Supreme Court Improves Tenant Registration Order Procedures to Prevent 'Villa King' Jeonse Fraud

Housing Leasehold Registration Possible Without Captain Inheritance Registration
Improvement of Leasehold Registration Order Procedure for 'Tenant-Only Registration'

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The Supreme Court has prepared measures to improve the procedure for the leasehold registration order, allowing tenants to register leasehold rights even if the landlord has died and the tenant does not perform the ownership transfer registration (subrogated inheritance registration) on behalf of the landlord's heirs, as in the so-called ‘Villa King’ jeonse fraud cases.

The Supreme Court's Judicial Administration Office announced on the 17th that it has improved the leasehold registration order procedure to protect the rights of victims of jeonse fraud.

Previously, tenants who were victims of jeonse fraud had to apply for a leasehold registration order and complete the leasehold registration under Article 3-3 of the Housing Lease Protection Act in order to claim the return of the jeonse deposit from HUG (Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation) through the performance of guarantee obligations.

Therefore, if the landlord died after concluding the lease contract, the tenant had to first perform subrogated inheritance registration and then apply for a leasehold registration order against the landlord's heirs. However, it has been continuously pointed out that subrogated inheritance registration requires considerable costs and time.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court established registration precedents and litigation precedents to enable housing leasehold registration under the leasehold registration order without preceding subrogated inheritance registration, thereby reducing the burden on tenants who are victims of jeonse fraud and facilitating the prompt recovery of deposits.

Additionally, the procedure for the leasehold registration order was improved to simplify the delivery process to the landlord, allowing tenants to register leasehold rights alone when the lease has ended and the lease deposit has not been returned.

The Supreme Court expects that the newly established precedents and revised regulations will help reduce the burden on tenants who are victims of jeonse fraud by omitting the costly and time-consuming subrogated inheritance registration process and simplifying the delivery procedure to the landlord in the leasehold registration order, enabling tenants to promptly recover their lease deposits.