Rental Listing Bias in Norway Ruled Legal

Norway’s Supreme Court declared Friday that it was legal to use such discriminatory statements as “foreigners unwanted” and “whites only” in real estate listings--a precedent that worries human rights activists.

“This is a first test of the racism law. It is an encouragement for discrimination,” Jesper Hansen of the Institution Against Public Discrimination said.

In July 1998, the civil rights group filed a complaint against the Eindoms Service real estate brokerage in Oslo, accusing it of violating Norway’s anti-racism laws in apartment rental listings.

Listings included such statements as “only for whites” and “only for Norwegians with regular jobs,” according to the group.

But on Friday, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the rulings of two lower courts that Norway’s current law on racism and discrimination did not provide a basis for convicting the brokerage.

The 1972 law prohibits discrimination based on race, ethnic background or religion in most areas but does not cover private real estate rentals.

The brokerage has said it included limits set by its clients to save would-be renters the trouble of visiting housing that would not be available to them. The limits were on file and not published in newspapers.

Akhenaton Oddvar de Leon, head of the civil rights group, said Friday’s court ruling could lead to broader discrimination.

“They have established that a practice that was widespread in Norway is now legal. That is, in my opinion, the start of what one calls apartheid,” he said.

He said his group would lobby parliament to revise Norway’s anti-discrimination laws.