[Real Estate AtoZ] Moving Day Is Near... What If You Haven't Found a New Tenant?

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] Concerns over the non-return of jeonse deposits are growing as the reverse jeonse crisis worsens due to interest rate hikes. This is because many tenants find themselves in situations where they must move without having received their jeonse deposit back. In particular, those who cannot postpone moving until the completion period after applying for leasehold registration are facing deeper worries.

Typically, many people need a jeonse deposit loan to move. The problem is that the loan conditions require registering their residence at the new place, but tenants worry about having to move without receiving their deposit back from the previous jeonse house. In such cases, tenants often apply for leasehold registration, but since it usually takes an average of 2 to 3 weeks to complete, tenants whose contract or loan schedule for the new place does not align experience significant inconvenience.

Leasehold registration refers to a system that maintains the tenant's opposability and priority right to reimbursement even if they move to another place. It is mainly used in situations where tenants must move without receiving their jeonse deposit back.

Regarding cases where tenants must urgently move without leasehold registration, Um Jeong-sook, a real estate specialist lawyer at Beopdo Comprehensive Law Office, advised, "The moment tenants remove their residence registration, they lose opposability and priority right to reimbursement, so if problems arise with the landlord, it may become difficult to get the jeonse deposit back. In such cases, choosing to leave some family members behind can maintain opposability and priority rights for both the previously lived-in house and the new house."

For example, if a couple lived together, it means that one spouse can be left behind while the contract party who takes out the loan moves out and registers their residence at the new place. Since the couple had already registered their residence and obtained a fixed date at the previous house, only the spouse who moves out needs to register their residence. According to Lawyer Um, this legal basis for maintaining opposability and priority rights as tenants applies to any family member living together on the resident registration, such as adult children, not just spouses.

Lawyer Um added, "Once leasehold registration is completed, there is no need to continue residing in the house. Even after handing over the house to the landlord, if the jeonse deposit is not returned, tenants can file a lawsuit for the return of the jeonse deposit and also claim delay interest until the deposit is returned."

Meanwhile, tenants are not necessarily obliged to comply with landlords' demands to remove residence registration as a condition for returning the jeonse deposit. Many landlords without funds take out loans to return the jeonse deposit, and banks often require that the tenant not be listed in the residence verification documents to approve the loan. This leads landlords to demand tenants remove their residence registration.

Lawyer Um warned, "If tenants remove their residence registration at their current residence, their opposability and priority rights will be subordinated, and if problems arise with the landlord, tenants may suffer losses. If the landlord's debt issues lead to the house being auctioned, legally, the tenant's priority to receive the jeonse deposit may be pushed back."

He continued, "Even if the landlord has no other debts, the moment the tenant removes their residence registration, the bank that provided the loan becomes the first-priority creditor. It is advisable to obtain a guarantee so that the loan funds can be transferred directly to the tenant's account from the bank whenever possible," he added.