Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gnawbert]

I tried to search but couldn't find an answer.

I'm trying to understand tenant and landlord rights, specifically how it relates to wolsae leases.

My girlfriend and I are nearing the end of a 1 year lease at an officetel unit we both quite like. It's in a good location, safe, clean, and near everything my girlfriend and I need.

There've been a few problems with the unit, but over all we've been happy, and accommodating about letting the problems get fixed. Through her boss we broached the subject of signing another year lease, and were told that the land lord doesn't want to rent to us anymore. The only reason given was that there were "complaints." When pressed to specific what complaints, they refused. Since I can count the number of guests we've had over on 1 hand, and since we don't party and live rather bland mid-30's lives, we're a bit skeptical that there were even any complaints at all.

Basically, I'm wondering: are there any protections for renters? Or do landlords have the ultimate authority to choose not to renew a lease for non-specificed reasons?

Thanks!

[optik404]

Are there places in the world where the renter has the final say in renewing a lease?

[furtakk]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, even if you sign a 1 year lease, the landlord is legally bound to rent to you for 2 years under the terms of the original contract.

There is a website with all of the information, but I can't remember what it is exactly. This was the best I could find:

http://oneclick.law.go.kr/CSP/CsmSortRetrieveLst.laf?sortType=cate&csmAstSeq=3

Edit: Found the info in English:

http://oneclick.law.go.kr/CSM/OvCnpRetrieveP.laf?csmSeq=608&ccfNo=1&cciNo=1&cnpClsNo=1

[furtakk]

As for why he doesn't want to renew, assuming you guys were great tenants without issue, the only thing I can think of is tax issues.

I had the same problem when I was looking for my current place. Offictels are mixed business/residential spaces. The way the law works is, if you have two registered residential properties, your second property (the officetel in your landlord's case) is subject to a shitload of taxes. When you register your address with immigration, you list your officetel as your main residence, designating it as a residential property.

The way the tax schemes work with offictels is, the landlord will list it as a business regardless of whether or not it's being used as a residential space. For Koreans, it's not a huge issue, as they can still use their home address as their official address--although I've heard it's still a major pain in the ass because they can't do things like vote in their actual region. On the other hand, foreigners have to register their addresses with immi, or else we get fined, blacklisted, and etc.

[Gnawbert]

Thank you so much for the information. That's something I'm going to broach with the landlord, realtor, and my girlfriend's boss (who has been mediating this issue).

I was pretty stunned by this to be honest, as we don't party, don't have a lot of company over, pay everything on time, and were never informed of complaints or anything up until today when we mentioned we planned to stay for another year. Then it was, according to the landlord, "No, there are complaints."

I'm suspicious because "complaints" is always the catchall for for vague reasons. I've asked for documentation of the complaints, time, date, and why we weren't made aware of them when they occurred.

As for as renter's rights, when I rented in San Francisco the landlord could not choose to let the lease end solely at their discretion. This was covered under rent control. Obviously, apples/oranges, but still...

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Gnawbert]

[optik404]