"Alone Selling at the Lowest Price, Do They Have a Conscience?" Seocho Housing Price Collusion Caught

Phone Complaints About Low-Priced Listings
Forcing Real Estate Agents Not to Lower Prices

S, who led price-fixing of an apartment in Gangnam, Seoul through a group chat room, has been criminally charged.

On the 18th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Civil Affairs Judicial Police Bureau announced that S was criminally charged for violating the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act and referred to the prosecution.

According to the city, S created a group chat room exclusively for apartment owners in Seocho-gu and monitored listings posted on an online real estate information platform to induce higher apartment sale prices. In this group chat room, posts appeared criticizing licensed real estate agents who advertised at prices lower than others, saying things like "The price of the brokerage object is too low" and "Such real estate must be punished," and the real names and photos of those agents were also shared.

A text message sent by Mr. S, the group chat room leader, to a licensed real estate agent. Photo by Seoul City

Additionally, S coerced nearby licensed real estate agents not to advertise brokerage objects below certain prices and obstructed their legitimate display and advertising activities by reporting false listings. Even when sellers put properties up for quick sale due to their circumstances, S protested by phone or text to the sellers and the agents advertising the properties, saying "The price is too low," and reported the listings as false to the real estate information platform’s reporting center.

Interfering with licensed real estate agents’ legitimate display and advertising activities to influence market prices in this way is punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won.

Kwon Soon-gi, head of the Seoul Civil Affairs Judicial Police Bureau, stated, "This is an act that threatens a sound real estate transaction order," and added, "We plan to conduct intensive investigations into similar acts using online communities such as group chat rooms and Band, as well as acts that distort real estate prices such as reporting transactions at high prices and then canceling them." He emphasized, "With the strengthening of the Civil Affairs Judicial Police Bureau organization in July this year, we will respond more strictly to crimes in civil sectors such as real estate, lending, food, and multi-level marketing."