"Registered Rental Housing, but They Ask to Raise the Jeonse Deposit by 6%"... Illegal Activities Reporting Center for Rental Business Operators to Be Established

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] A center will be established where tenants or third parties can directly report illegal activities such as landlords demanding contracts that exceed the deposit increase limit or double contracts when signing lease contracts for registered rental housing.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 25th that from the 26th, it will operate the 'Registered Rental Illegal Activity Reporting Center' at the Ministry and each metropolitan and local government to eradicate illegal activities by registered rental housing operators.

Currently, even if tenants or third parties recognize illegal activities by registered rental operators, such as violations of rent increase restrictions through double contracts or prohibitions on personal residence, there are limited channels to report these directly, leading to criticism that eradicating illegal activities is limited.

Accordingly, to strengthen the management of registered rentals, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has established the Registered Rental Illegal Activity Reporting Center on the Ministry’s website and at metropolitan and local governments to receive and process reports related to illegal activities concerning rental registration.

The reporting targets cover all public obligation violations by registered rental housing operators. This includes violations of the 4 to 8-year rental obligation period, rent increase restrictions within 5%, failure to use the standard lease contract, and failure to report lease contracts.

As for the reporting method, electronic reporting is the principle, but if electronic reporting is difficult, written (fax) and in-person reports to the Ministry or the relevant local government are also allowed.

Once a report is received, the local government where the housing is located will investigate whether illegal activities occurred. If actual violations are confirmed, administrative actions such as fines will be imposed on the operator, and penal matters will be reported to investigative agencies. The results of the processing will be notified to the Ministry, local governments, related agencies, and the reporter.

Choi Jeong-min, Director of the Private Rental Policy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "Through the dedicated reporting channel, we expect to encourage rental operators to comply with their obligations and operate the rental registration system more effectively," adding, "The government will continue to actively pursue various policies to strengthen post-management of registered rental operators and tenant protection."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.