'Lotto Cheongyak' Winners... 1 in 10 Found 'Ineligible'

Table of Ineligible Winners for Subscription from 2018 to 2020 (Provided by Office of Assemblyman Kang Jun-hyun)

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] It has been revealed that 9.8% of those who won the housing subscription lottery with the dream of 'owning a home' were disqualified and had their winning canceled. In particular, 75% of these cancellations were due to mistakes such as miscalculating the subscription points.

According to the 'Status of Disqualified Subscription Winners' submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Kang Junhyun, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 48,739 people were disqualified after winning the subscription from 2018 until the end of last month, accounting for 9.8% of all winners.

By year, in 2018, 18,969 out of 201,002 winners (9.5%) were disqualified; last year, 19,884 out of 179,543 winners (11.3%); and this year, until last month, 9,886 out of 121,991 winners (8.1%) were found to be disqualified.

By type, errors in subscription points accounted for the largest proportion of disqualifications at 74.7% (36,391 cases). Many cases were identified as simple data entry mistakes during the application process, such as incorrect calculation of the period of being homeless, number of dependents, or errors in calculating combined spousal income.

If disqualification is revealed in the metropolitan area or in speculative overheated zones and subscription overheated zones, it is impossible to win another subscription for one year from the date of winning. As a result, the total number of people restricted from applying for subscriptions was 19,598 as of the end of last month, with the highest numbers by city/province being Gyeonggi with 5,959, Incheon with 2,811, and Daegu with 2,667.

Among the disqualified winners, there were also 4,352 cases (8.9%) where individuals won again while under re-winning restrictions and were subsequently disqualified. Additionally, 2,654 cases (5.4%) were identified where individuals applied again and won despite already being restricted from re-winning within a certain period after winning another subscription.

To prevent such cases, the 'Housing Act' amendment, which transferred subscription tasks from the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute to the Korea Real Estate Board and strengthened public management of illegal winners, has been in effect since January.

In fact, after the related tasks were transferred to the Real Estate Board, the number of winners under re-winning restrictions has significantly decreased. It dropped from 2,730 in 2018 to 1,461 last year, and only 162 cases were recorded up to August this year.

However, the number of disqualified winners due to subscription point errors, which mostly consist of simple data entry mistakes during the subscription application process, has not significantly decreased this year, with 8,139 cases compared to 12,982 in 2018 and 15,270 last year.

Assemblyman Kang Junhyun pointed out, “We need to make the subscription application process easier so that ordinary citizens dreaming of owning a home do not lose their chance due to simple mistakes at the data entry stage. We should consider ways to differentiate penalties by distinguishing between intentional fraudulent applications such as qualification transfers and false residence registrations, and simple mistakes.”

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