More than 430 billion KRW lost to 10 Malicious Landlords

Top 10 Debtors with 2,064 Cases
Landlord Debt of 29.3 Billion and 64.6 Billion Won
Government to Operate Dedicated Jeonse Fraud Response Team from the 30th

On the 20th, at the entrance of an apartment in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, where a lease fraud occurred, signs claiming invalid auction and refusal to vacate were posted by the tenants.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] It has been revealed that there are a significant number of landlords who have caused greater damage to tenants than Kim, known as the ‘Villa King,’ who owned 1,139 housing units including villas and officetels and died without returning the jeonse deposit. It is estimated that the top 10 malicious landlords, including Kim, have embezzled more than 430 billion won. As the drop in jeonse prices has recently deepened, and multi-homeowners are finding it difficult to find tenants, the likelihood of not being able to return deposits is increasing, which is expected to lead to more damage. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has decided to form and operate a ‘Jeonse Fraud Dedicated Response Team’ starting from the 30th in response to the surge in tenant damages caused by jeonse fraud.

According to data on ‘Concentrated Management Multi-Home Debtors’ received from the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) on the 27th, as of November, the top 10 malicious landlords had 2,064 guarantee accident cases, amounting to 430.4 billion won. Concentrated management multi-home debtors refer to a type of malicious landlord who has failed to return jeonse deposits to tenants, causing HUG to pay on their behalf three or more times, and who have cut off contact or have not repaid any guarantee debt in the past year. Expanding the ranking to the top 30, the guarantee accidents caused by the top 30 malicious landlords reached 3,459 cases, with an accident amount of 725 billion won. Among these, HUG has reimbursed 3,142 cases. This means that 317 tenants have yet to receive their deposits back.

The person who failed to return the largest amount of deposits is Park, who did not return deposits totaling 64.6 billion won to tenants across 293 contracts. The second is Jung, who entered into 254 contracts and failed to return 60 billion won in deposits to tenants. ‘Villa King’ Kim ranked 8th among malicious landlords, with a guarantee accident amount of 33.4 billion won. This means there are seven more malicious landlords with larger accident scales than the Villa King.

In response to the surge in deposit non-return incidents caused by jeonse fraud, the government has mandated that all registered rental housing must subscribe to guarantee insurance starting from August. However, it is not uncommon for landlords to deceive tenants by promising to subscribe to guarantee insurance but then making excuses such as the subscription being rejected, or not registering the rental at all.

Malicious landlords have been using new tenants to cover deposits, but with the recent drop in jeonse prices, even this has become difficult, increasing the possibility of additional guarantee accidents. Due to the rise in interest rates, jeonse demand has decreased, making it harder to find tenants, which can ultimately lead to non-return of deposits.

As jeonse fraud cases occur in various places, the government plans to establish tenant damage support centers by region. Currently, one support center is set up in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, and another is scheduled to be established next month in Michuhol-gu, Incheon. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that since July, it has been conducting a special crackdown on jeonse fraud jointly with the National Police Agency, detecting 360 cases and arresting 822 people, with 78 detained as of the 11th. In particular, 23 multi-home debtors were directly investigated, with the police sending five of them to the prosecution (three detained), and investigations are ongoing for 18 others.

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