[People Met Through Books] "True Overcoming Story of Jeonse Fraud That Shed Blood Tears, Depicted as a Webtoon for Jeonse Comeback"

One Year After Selling a Fraud-Entangled House
Glad to Part Well Through a Work
Proud to Help Improve the System Through the Work
Happy to Feel Like the Protagonist in a Story Ending Injustice

To prepare for the unlikely, I carefully selected a jeonse house. I checked the certified copy of the register and only shortlisted houses without debts. I examined loans, mortgages, and liens to exclude any houses where the deposit might be at risk. I also avoided multi-family houses where deposits are distributed in order of occupancy if the building is auctioned due to unforeseen circumstances. Instead, I chose multi-unit houses with different owners for each unit, allowing for ‘individual registration.’ I checked whether the jeonse deposit was reasonable compared to the market price and whether there was any risk of “empty jeonse” or reverse jeonse. Additionally, I considered factors such as lighting, water pressure, and security to ensure a comfortable environment for a woman living alone, and finally found my ‘destined home.’ However, I did not realize then that this house would become a trial. One day, I suddenly received a tenant notice stating that the house was seized and would be auctioned. It turned out that the landlord was involved in multiple legal disputes and, after a compensation ruling, the house was put up for auction. Moreover, the landlord’s unpaid taxes (first priority repayment) were revealed, putting tenant Luna (Hong Inhye) at risk of losing her jeonse deposit. Despite having checked everything meticulously and having no fault of her own, she faced a ‘jeonse fraud’ situation where she lost hundreds of millions of won in deposits. The book Luna’s Jeonse Reversal (Semicolon) deals with the situation where a malicious landlord’s unpaid taxes are replaced by the innocent tenant’s deposit. First released as a webtoon and then published as a book, I asked Luna, the author, about her detailed story of overcoming jeonse fraud.

Luna (Hong In-hye) artist

-‘Luna’s Jeonse Reversal’ content received great attention. It was noticed as a webtoon even before the book was published. How do you feel about that?

▲When I started the first comic serialization in 2021, I worried, “What if no one relates because it’s such a special case?” But surprisingly, it attracted a lot of attention. Many people have vague anxieties about deposits. Later, as the issue of jeonse fraud spread widely, the comic’s vitality grew longer and stronger. As a creator and a victim of jeonse fraud, I wanted to help more people, so I published it as a book. Unlike my previous books, which were topics within families for a day or two, this one received significant media attention, which makes me happy. It’s been a year since I disposed of the fraudulent house, but I still sometimes look at it from afar. A place of love and hate... It was an event that tormented me for years, and I tried to digest it well and let it go. Now, having sublimated it into a work, I feel like I have parted well.

-From the book, it seems that no matter how thoroughly you prepare, you cannot outsmart a determined fraudster. The pain must have been indescribable.

▲I was overwhelmed by pessimism such as “Why did this happen to me?” “What did I do wrong?” “Because I foolishly became independent,” “Because I lived without kindness or virtue,” and “Because I’m inherently unlucky.” This made me feel that this incident not only threatened my money but also changed my worldview and ruined my health and daily life. It was so unfair and frustrating. Being scammed was bad enough, but having my personality, daily life, relationships, and health damaged too... I thought I had to stop the ‘extended damage.’ I’m naturally competitive, so I endured it to not lose. I even forced myself to do disliked exercises, thinking I wouldn’t lose to a despicable person who stressed me out.

-You seem to have strong crisis response and mental strength.

▲After publishing the comic, I often heard I had a ‘strong mentality,’ but in reality, I’m more like a ‘jeong’ level person?not ‘eul’ or ‘byeong.’ I worry about small things for a long time, get depressed imagining hundreds of future scenarios. For me, jeonse fraud was the worst event. The scale was huge, it was like a chronic illness I had to live with for a long time, and the future scenarios numbered in the hundreds... I really endured it with the heart of a warrior. I realized even those with weak mentality have a self-protection survival instinct. Ultimately, I wanted to write a ‘mental adventure story’ about a fragile human overcoming unprecedented calamity. I hoped the struggles of a sensitive and vulnerable person would comfort those in similar situations.

-You chose to reduce the jeonse loss by purchasing the house at auction. It must have been a difficult decision.

▲Everyone around me advised against buying the villa because it’s hard to sell. The money would be tied up in real estate with uncertain sale timing. But after much consideration, I decided to bid. The key was whether the house was actually worth buying at that price. Fortunately, I had carefully chosen the house when looking for jeonse, and after living there for three years, the house itself was not bad, so I decided to purchase it. Friends tell me to look for a house that you wouldn’t regret buying even if it goes to auction when searching for a jeonse house. It may seem extreme, but that’s how you can minimize potential damage.

-I understand you told your parents only after the incident was resolved. Wouldn’t sharing earlier have brought more help?

▲When going through hardship, people usually complain and get comfort from those around them, but jeonse fraud victims find it difficult. First, it’s hard to explain legal issues. The explanation tends to be lengthy, and fundamental, fatal questions follow: “So you lost your deposit?” “Are you being evicted?” “What will happen to you?” These fearful questions are hard even for the victim to answer, so they become increasingly silent. I did consult legal and real estate experts, but at the time, my distrust of people was too strong, and the case changed constantly over several years, so I had to solve it myself. But now the situation has changed a lot. Seeing friends who were victims entrust lawsuits, auctions, and recovery to lawyers specializing only in jeonse fraud, I think if I had to do it again, I would also solve it through ‘representation.’ If someone is currently in a difficult situation, I want to advise them to spend some money and delegate the process to find a breathing space.

-‘Luna’s Jeonse Reversal’ has helped many and influenced institutional improvements as well.

▲A few months ago, the Ministry of Justice commissioned me to create a comic introducing the revised Lease Protection Act. Since April, landlords are required to provide tax (tax payment certificate) information when signing jeonse contracts. This was personally very meaningful. It’s a system that, if it had existed earlier, would have prevented fraud, but it’s good that it exists now to prevent victims like me in the future. A Ministry of Justice official told me they saw my work while preparing the legal improvements and sympathized with the awareness of the problem, which made me very happy. I was moved by the narratives of people fighting to improve injustice, and I felt proud to be the protagonist of such a story.

-What should one do to minimize damage when trying to rent a jeonse house? The book suggests even so-called experts can’t be fully trusted.

▲Recent jeonse fraud news shows shocking details vary in each case. I once worked with the Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) to create a ‘Jeonse Fraud Prevention Toon’ introducing eight methods to prevent fraud. In fact, there is no single solution like “If you only watch out for this, you won’t be scammed.” Still, many people have vague trust. They are cautious about scams when buying a few-thousand-won item on a secondhand market but think “No way” when contracts involving millions or billions of won are at stake. “No way real estate would make a mistake?” “There are laws and systems, so I won’t lose?” Scams exploit these gaps. Some scams involve contracting with fake landlords pretending to be the owner, which can be filtered by comparing the name on the certified copy of the register and the landlord’s ID card. But the common psychology is, “No way they’re a scammer? Asking to see an ID card would be rude.” It’s necessary to be suspicious and check once more in such cases.

-Prevention is important, but if an unavoidable situation occurs, what should one do?

▲The most important thing is mental management. The first rule is ‘Don’t blame yourself.’ Victims tend to feel self-loathing. If you fall into the thought “It’s my fault for being deceived,” double suffering begins. You hate the scammer, but you also hate yourself for being deceived. I hope people do their best to protect themselves. Expert help is essential. It’s difficult to spend money and time to find people for something you didn’t do wrong, but only experts can objectively assess the situation and guide you on how to respond. Don’t rely too much on people around you or internet cafes; be sure to find an expert.

-You are a published poet, cartoonist, and writer. What kind of content can we expect from you in the future?

▲Before Luna’s Jeonse Reversal, my works were generally short. Life comics were just a few panels, and columns or essays were not long. Poetry, of course, was even shorter... But through Luna’s Jeonse Reversal, I found great joy in writing long-form narratives. It was thrilling to see readers cry, laugh, be surprised, and moved by my direction, eagerly awaiting the next episode. I was captivated by the resonance that long stories bring. I plan to present impressive stories with long narratives like this.