President Lee Jaemyung is drinking water at a senior secretaries' meeting held at the Blue House on the 19th. Yonhap News Agency
President Lee Jaemyung on the 20th ordered a review, saying that the same regulations as for new loans should be applied when multi-homeowners extend their loans or switch to refinancing loans.
President Lee stated through his social networking service (SNS) account that day, "After receiving a report on the loan regulations for newly acquired multiple homes, I instructed the Cabinet and the Presidential Secretariat to review the current status of loan extensions and refinancing for existing multiple homes, as well as clear regulatory measures for them."
Along with his post, President Lee shared a news article reporting that the financial authorities are reviewing the application of the Rent-To-Income (RTI) regulation when extending the loan maturity of rental business operators. RTI is currently assessed only at the time of a landlord's initial loan, but it is reportedly being discussed that in the future it will be reviewed every time the loan is extended.
In relation to this, President Lee pointed out, "Why are you only reviewing the RTI regulation?" and added, "Loan extensions or refinancing loans after the expiration of the loan period are essentially no different from new loans." His point is that, in addition to RTI, other regulations should also be applied in a way similar to those on new loans.
President Lee explained, "Would it not be fair if loan extensions or refinancing for existing multiple homes were subject to the same loan regulations as those imposed on the purchase of new multiple homes?" He added, "If completely resolving the loans at once would be too much of a shock, we could implement the measures gradually over at least a minimal period, for example by requiring 50% resolution within one year and 100% within two years."
He went on to stress, "For a 'Republic of Korea where the people are the owners and everyone is happy,' we must dismantle the real estate unearned-income republic without fail."
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