When Selling a House, Real Estate Agents Must Confirm Tenant's Lease Renewal Status

Real estate listings are posted at a real estate agency in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] From the 13th of next month, licensed real estate agents mediating transactions of houses with tenants must confirm with the seller whether the tenant has exercised their right to request a contract renewal and must specify this in the documents.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 11th that it has amended and promulgated the "Enforcement Rules of the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act" containing these provisions on the 12th, and it will take effect from the 13th of next month.

Until now, the exercise of the existing tenant's right to request a contract renewal was not specified in the confirmation and explanation of the brokerage object, which caused disputes between contracting parties. For example, a buyer signed a purchase contract for actual residence purposes, but the tenant of the house had already exercised the right to request a contract renewal, preventing the buyer from moving in.

However, from now on, when selling a house, licensed real estate agents must receive confirmation documents from the seller and verify whether the tenant of the house has exercised the right to request a contract renewal.

If the tenant has exercised the right to request a contract renewal, the document will indicate "exercised"; if not, it will indicate "not exercised." If the tenant has exercised the right, the current and renewed lease periods must be specified. The tenant's exercise of rights will also be indicated in the confirmation and explanation of the brokerage object.

Additionally, when licensed real estate agents deal with properties of private rental registration business operators, they must record the mandatory rental period and the rental start date in the confirmation and explanation of the brokerage object and explain these to the tenant. This aims to enhance housing stability by enabling tenants to understand the remaining mandatory rental period of the rental registration business operator who is the landlord.

The criteria for suspension of licensed real estate agents' duties have also been improved. Since there were deficiencies in the suspension criteria under the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act, such as no aggravating or mitigating factors for mistakes or simple errors, this aims to supplement those aspects. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will now allow the suspension criteria to be adjusted considering the content, degree, motive, and result of the violation by the licensed real estate agent.

Also, regarding the regulation that mandates a 6-month suspension for one violation within the past year, there was ambiguity about whether the reference point was the date of the violation or the date the violation was detected. Accordingly, the government clarified that the reference point for "within the past year" is the date the suspension or fine was imposed and the date the same violation was detected again after that disposition.

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