Before Signing a Contract... Use Seoul City's 'Kkangtong Jeonse' Prevention Service

Phone Lease Consultation at Jeonwolse Deposit Support Center
Jeonse Price Ratios by District Released...Pre-Check Risk Areas
Jeonse Price Consultation Center...Appraisers Verify Jeonse Appropriateness

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] On the 26th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government urged citizens entering jeonse (long-term lease) contracts to utilize three services to proactively detect the risk of so-called 'Kkangtong Jeonse,' where the jeonse price exceeds the sale price, and to protect their deposits.

First, Seoul operates the Jeonse and Monthly Rent Deposit Support Center. Through telephone rental consultations, citizens can check precautions and essential information before signing a jeonse contract. Established in 2012, this center has nine consultation experts, including lawyers, who provide one-stop services for all housing lease consultations, dispute mediation, and loan consultations. Last year, about 35,000 rental consultations were conducted.

Recently, the center has focused on proactively providing information to help avoid the risk of 'Kkangtong Jeonse,' which has become a social issue. It offers concentrated guidance on checking the surrounding market prices of newly built villas, where Kkangtong Jeonse frequently occurs, and the timing for subscribing to jeonse deposit guarantee insurance.

A Seoul city official emphasized, "When signing a lease contract for a newly built villa, it is essential to check the market price by comparing similar properties actually traded on the Seoul Real Estate Information Plaza or nearby brokerage offices. To prevent deposit non-return incidents, subscribing to jeonse deposit guarantee insurance at the contract stage is necessary."

On the 23rd, the 'Seoul Jeonse and Monthly Rent Information All-in-One' service was launched within the Seoul Housing Portal, where users can check jeonse price ratios and Kkangtong Jeonse risk areas by region.

Additionally, Seoul operates a free Jeonse Price Consultation Center through the Seoul Real Estate Information Plaza. Here, tenants can verify whether the jeonse price of a specific house is appropriate before signing a contract. Applicants enter housing information such as location and photos online and apply for consultation; then, an assigned appraiser contacts the applicant within two days to provide appraisal results by phone. This service is especially useful for newly built villas and multi-family or multi-unit houses, where accurate market price verification is difficult, as it considers prior loan amounts and deposits to assess the appropriateness of the expected jeonse price.

Yoo Chang-soo, Director of the Seoul Housing Policy Office, stated, "In addition to the three major services to prevent Kkangtong Jeonse, we will continuously discover and expand useful housing information services by closely examining changes in the housing market."

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