"Bought a House in Paju by Falsely Registering Residency in Gwangmyeong While Living in Gimcheon"…127 Cases of Illegal Subscription Detected

127 Cases of Fraudulent Subscription Including False Address Registration and False Divorce
False Address Registration Accounts for the Most with 107 Cases

#. Mr. A, who lives with his wife and two children in an apartment in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, registered his mother and mother-in-law as residents at his home in August-September 2020. This was a measure to make it appear on paper that he had been supporting his mother and mother-in-law, both over 65 years old, for more than three years. Once the conditions were met, he purchased an apartment in Unjeong New Town, Paju-si, Gyeonggi Province, through the special supply for elderly parents in the second half of last year.

#. Ms. B, who lives with her husband and two children in Gimcheon-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, falsified her residence by registering at a detached house in Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi Province. She then applied for and won a newlywed special supply housing subscription in Unjeong New Town, Paju-si, Gyeonggi Province. By falsely changing her address, she obtained the qualification of a Gyeonggi resident and was able to acquire a house.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 20th that it had detected a total of 127 cases of supply order disruption, including such false address registrations, after inspecting housing subscriptions and supply conditions in the first half of this year. The investigation targeted 40 apartment complexes (23,839 households) suspected of fraudulent subscriptions among those supplied in the second half of last year, and the detected cases were referred to the police for investigation.

Among these, fraudulent subscriptions through false address registrations, like the cases of Mr. A and Ms. B, accounted for the largest number with 107 cases. Applicants either falsely changed the addresses of their parents or children or altered their own addresses to places different from their actual residences to qualify for subscriptions or increase their subscription points.

Next, there were 16 cases of illegal supply through collusion between developers and low-floor winners. For example, low-floor winners conspired with developers to pay deposits in advance for royal-floor units that were ineligible for winning, and received first-come-first-served supply without going through the non-priority supply for unsold units. The sales contract is supplied in order of winners, then reserve entrants, non-priority, and unsold units if the winner does not conclude the contract.

There were also 3 cases detected of special supply applications through fake divorces. Although living with a spouse who owns a house, they falsely divorced. This allowed them to be recognized as members of a household without a house and apply for special supply subscriptions. Additionally, there was 1 case of proxy subscription through a broker.

The 127 cases of supply order disruption, including false address registrations, violate the Housing Act and are subject to criminal penalties such as imprisonment for up to 3 years or fines up to 30 million won, along with a 10-year subscription ban.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport canceled 18 winning contracts where unmarried persons in de facto marital relationships had contracted special public housing supply intended for single-parent families who had lost a spouse or divorced.

Jung Suho, Director of the Housing Fund Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "As the subscription overheating continues recently, we are conducting a full inspection of major supply complexes in the metropolitan area," and added, "We will strengthen market inspection activities further to create a fair and transparent housing subscription market."