Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chopstick]

We are thinking of moving to Seoul soon and I have managed to save enough to possibly pay Jeonsae on an apartment.

This is obviously a lot of money to put up to someone you don't know and I'm hoping someone who knows something about this can help me with the following questions;


1: What is the procedure involved in getting a Jeonsae apartment?

2:What are the laws/regulations on the owner returning the whole amount of money, (how) are these enforced?

3:What processes can the tenant take to check that the landlord is reputable and to ensure that the deposit is safe?

Answers here would be greatly appreciated...

[optik404]

You can run a check on the building to see if the owner has any loans against the building. Also you should register your deposit with the local-gu office. This should be discussed prior to you signing the contract. Unfortunately, the owner isn't legally bound to not touch your deposit. If the owner does spend or loses your deposit, you'll have to sue them. Which will take a while from what I've heard.

There's also a procedure where you hire a notary or lawyer to come to the signing. This costs extra and if the landlord is not willing to do this, it's a red flag that you shouldn't trust them.

[FDNY]

1: What is the procedure involved in getting a Jeonsae apartment?

Just go to a real estate agent and ask to see the jeonsae places he has listed. Pick a place. Fill out the forms. Pay the money and move in. You can get two additional forms from the Gu Office. One that will ensure you are the first to receive funds if the owner goes bankrupt. The other to check on the financial status of the owner. The latter form being the most important. Have him/her checked out thouroughly. Also, you will receive only the first 60,000,000KRW in key money with the first form. The residue may be more difficult to obtain.

2:What are the laws/regulations on the owner returning the whole amount of money, (how) are these enforced?

They are supposed to give back 100% of your money at the end of your contract if you give sufficient notice that you will not be renewing. You can take them to civil court if they don't pay. You can also basically become the owner of the place until you receive your money. My friend took his landlord to court for not paying some paltry sum of 3,000,000KRW or something. The judge asked the landlord why he didn't return the money. The landlord said: "Because he's a foreigner." The judge gave the landlord 90 days to return the money.

3:What processes can the tenant take to check that the landlord is reputable and to ensure that the deposit is safe?

See part 1. Check out your landlord thoroughly!

[schwa]

Solid advice above. Heres a wealth of further information:
http://www.korea4expats.com/article-realtors-korea.html
Check out the additional links there too.

In my experience (several moves) the key is finding a realtor you like & trust. They should conduct the credit check on the owner & can walk you through the key money registration process. These services are included in their commission fee, which is standardized & reasonable.

[furtakk]

The realtor can do it for you, but you can use www.iros.go.kr to look up the landlord's financial status and see what kind of collateral they have against the apartment in case things go sour.