Jeonse Deposit Fraud and 'Muk-Twi'... Rapid Increase in Malicious Landlords

As of late July, a total of 203 malicious landlords
Have made more than 3 subrogated payments but show no intention to repay

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The number of malicious landlords (multi-home debtors under intensive management) who abscond after withholding jeonse deposits is rapidly increasing.

According to data submitted by the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) to the office of Kim Doo-kwan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, commissioned by Asia Economy (monthly trend of the number of malicious landlords), as of the end of July this year, there are a total of 203 malicious landlords. A "malicious landlord" refers to a multi-home owner who does not return the jeonse deposit to tenants, has caused HUG to make subrogation payments three or more times, but cuts off contact and shows no intention of repayment.

The number of malicious landlords is on a sharp rise. From 70 in December 2020, it more than doubled to 152 by the end of last year, and increased to 203 in just seven months this year. Since HUG began designating malicious landlords in April 2020, a total of 228 have been designated as such, with 25 having been released from the designation.

By age group, the damage status is as follows: △ Teens 1 case (400 million KRW) △ 20s 788 cases (160.1 billion KRW) △ 30s 2,019 cases (420.4 billion KRW) △ 40s 590 cases (124 billion KRW) △ 50s 229 cases (50.5 billion KRW) △ 60 and above 114 cases (24.9 billion KRW) △ Corporations 20 cases (2.1 billion KRW). It appears that jeonse fraud victims are concentrated among the 20s and 30s age groups, which include youth, newlyweds, and early career workers.

The high incidence of malicious landlord cases among people in their 20s and 30s, who are mostly youth and newlyweds, is due to the prevalence of newly built villas and officetel residential floors that are relatively more vulnerable to "reverse jeonse crises." In the case of newly built villas, there is no transaction information, making it difficult to estimate appropriate market prices. Even if a "kan-tong jeonse" (jeonse priced higher than the sale price) is offered, many people unknowingly agree to the transaction. This structure makes jeonse fraud more likely to surge in this age group. Professor Seo Jin-hyung of Gyeongin Women's University (co-representative of the Fair Housing Forum) said, "People in their 20s and 30s are more likely to become victims of such fraud because they lack rights analysis and real estate transaction experience and many belong to vulnerable housing groups."

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