Seocho District to Launch Nation’s First Deposit Seizure System for Rental and Lease Vehicles in September
Seocho District in Seoul (District Mayor Seongsoo Jeon) will become the first among all basic local governments nationwide to introduce a system for seizing rental deposits for unpaid parking violation fines on rental and lease vehicles, starting in September.
Seongsoo Jeon, Seocho District Mayor. Provided by Seocho District Office.
This measure comes in response to a series of cases where individuals have exploited the fact that the registered owner and actual driver of rental and lease vehicles are often different, in order to evade payment of fines. Previously, it was virtually impossible to impound license plates or seize vehicles registered under company names, making it difficult to collect fines.
Prior to implementing the new system, Seocho District requested cooperation from rental and lease vehicle companies, checked whether deposits or advance payments were made at the time of contract, and obtained data on unreturned vehicles to complete a comprehensive investigation of delinquent payers. Starting next month, the district will send seizure notices to those in arrears and begin the process of registering mass seizures.
The district also took measures to protect the rights of payers. Seocho District will offer a 20% reduction in fines for voluntary payment, and up to a 50% reduction for socially vulnerable groups, to encourage payment within the deadline. In addition, the district plans to provide detailed payment guidance to prevent additional penalties and will continue to improve the policy as needed.
Seongsoo Jeon, Mayor of Seocho District, stated, "We expect that implementing the seizure of rental deposits will help eradicate chronic delinquency practices of evading fine payments," adding, "We will continue to improve our delinquency management system and do our best to increase the collection rate of fines."
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