Two out of Three Victims of Gap Speculators Are '2030' Young Tenants

HUG Malicious Landlords 129 Tenants 1,459 Cases (67.6%) Are 20s and 30s
Youth Tenants Unpaid Jeonse Deposits of 287.7 Billion Won, Villa-Dense Areas in Seoul Gangseo and Yangcheon

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Two out of three victims who failed to recover their jeonse deposits from so-called ‘gap speculators’ were young tenants in their 20s and 30s.

According to the ‘Status of Concentrated Management Multi-Home Debtors’ submitted by the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) to Kim Sang-hoon, a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the People Power Party, as of August this year, 129 malicious landlords, so-called ‘gap speculators,’ who absconded with jeonse deposits worth hundreds of billions of won and showed no intention of repayment due to being unreachable, were identified. The number of cases of unreturned deposits by these landlords reached 2,160, with tenant damages amounting to 428.4 billion won.

Since this year, HUG has been separately managing landlords classified as ‘concentrated management multi-home debtors (malicious landlords)’ who have three or more subrogation cases among jeonse deposit insurance debtors, have unrecovered amounts exceeding 200 million won, and have insufficient repayment history.

Among the affected tenants, the 2030 youth generation accounted for 1,459 cases, representing 67.6%. The damaged deposit amount was 287.7 billion won, which was 67.1% of the total damage, with an average damage amount of 197.18 million won. The majority of tenants trembling in anxiety due to gap speculators who absconded with hundreds of jeonse deposits were young people in their 20s and 30s.

Among those in their 30s, there were 1,168 cases and damages of 231.8 billion won, the highest in both frequency and scale among all age groups. For those in their 20s, there were 291 cases with damages amounting to 55.9 billion won. Meanwhile, those in their 40s suffered the second largest damage after those in their 30s, with 443 cases and 87.4 billion won in damages caused by gap speculators.

The highest damage amount among young tenants was a tenant in their 30s who moved into a jeonse property in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, failing to recover a deposit of 490 million won from the landlord. Next was a group of three tenants in their 30s in Ilsan Seo-gu, Gyeonggi Province, all of whom failed to recover deposits of 400 million won. Among those in their 20s, the highest amount was a young tenant in Namdong-gu, Incheon, who experienced a non-return incident of 380 million won in jeonse deposit.

The area with the most gap speculation damage among young tenants was Gangseo-gu, Seoul. Unlike Yeomchang-dong, which has many apartments, Hwagok-dong, with many villas, is a frequent hotspot for gap speculators, with concentrated damages of 413 cases in their 30s and 85 cases in their 20s. Next, in Yangcheon-gu, Mok-dong is a high-priced apartment area, but Sinwol-dong frequently experiences villa gap speculation, with 126 cases in their 30s and 21 cases in their 20s. Following these were ▲Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, ▲Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, and ▲Guro-gu.

Among the 129 malicious landlords, as of the end of August 2021, the person with the largest unrecovered claims was Mr. Lee, who caused incidents involving 281 jeonse deposits amounting to approximately 57.02 billion won. Next were Mr. Jin with 183 cases and about 34.08 billion won, and Mr. Jung with 108 cases and about 24.16 billion won.

Assemblyman Kim said, “It is somewhat fortunate that these cases are captured in HUG’s statistics because subrogation payments can be received later through insurance.” He added, “It is presumed that many more young people suffer inconveniences and pain from auctions and provisional seizures because they cannot even get insurance. We need to prepare laws to disclose gap speculators in the future so that tenants can recognize the risk of landlords before signing contracts and prevent damages.”