Korean Job Discussion Forums

[broken76]

The maintenance fee is standard for everyone in the building. The cost will vary from month to month depending on the total costs for that month for the entire building, divided by the number of pyeong of said building multiplied by how many pyeong your apartment is.
It usually isn't mentioned in the contract since it is pretty much a utility fee. Koreans would be unaware that there is no maintenance fee back home just like we weren't aware there was a maintenance fee here.
If a Korean moved to the US pretty much the same thing would happen with paying for garbage pickup. They wouldn't be able to argue that they don't have to pay it because they were unaware for it.
As for the cable TV if you do a long term contract it is much cheaper per month, same thing usually goes with the internet and telephone. For teachers it can be cheaper to do a long term service under your director's name.

[kiwiluvesyew]

What is maintenance fee in Korean? We want to ask the landlady, but we can't find anyone that knows how to write a note saying "how much is our maintenance fee?"

Can others corroborate that there should be a tangible bill for this fee that I can see before I pay?

[SA gal]

i was in the same situation as you. boss was deducting quite a bit (not stated in contract) and could not provide me with the bills
heard from the previous teacher that there is no maintenace fee in my building, its included in the rent. it was just becoming to much of a bother to argue with him so anyway i agreed to pay half of what he was deducting and he was fine with it

[esetters21]

Like others stated, the maintanence fee is common here. I tried to explain it to my school when I first came here in the respect that only the renter or homeowner pays these fees back home (which I was neither). It fell on deaf ears.

Foreigners pay it, Koreans pay it. It is a type of utility like others mentioned. We all pay it. In my experience working with other foreigners in a hagwon, they got charged individually even if they lived in the same space. Twice as many people in the same space equals twice the maintanence fee.

Korea is not like home. You are right in trying to figure things out and don't want to get hosed on over payments etc.., but you need to leave what you know about your home back there and realize that you are not there anymore.

All of these things are frustrating I'm sure (I've been through many of the things you complain about), but you are going to drive yourself crazy trying to fight every little instance that you don't agree with in this country.

[jellobean]

How the maintenance fee is calculated and whether the bill is printed neatly will depend on your building.

In my apartment in Seoul which is a villa, the landlord adds up all the maintenance bills (for which he includes copies in the homemade packet he gives us that shows his calculations whenever he wants to collect - I pay him directly in cash) and divides by the number of people living in the building. He made a comment at some point about my bf staying over on weekends (using more utilities), but I countered that I stayed at my bf's place other weekends (thereby using less utilities other weekends) and he agreed to charge me for one person. I know that he counts people because our maintenance includes water and sewage.

In my apartment in a smaller city, I get an official looking bill for a set amount based on the size of the apartment not the number of people which I pay at the bank.

It really depends on the setup. Whether you pay the maintenance fee directly through your landlord should not affect your internet setup if you keep paying that through the director. If he wants to cut the internet off because you want to pay your maintenance fee directly then he might be skimming.

[yingwenlaoshi]

The problem is in some cases you're not given any idea about how much the maintenance fee will be. If it's in the 100,000 range, it's nice to know before signing the contract. Especially if the contract states that you're responsible for a building maintenance fee.

[princess]

My school did the same thing. In my first year, I didn't have to pay a maintenance fee. Then, this year, they said "Oops, we didn't know there was a maintenance fee at the teachers' apartments, so the school had to pay all that back". They told us that this year, we would have an extra 30,000 a month coming out of our pay. I wonder though. I live in a small villa, and there are about 12 apartments total in the whole building. At 30,000 a pop, what in the world does 360,000 a momnth cover? I mean, there is no elevator or anything. I think some slick landlord is just getting richer. Crooks!

So, who is dressing like a corrupt businessman for Halloween?

[Draz]

[princess]

[princess]

[princess]

[princess]

[just because]

[hochhasd]

What if you do not have a maintenance fee? What bills will I be responsible for each month?

[kiwiluvesyew]

My stats:
I live in a house that has been divided into four apartments and the landlady has most of the first floor to herself. For two people it's 60,000 won.