Establishment of 6 New Residential and Commercial Lease Dispute Mediation Committees in Seoul, Incheon, and Others

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) announced on the 5th that it has established six 'Housing and Commercial Building Lease Dispute Mediation Committees' in Seoul, Incheon, and other locations in collaboration with the Korea Appraisal Board, and held opening ceremonies.

The Lease Dispute Mediation Committees are bodies established to mediate various disputes such as increases or decreases in deposits or rent, lease period disagreements, maintenance obligations, and key money disputes, in accordance with the Housing Lease Protection Act and the Commercial Building Lease Protection Act.

Previously, the existing lease dispute mediation committees were operated at six locations under the Korea Legal Aid Corporation, but there were many criticisms that the jurisdictional scope was too wide, resulting in poor customer accessibility.

Additionally, with the introduction of the right to request contract renewal and the rent ceiling system for jeonse and monthly rent leases in July, lease disputes are expected to increase significantly, making the government's mediation role even more important.

Accordingly, LH under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Appraisal Board decided to first establish six lease dispute mediation committees this year and add six more next year. The newly opened mediation committees are located in Incheon, Cheongju, Changwon, Seoul, Jeonju, and Chuncheon.

Furthermore, qualitative improvements in mediation services will be promoted to revitalize the dispute mediation system and actively pursue early stabilization of the lease market.

Any party involved in a lease contract dispute can apply for dispute mediation. Mediation is regulated to be completed within 60 days from the date of application (extendable by 30 days), and the application fee ranges from 10,000 to 100,000 KRW, which is cheaper compared to litigation. The duties of the four existing lease visit civil complaint offices will be transferred to the dispute mediation committees.

Byun Chang-heum, President of LH, explained, "With LH, a real estate specialized institution, participating in the operation of the lease dispute mediation committees, it will be an opportunity to enhance the expertise and accessibility of dispute mediation."

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