Yongin City "Strong Response to False and Exaggerated Advertising of Private Rental Housing"

Review of Fair Trade Commission Reports... "No Business Approvals Among 8 Promoted Sites"
"Careful Verification of Licensing Status Before Membership Registration Needed"

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province has announced a strong response to private rental housing projects amid growing concerns about investor damage. In particular, it plans to report false and exaggerated promotions and advertisements to the Fair Trade Commission.

According to Yongin City, there are currently a total of eight private rental housing sites promoting projects in the area. These include Yongin Namgok Hessen City Phases 1 and 2, Samga Weverheim, Yongin City Hall Station Urban City Phases 1 and 2, Guseong Station Platform City 45, Guseong Station Platform Sion City 47, and Singal-dong private rental housing. This is four more sites than during the city's inspection in April.

The city stated that none of these sites have received housing construction project plan approval. Project plan approval is a mandatory permit process for housing projects of a certain scale, including the number of units and ancillary facilities.

In particular, some project operators are recruiting investors or contributors under the name of 'membership recruitment' to raise necessary funds, but are falsely advertising this as recruiting tenants or buyers.

Recently, the number of citizens inquiring about membership registration or withdrawal related to private rental housing has increased in Yongin City. According to the responsible department, there are between 3 to 5 and up to around 30 phone calls and visits for consultations daily.

Mr. A, who invested in a private rental housing project recruiting members with slogans such as 'completed in 2007' and 'cheaper than market prices,' recently requested to withdraw his membership but was told by the company that after deducting business promotion expenses and penalties, there was almost no refund of the invested capital.

Mr. B, who signed a contract after reviewing specific project plans such as 'over 80% land secured' and floor plans from another private rental housing promotional material, confirmed with the city that project plan approval had not been granted and ultimately canceled his membership, forfeiting several million won of invested capital.

A city official said, "Most of the consultees are retirees or elderly people looking to invest their retirement funds," and urged, "Special caution should be exercised, such as verifying the facts before joining as a member." He added that since there are no regulations under relevant laws for membership contracts in the form of investors, contributors, or union members, and no provisions for refunding invested capital (membership fees), the damage must be borne entirely by the parties involved.

To prevent consumer damage, the city plans to post the status of private rental housing projects on its website and raise awareness through banners and notices. The status of private rental housing projects can be checked on the bulletin board under Information by Sector > City > Housing/Architecture. The city especially plans to take strong measures to protect citizens' assets by reporting deceptive membership recruitment activities that mislead consumers as tenant or buyer recruitment to the Fair Trade Commission.

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