Korean Association of Certified Judicial Scriveners: "Jeonse Fraud by 'Villa King' and Others... Easier Procedures for Leasehold Registration Needed"

The Bank of Korea raised the base interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, and the real estate transaction market's freeze is expected to prolong. On the 13th, a red light was on at a traffic signal near an apartment in downtown Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] As a measure to prevent rental deposit fraud, including the so-called ‘Villa King’ case where a landlord owning over 1,100 villas and officetels died without returning the deposit, the Korea Association of Judicial Scriveners has called for ‘simplification of the delivery procedure for the leasehold registration order’ and other measures.

On the 26th, the association emphasized, “The leasehold registration procedure to secure tenants’ rights is complicated, and urgent measures are needed.”

First, the association urged the simplification of the delivery procedure for the leasehold registration order. The association stated, “When tenants need to move urgently, if the leasehold registration order is delivered to the landlord’s address, the process takes a long time, delaying the leasehold registration. If delivery fails, procedures such as redelivery and public notice delivery take 1 to 2 months just for delivery.” They added, “It is desirable to allow registration requests even if delivery is not completed, so that tenants’ rights are secured first, and landlords can seek relief through objections or cancellation procedures.”

Additionally, they called for the establishment of special provisions for the leasehold registration order to allow skipping ‘inheritance registration’ when the landlord dies. This is because tenants face significant economic burdens, such as having to pay acquisition taxes and other public charges that heirs must bear first to perform inheritance registration by subrogation, and the process of verifying heirs is very difficult.

Furthermore, the association pointed out that leasehold registration should be activated so that leasehold rights can be fully disclosed. The association said, “The principle of real estate rights disclosure is through the real estate register, but leasehold rights are rarely registered at the time of contract, making it difficult to determine priority among other rights. In multi-family houses, it is hard to know the existence of prior tenants, causing new tenants to suffer losses.” They added, “As the rights related to leases have become more complex and tenants’ status has improved, tenants should secure their rights through registration, the principal method of disclosure.”

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