housing director, acknowledges that they have not always made two inspections:

“In certain cases, we experience that new residents terminate their lease as soon as they arrive because the apartment is so messy and dirty. In some instances it’s difficult for us to wait between inspections because new residents will be left without a place to live.”

Håvard Bergo says that this is just a bad excuse. “It’s written in black and white in the contract and on the website that we will have the opportunity to clean the residence. We didn’t know that they were dissatisfied before we received the fine in the mail.”

Håvard Bergo had a meeting on Monday with Bostad. SiT is still of the opinion that they are correct in levying these fines. In the meantime, they have contacted the Consumer Advisory Council, who will examine the case.