Gwangju City to Intensively Crack Down on Real Estate Agencies Starting from the 23rd

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 21st that from the 23rd of this month to the 6th of next month, it will form joint inspection teams with five autonomous districts to intensively crack down on illegal transactions at real estate brokerage offices.

This crackdown was initiated as complaints have continuously been received that, despite the unstable real estate market persisting with reduced real estate transactions and accumulating apartment listings since the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's announcement of regulated areas last December, illegal activities such as false reporting of actual transactions, unqualified brokerage activities, and violations of brokerage object display and advertising continue.

The main inspection items include ▲false reporting of actual transaction prices ▲lending of licenses and unregistered brokerage activities ▲excessive demand or collection of real estate brokerage fees ▲false display and advertising of brokerage objects on the internet.

Gwangju City and others plan to correct and educate minor issues on-site based on inspection results, while brokerage offices that violate serious matters will face administrative measures such as cancellation of registration and suspension of business, along with referral to the police for investigation.

Currently, if unregistered brokerage activities or illegal acts by certified real estate agents are revealed, penalties of up to three years imprisonment or fines up to 30 million won will be imposed.

Additionally, Gwangju City will also focus on inspecting market disruption activities by illegal speculative groups, such as 'actual transaction price boosting' where real estate transaction contracts are canceled after being concluded.

Lee Su-won, Director of the Land Information Division of the city, said, “As the government has declared a war on real estate crimes, we will strictly respond to various illegal and unfair acts such as false real estate contracts and violations of actual transaction reporting.” He added, “We will do our best to prevent damage to actual residents in advance and to establish a more transparent real estate transaction order.”

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