Six-Member Family in a 44㎡ Unit? Government Launches Full Investigation into Perfect Score Lottery Winners

Ministry of Land and Government Policy Office to Verify Actual Residency of Dependents in Perfect-Score Applications
Authorities to Check Dependents’ Workplace Locations and Lease Transactions

# Mr. A, who has a wife and one child, arranged for his wife to be registered as living at his parents-in-law’s apartment located one floor above theirs in the same building. He then included his parents-in-law as dependents and was selected for the general housing allocation by point system for a property being sold in Seoul.

# Mr. B and Mr. C, as a couple eligible for newlywed status, applied for special housing allocation for newlyweds in Incheon and were selected. After signing the contract, they registered their marriage, but later reverted to single status through a court case. They filed a lawsuit to nullify the marriage, stating, “We registered the marriage solely for the newlywed housing application, with no discussion of marriage or cohabitation,” and subsequently corrected their marriage registration certificate.

These are examples of fraudulent housing applications involving false address registration or sham marriages. As the number of lottery winners with unrealistically high application point scores in regulated areas like Seoul continues to rise, the government has decided to focus its investigation on whether dependents actually reside with the applicant. The authorities plan to examine if dependents have jobs in other regions or have signed separate lease contracts, thus living independently.

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The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Real Estate Supervision Task Force of the Office for Government Policy Coordination announced on May 11 that they would investigate the winners of housing lotteries in Seoul and other regulated areas, as well as popular housing developments in other regions, since July last year. The investigation covers 43 developments comprising approximately 25,000 units. It will look into all suspicious cases of fraudulent applications, including false address registration, sham marriage or divorce, bankbook or qualification trading, and document forgery—any manipulation of eligibility or application conditions.

The authorities will focus on top-scoring applicants in the housing point system, checking whether their parents or children actually reside with them. Of the maximum 84 points, the number of dependents contributes the most—up to 35 points. Recently, in a newly built apartment complex in Gangnam, Seoul, a six-member family won a lottery for a 44-square-meter unit with a perfect 74-point subscription savings account, an arrangement that is generally considered highly implausible.

Until now, developers have checked the details of health insurance benefit usage to verify if dependents actually live with the applicant, since people typically use hospitals or pharmacies near their residence. In this investigation, authorities will also review adult children’s health insurance qualification records and lease contracts for dependents.

The health insurance qualification certificate for adult children can identify their workplace location and verify whether they actually live with the applicant. The Ministry of Land will also review all lease contracts and homeownership status of dependents using the Real Estate Transaction Management System (RTMS) and the Home Ownership Confirmation System (HOMS). This is to determine whether the dependents of the lottery winner actually lived separately.

Apartment view from Lotte World Tower, Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Authorities will also investigate cases where documents are forged to increase the number of dependents or special allocation eligibility—such as for people with disabilities or national merit recipients—is falsified. For this comprehensive investigation, the government will nearly double the number of field inspectors from 8 to 15 and extend the inspection period for each development from 1 day to 3–5 days. The results of the investigation are expected to be announced at the end of next month.

To block the loophole of short-term false address registration using adult children, the government is considering extending the residency requirement from one year to three years. Currently, parents must be registered on the resident registration for three years or more, while adult children aged 30 or older must be registered for at least one year. The proposal is to unify this requirement to three years. Additionally, submission of the adult child’s health insurance qualification certificate will be made mandatory.

Jeong Suho, Director of the Housing Fund Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, “If an application is confirmed as fraudulent, penalties include criminal punishment of up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won, as well as cancellation and forfeiture of contract, and a 10-year restriction on eligibility to apply for future housing lotteries. Please be careful to avoid any civil or criminal disadvantages.”

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