The act of designating a proxy to notarize loan documents for a visually impaired person on the grounds that a handwritten signature is impossible has been judged as discrimination.
On the 17th, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) announced that it requested financial institutions, which required visually impaired persons to designate a proxy along with adult guardianship documents to notarize loan documents during the process of securing a housing loan, to take measures to prevent recurrence and prepare countermeasures.
The guidelines for credit business methods stipulate that "when a disabled customer who is physically unable to write by hand fills out loan documents, guidance should be provided to write documents either by a proxy according to the type of disability or by notarization of a public notary’s certificate, and the guardianship system should not be unconditionally recommended."
The NHRCK judged that the respondent’s guidance to notarization against the complainant’s will violated the rule that one should be allowed to choose between document preparation by a proxy or notarization by a public notary’s certificate. It was considered difficult to find justifiable grounds for effectively allowing only notarized loans despite the complainant clearly expressing their intention to contract.
The NHRCK stated that it will revise the credit business method guidelines to ensure that no discrimination occurs against disabled persons who cannot write by hand during the loan process, and will disseminate this case to affiliated employees and conduct related job training to prevent recurrence of similar cases.
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