Set-off in ground lease
Supreme Court judgment 25 May 2021, HR-2021-1106-A, (case no. 20-158870SIV-HRET), civil case, appeal against judgment.
I.
Aadne Ådneram (Counsel Sveinung Eliassen), Ånen Ådneram (Counsel Yngve Andersen), v. Svein Henrik Vormedal (representative for Class Action Ådneram Fjellgrend) (Counsel Cecilie Engebretsen)
II.
Svein Henrik Vormedal (representative for Class Action Ådneram Fjellgrend) (Counsel Cecilie Engebretsen) v. Aadne Ådneram (Counsel Sveinung Eliassen), Ånen Ådneram (Counsel Yngve Andersen)
Justices: Indreberg, Falkanger, Kallerud, Falch, Thyness
A group of cottage owners on leased ground claimed they had been charged an illegal lump sum payment for ground lease costs, see section 6 of the Ground Lease Act. The claims for repayment were time-barred. The Supreme Court, which did not consider whether an illegal lump sum had been paid, found that the cottage owners had a right to set off possible claims for repayment against the lessors' future claims for ground rent, see section 26 (b) of the Limitation of Claims Act. The provision must be interpreted to mean that the obligation to pay ground rent had occurred at the entry into of the lease. The Court referred to the purpose of the provision – safeguard of an anticipated set-off position. The lessors' claim for a possible redemption payment was, however, considered to arise only at the time of exercise of the redemption right. The claim for repayment of any illegal lump sum payment would then be time-barred and could not form a basis for set-off. The claim for repayment of such an illegal lump sum was not considered lost due to inaction, and it was concluded that the claim for repayment followed automatically when a new lessee entered the lease.