Including Actual Residential Houses... Opposition Party Reveals 'Jeonse Fraud Special Act Opposition Unified Proposal'

Sim Sang-jung, Justice Party Lawmaker, Unveils Unified Opposition Proposal for Special Jeonse Fraud Act
Support Also Extended to Trust Housing Jeonse Fraud and Cases of Deposit Embezzlement Before Move-in

A unified opposition party proposal for the Special Act on Jeonse Fraud, which expands the scope of victims and sets the criteria for the priority refund of deposits, has been disclosed. The Democratic Party of Korea and the Justice Party have delivered this unified proposal to the government and ruling party.

On the 19th, Justice Party lawmaker Shim Sang-jung revealed the opposition's unified proposal, which includes expanding the support targets of the Special Act on Jeonse Fraud. While the government’s plan considers only residential buildings under the Housing Lease Protection Act as victims, the opposition’s proposal includes cases where the structure and substance of the leased property are residential buildings and the actual use is residential, even if not officially recognized as such. This is to include buildings that might be excluded from the scope of Jeonse fraud victims due to being illegal constructions, etc.

Additionally, the support targets include cases such as trust housing Jeonse fraud and deposit embezzlement before moving in, even if a fixed date (hwakjeong ilja) was not obtained.

Regarding deposit recovery measures, the opposition prioritized incorporating the proposals of Democratic Party lawmaker Jo O-seop and lawmaker Shim, but if the government does not accept them, Jeonse fraud victims will be able to receive their deposits back through priority refund. The priority refund under the Housing Lease Protection Act will be applied, with the application timing based on the initial lease contract. The amount of priority refund varies by region, but in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, where Jeonse fraud is severe, victims can receive up to 48 million KRW out of a 148 million KRW deposit. An opposition party official from the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee explained, “If the deposit amount increases, some cases might be excluded from the scope, so we set the initial contract date as the standard to allow as many people as possible to be covered.”

The proposal also includes a measure to support deposit refunds through post-settlement. The opposition introduced a new plan for institutions such as the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) to act as bond purchasing agencies and buy tenant deposit refund claims related to unreturned deposits. Jeonse fraud victims will be guided on this refund method and be able to request assistance from HUG and others.

Regarding debt adjustment, the proposal includes measures to prevent loan rejections and other disadvantages when Jeonse fraud victims apply for personal rehabilitation. Since the Jeonse fraud victims did not go bankrupt due to their own fault, this aims to prevent further harm such as loan denial.

Furthermore, the opposition proposed extending the validity period of the Special Act on Jeonse Fraud from two years to three years, considering the time needed for the law to settle and be applied after enforcement. Earlier, on the 16th, during the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee’s bill subcommittee process, lawmaker Shim told reporters, “Although the government accepted various proposals, measures must include support for the citizens most affected by Jeonse fraud and those whom the government should prioritize helping. The biggest issue is that even if special exceptions are made for the priority refund system for small deposits, various relief measures must be provided to help victims who otherwise have no solution.”

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