Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mari2121]

I'm currently in the process of renting an apartment and I was wondering if all the lease contract were the same. Mine doesn't say anything about returning my deposit when I leave, is that normal?

Thank you.

[northway]

My understanding is that the deposit doesn't get returned to you until the next person comes along the give the landlord a deposit, but someone more in the know will have better details on this front.

[tob55]

The 'deposit' or 'key money' you are talking about is returned at the end of the lease for the apartment. It is actually written within the terms of the contract that the money is returned. Commonly you give the money to the lessor who then uses it as they wish or they put it into some type of interest bearing account with a bank so they can make more money with it while it is in their possession. The latter option is NOT commonly what they do with the money. Most lessors use the money for their own personal spending and wait until the next person leases their property to return the money to you, the lessee.

There can be problems with this is the lessor owes others money and they use your money to pay off debts. That happened with us on a property we leased a few years ago. It was a sizable amount of money, and the owner actually had to sell their apartment to pay off other debts. They forced us out of the apartment after only one month of our second contract with two weeks notice. They were going to hold our key money for an undisclosed period of time, UNTIL my wife threatened to take them to court. The woman owned the apartment as a way of earning her own money, while her husband squandered away their family money on a martial arts academy that he had no business sense for.

The bottom line is to make sure the people you lease from are working through a reputable real estate agency. It is a crap shoot these days, because so many people with properties are strapped for money and about to lose properties they already own. Rather than selling them, they would rather lose them to foreclosure just to keep their image up. Good luck with the rental.