Famous Real Estate Agent Featured on TV Trusted for Jeonse Contract... Over 70 Tenants at Risk of Losing Deposits

The officetel is auctioned off entirely, and the landlord disappears

The photo is not related to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Tenants who signed a jeonse (long-term lease) contract trusting a famous real estate agent who appeared on a broadcasting entertainment program are now at risk of losing their deposits as the landlord has disappeared.

According to a JTBC report on the 13th, the landlord who rented out 70 officetels fled in the middle of the night. About 70 tenants only realized the landlord had vanished after receiving a notice that the entire officetel complex had been put up for auction. The total jeonse deposits of the tenants are estimated to be around 7 billion KRW.

Even if a new owner is determined through the auction, it is expected that the tenants will receive only a small portion of their deposits, raising concerns about the damage to the 20-30-year-old tenants of this officetel.

Tenants are at risk of losing their deposits after signing a lease agreement based on the word of a famous real estate agent, only for the landlord to disappear. Photo by JTBC News Capture

Tenant Lee said, "I am flustered and feel as if all the blood has drained from my body," adding, "I entered with a jeonse to save about 400,000 KRW in monthly rent, but now I am facing a debt of 80 million KRW," expressing the hardship.

Some tenants revealed that they signed the jeonse contract trusting the words of the real estate agent who emphasized appearing on a house-hunting entertainment program.

Tenant Kim said, "He emphasized a lot that he had no accidents while working in real estate and that he appeared on a house-hunting program because they asked him to," adding, "So I trusted him and signed the contract." Another tenant, Park, said, "The real estate agent explained that the landlord had many assets in the Seomyeon area and that there was no building of this scale without a mortgage," adding, "He said there would be no problems."

Meanwhile, the real estate agent maintains that the property was brokered normally. The agent explained, "If the auction had been in progress when I brokered it, then it would be my fault," adding, "But when I brokered it, everything was completely normal, and even loans were approved."

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