[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] The apartment management system is being revamped following various improvement recommendations. For matters requiring notification, the administrative processing period will be clarified, and penalties will apply not only when lending certificates such as those of housing managers but also when borrowing or brokering them.
On the 23rd, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it will issue a legislative notice starting from the 24th for the amendment of the "Apartment Management Act," which includes the introduction of a deemed acceptance system for various notifications, prohibition of lending and brokering housing manager certificates, and adjustment of fines.
This amendment was prepared to revise the law and improve and supplement some deficiencies in accordance with ▲ the Ministry of Government Legislation's recommendations for rationalizing the notification system, ▲ the Office for Government Policy Coordination's efficiency measures for substituting business suspension with fines, and ▲ the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission's strengthened sanctions against lending and brokering of national professional certificates.
The amendment clarifies that various notifications under the Apartment Management Act require acceptance and stipulates that if the acceptance or extension of the processing period is not notified within the processing period, the notification will be deemed accepted the day after the processing period ends. This addresses concerns that under the current law, it is unclear whether notifications require acceptance by local government heads, which could lead to arbitrary legal interpretations or processing delays by administrative authorities.
Accordingly, notifications such as ▲ decisions or changes in management methods, ▲ establishment or amendment of management regulations, and ▲ formation or changes of resident representative meetings will have a processing period within 7 days, while notifications such as conversion to mandatory management will have a processing period within 10 days.
Additionally, while the current law only punishes the act of lending housing management business registration certificates and housing manager certificates, the amendment includes prohibitions and penalties for both borrowing and brokering these certificates, following recommendations from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.
The upper limit of fines substituting business suspension for housing management businesses will also be adjusted from the current 10 million KRW to 20 million KRW. This adjustment reflects changes in inflation and business revenue scales since the original limit was introduced in 1987.
The amendment can be reviewed in the official gazette and on the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s website. Opinions can be submitted via mail, fax, or online from the 24th through the 2nd of next month, during a 40-day period. The Ministry plans to submit the bill to the National Assembly within this year after legislative notice and legal review.
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