Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itiswhatitis]

I went to a local leasing office with a Korean friend and I made a 5 million won deposit for a new place. I recently moved in and all is well.

I had 2 of my Korean friends (who both rent their own places) look at the contract and they both say that it look legit.

This is probably a silly question but sometimes it's better to be safe than sorry.

Is there anything else that I should do to protect myself in order to make sure that I get my key money back? I signed a 6 month lease but I will probably stay longer.

As an aside there was an insurance document (seperate from the lease) which the rental office gave me. My Korean friend told me that it is insurance to make sure that I get my key money back.

5 million won is a lot of money and any insight/advice is most appreciated.

I can only hope that my landlord ain't as sleazy as some of the hagwon owners that I've worked for here!!!

Thanks!!!

[highstreet]

You should register your deposit at your local -gu office. Not sure if this has to be done beforehand, but I did mine before I signed a lease with the help of a Korean friend.

[nautilus]

[Stan Rogers]

[fustiancorduroy]

[snowfoxx]

trying to not take over this thread but i do have a few questions i hope someone can help me out.

I'm kinda in a sticky situation now. I moved out of my house on the 15th and until now my landlord hasnt given me an exact date when she will give me back my deposit 10,000USD. I gave her 1 week notice that i was moving out and she said she didnt have the money so now she is looking for new tenants.

But the problem is, im leaving korea in 2 weeks time and she knows.
I don't know what to do. My friends suggest i go to the local police.

[Captain Corea]

[b-class rambler]

[big_fella1]

[newb]

[snowfoxx]

My contract actually ended on the 15th and my landlord says its ok for me to move out. But she just doesnt have the money at all.
So now i actually brought in my budongsan and frens to help me and the landlord says she will def pay me back when she gets a new tenant.

My budongsan advised me to write up a contract and ask me to ask my landlord to sign it before the budongsan as a guarantor.I also asked my frens and they said that the landlord is able to take at most 3 months to return my deposit.

So i guess I can only wait and trust that my landlord doesnt just poof into mid air.
I certainly dont hope to end up like newb's fren

[highstreet]

The whole real estate procedure in Korea is a bit confusing. I haven't been able to find anyone that can tell me whether or not the landlord is legally allowed to keep your deposit until a new tenant moves in.

Luckily I got my deposit back but not until a new tenant moved in. It would seem illegal to keep your deposit after the contract date, but no one seems to know.

For example, if a person moved in and agreed to pay X amount, then say real estate prices dropped for that area, couldn't the landlord just refuse new potential tenants or keep the rent high enough to reject new tenants and keep charging the current tenant X amount.

It was a pain for me to get my deposit back, took over 6 months. I was in no hurry to leave, so I had no problem waiting for a new tenant to move in. But still, it gets annoying knowing that any second you might have to move within a week or two.

[b-class rambler]

[KimchiNinja]

I like the Korean system, from the finance perspective it is odd at first, but makes sense.

When investment returns are good they can ask for large deposits and low monthly, the opposite in bad times. The deposit generates returns and makes up for low/no rent. Locking yourself into a contract protects you from market changes, unless it moves against you and you're stuck with a crappy deal. I'm still a bit foggy on the whole thing, but it looks like a different way of doing the same thing.

And you can get insurance on your deposit I believe.

[big_fella1]