If You Obtained a 'Confirmed Date' When Moving, Rest Assured
Recognized as a Senior Creditor Even if Auctioned
Consider Completion Time After Applying for Lease Registration Order
On the 28th, a citizen is receiving consultation from the Korea Legal Aid Corporation regarding the reporting of jeonse fraud damage at the Jeonse Damage Support Center located inside the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Hwagok-ro, Gangseo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@
"The landlord is not returning my jeonse deposit, so I am planning to apply for a leasehold registration order.
However, other creditors have already placed seizures and provisional seizures.
Will I be able to recover my deposit in full?"
The amount of incidents where jeonse tenants failed to recover their deposits from landlords reached an all-time high last month, and more tenants are considering applying for leasehold registration orders.
A leasehold registration order is a system that allows tenants who have not received their deposit back despite the termination of the lease contract to apply to the court and complete registration, thereby securing priority repayment rights and enabling them to move out.
However, as the number of multi-home debtors under intensive management, known as "malicious landlords," rapidly increases, many cases cannot be fully assured by the leasehold registration order alone. In cases like the hypothetical one above, where other creditors are already involved, there is concern that even the leasehold registration may be rendered ineffective.
Nevertheless, experts advise that if a tenant has obtained a "confirmed date" at the time of moving in, they can be reassured.
Um Jeong-sook, a real estate specialist lawyer at Beopdo Comprehensive Law Office, said, "If you confirmed that the landlord had no debt issues at the time of the contract and properly obtained a confirmed date, it is easier to recover the jeonse deposit as a senior creditor in real estate auctions."
Even if the leasehold registration is later than other creditors' seizure procedures, it does not pose a problem if the confirmed date is earlier. In other words, in real estate auctions, the legal senior creditor is determined by the confirmed date, not the leasehold registration.
Lawyer Um said, "If the tenant's confirmed date precedes other creditors' seizures or provisional seizures, even if the leasehold registration order is registered later in the registry, the tenant can receive the jeonse deposit repayment before other creditors."
Meanwhile, the amount of jeonse deposit incidents where tenants failed to recover deposits from landlords reached a record high last month.
According to the "Lease Market Siren" released by the Korea Real Estate Board through Real Estate Tech, the amount of jeonse deposit incidents nationwide last month was 152.62455 billion KRW, a 39% increase compared to September (19.8727 billion KRW).
The leasehold registration order serves as a safety measure for tenants moving out without having received their jeonse deposit.
However, there are precautions tenants should take during the leasehold registration application process. The leasehold registration can be applied for as soon as the lease period ends, but it takes some time to complete.
Lawyer Um said, "It is safer to move after confirming that the leasehold registration has been completed in the registry rather than moving immediately after applying for the leasehold registration. If a tenant is in a hurry, it is legally safe to have some family members move in first, confirm the completion of the leasehold registration, and then have the rest of the family move in."
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