The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway has revoked a real estate agent’s license after finding serious and repeated breaches involving inflated property valuations, inadequate inspections and undisclosed private payments. The misconduct, which involved valuations issued from 2020 to 2022, led to a finding that the agent was unfit to hold the license. Several valuations reflected figures requested by a bank employee or private clients rather than sound professional assessments. In one case, the agent increased a valuation from NOK 8.1 million to NOK 8.35 million within about an hour following client pressure, despite correspondence indicating that a lower value was appropriate. Correspondence in another case indicated that the agent charged more for providing a higher valuation. Inspection failures included issuing valuations without visiting the property and relying on outdated inspections or photographs. These failings affected documents used by banks to assess mortgage lending and collateral. The agent received private payments for 29 valuations covering 16 properties, mainly through Vipps, without reporting the income to the employer or tax authorities. The fitness assessment also took account of a separate 2024 breach of the prohibition on self-dealing, which had already resulted in a warning. That breach occurred after the valuation misconduct and reinforced concerns about the agent’s willingness and ability to comply with the rules.
Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway revokes real estate agent’s license over inflated valuations and undisclosed payments
The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway has revoked a real estate agent’s license for serious and repeated misconduct in property valuations. Findings included inflated values tailored to requests from a bank employee or private clients, alongside missing or outdated property inspections. The agent also received undeclared private payments for 29 valuations across 16 properties, mainly through Vipps.