Gyeonggi-do Proposes Government Allow Emergency Repairs Without Consent from Jeonse Damage Property Owners

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 29th that it has proposed a revision of related laws to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to allow emergency repairs and public entrusted management of jeonse fraud victim houses without the consent of the owner (lessor) in order to protect tenants suffering from jeonse fraud damage.

In September, the revision of the "Jeonse Fraud Victims Act" granted local government heads the authority to manage and take measures regarding jeonse fraud victim houses. However, due to the lack of legal grounds to restrict the property rights of the house owners, the consent of the lessor is required for local government heads to provide support such as repairs for the victim houses. Obtaining the owner's consent is practically difficult in cases such as detention, unknown whereabouts, or loss of contact.

In fact, Gyeonggi Province has been promoting the "Emergency Management Support Project for Jeonse Fraud Victim Houses" since November, but has faced difficulties in securing the owner's consent form.

For example, in a house in Suwon City, urgent repairs are needed due to malfunctioning fire detectors and firefighting facilities, but the owner of the house is in detention, making it difficult to obtain consent. To resolve this, the Gyeonggi Jeonse Damage Support Center had to visit the detention center in person to meet and persuade the owner to secure the consent form.

To overcome these institutional limitations, Gyeonggi Province proposed a legal amendment to allow prompt support for managing victim houses, such as emergency repairs, without the owner's consent in cases where the owner is detained, whereabouts unknown, or unreachable.

If the proposed amendment passes, it is expected to reduce secondary damage caused by management issues of jeonse fraud victim houses and contribute to creating a safe residential environment.

Lee Gye-sam, Director of the Urban Housing Office of Gyeonggi Province, explained the purpose of this institutional improvement proposal, saying, "If there are situations where we face limitations within the current system, it is the role of local governments to actively resolve them on the ground first and to organize and propose necessary institutional improvements to central government agencies."

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province is making leading efforts not only in supporting jeonse fraud victims but also in prevention. To prevent jeonse fraud, four discussion forums were held throughout this year to discuss the need for improvements to laws such as the "Housing Lease Protection Act," and among the ten proposed institutional improvements submitted to related ministries, six, including the "Mandatory Registration of Lease Rights," have been legislated.

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