Gyeonggi Province has uncovered 88 cases of illegal activities involving 80 licensed real estate agents who either overcharged brokerage fees beyond the legal limit, were suspected of participating in jeonse fraud, or knowingly brokered properties with illegal partitioned rooms created by erecting interior walls.
From March 4 to April 26, Gyeonggi Province, in cooperation with city and county offices, conducted inspections targeting a total of 450 licensed real estate agents. This included 370 agents who had handled properties once or more through consultations at the ‘Gyeonggi Province Jeonse Damage Support Center’ and 80 agents selected based on areas with dense new villa developments within the province. On the 14th, it was announced that 88 illegal acts were confirmed among 80 agents (17.8%).
One major case involved licensed real estate agent A, who brokered a lease contract with a deposit of 260 million KRW. Although the legal brokerage fee was 858,000 KRW, the agent received a total of 2 million KRW, including 1,142,000 KRW under the name of consulting fees. When requested to provide supporting documents, only a tax invoice was submitted, but no consulting contract or related documents were presented, revealing that the brokerage fee was overcharged.
Gyeonggi Province explained that the overcharging of brokerage fees without special reasons and the failure to provide supporting evidence raise suspicions of involvement in jeonse fraud.
Licensed real estate agent B brokered a lease contract with a deposit of 60 million KRW and monthly rent of 200,000 KRW. Although the property was not listed as an illegal building in the building register, the agent was aware in advance that it was an illegal partitioned property divided into two units but still brokered it improperly, resulting in a suspension of business.
Licensed real estate agent C, while drafting contracts based on agreements between parties, failed to prepare and deliver the property confirmation and explanation documents as required by Article 25, Paragraph 1 of the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act for six cases, only preparing the transaction contracts. This was confirmed as non-preparation and non-delivery of the required documents.
Previously, since February last year, Gyeonggi Province conducted four rounds of special inspections targeting 1,368 licensed real estate offices suspected of involvement in jeonse fraud, uncovering 340 illegal acts in 227 offices (16.6%).
Lee Gye-sam, Director of the Urban Housing Office of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "We plan to thoroughly identify and severely punish licensed real estate agents involved in jeonse fraud. To this end, Gyeonggi Province and city and county offices will continue joint inspections."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
