How do I check a Korean rental for jeonse fraud before I sign?

Read the property registry yourself before you pay anything, read it again on the day you pay the balance, and confirm three things each time: the person taking your money is the registered owner, the debts already on the home leave room for your deposit, and nothing on the record shows a seizure, an auction or a trust. Many jeonse fraud cases left signs on these papers before the tenant signed. The documents are in Korean, which is why foreign tenants tend to skip them and rely on what the broker says.

Where do I get the registry, and can I read it?

The document is the certificate of registered matters (등기사항증명서), still often called 등기부등본. Anyone can get it for a small fee, at any registry office in the country or online through the Internet Registry Office (인터넷등기소). It is in Korean only. A translation app on a photo of the page is enough to find names, dates and amounts, and the table below tells you where to look. Ask the broker to go through it with you line by line, but do not accept a spoken summary in place of the paper.

How is the registry organised?

Part	What it records	What to check
Title section (표제부)	Address, building, floor area	The address and unit number match the contract exactly
Ownership section (갑구)	Who owns the home, and limits on the owner	The owner's name matches the landlord; no seizure (압류), provisional seizure (가압류), provisional disposition (가처분), auction decision (경매개시결정) or trust (신탁)
Other rights section (을구)	Mortgages, jeonse rights, registered leases	The maximum secured amount (채권최고액) of each mortgage; any lease registration (임차권등기)

Also ask for the building register (건축물대장). If the building or your unit is not recorded as housing, protections and deposit insurance may not be available.

Which entries should make me stop?

• Large mortgages. Add the maximum secured amounts in the other rights section to your deposit. If the total comes close to what the home would sell for, there may be nothing left for you after a sale. Compare with recent sale prices of similar units (실거래가).
• A lease registration from an earlier tenant. It usually means a previous tenant did not get the deposit back. It also strips anyone renting the home afterwards of the small-deposit priority.
• A very recent change of owner. A sale just before your contract, or one planned for the same day, is a known pattern in fraud cases. Ask why.
• A trust. If the ownership section names a trust company, the person renting to you may have no right to lease without its written consent. Ask for the trust record (신탁원부) and the consent, or walk away.
• Seizures by a tax office or a city. They show the owner already has unpaid debts to the state.

What must the landlord show me?

When signing, the landlord has to show you the fixed date records for the home (other tenants' registered dates, rents and deposits) and tax payment certificates for national and local taxes, or consent to you viewing that information. In a multi-household house with many tenants, the fixed date records show how many deposits rank ahead of yours. With the landlord's consent you can also ask the community center for them directly before signing. Some unpaid taxes can be paid ahead of tenants in a public sale, so a landlord who will not show the tax certificates is giving you an answer.

Foreign tenants in the building may not appear on the list of residents that brokers usually check. As a party to the lease, you can ask the community center or immigration office for the record of foreigners registered at the address (외국인체류확인서).

Who am I actually signing with?

• Check the ID. The name on the landlord's ID card must match the owner on the registry.
• Be careful with representatives. If a relative, a "manager" or the broker signs for the owner, ask for the owner's power of attorney with a certified seal certificate (인감증명서), and phone the owner yourself. A contract made by someone with no authority does not bind the owner unless the owner later approves it.
• Pay only into the owner's own account. Not the broker's, not a relative's, and never in cash without a receipt.
• Use a licensed broker (공인중개사). Check the registration at the district office. A helpful person from your own community who is not licensed offers you no protection if something goes wrong.
• Keep the down payment (계약금) small until the checks are done. Until either side starts performing, the tenant can generally pull out by giving up the down payment, and the landlord by paying back double.

What do foreign tenants often miss?

• The Korean text governs. A bilingual contract or a translated summary is a help, not the contract. Use the standard lease form (주택임대차표준계약서) where you can, and write special terms in Korean with a translation beside them.
• Useful special terms: no new mortgage or sale until the day after your address report; full refund if deposit guarantee insurance is refused; the landlord pays any unpaid taxes before the balance date.
• Guarantee insurance. Ask before signing whether your home qualifies for deposit guarantee insurance and whether your visa type is accepted. A home that does not qualify is itself a warning.
• The lease term and your visa. A lease shorter than 2 years counts as 2 years, but only the tenant can rely on that; you can still insist on the shorter term you agreed. A 1-year lease that matches your visa does not trap you for 2 years.
• "Please do not register your address." A landlord who asks this is asking you to give up your protection. Treat it as a reason to leave.

Next step

Before paying any down payment, get the registry certificate, the building register and the draft contract, and check them against the lists above. If you find a mortgage, a trust, a recent change of owner or a representative signing for the owner, have a lawyer read the papers before you transfer money. Consultations are paid; when you contact us, a staff member will call you back and explain the fee.

법무법인 대한중앙
1533-7377

Rules applied

Registration of Real Estate Act (부동산등기법) Article 15(2) (title section, ownership section, other rights section), Article 19(1) and (2) (anyone may view and obtain the record for a fee, at any registry office), Article 75(2) item 1 (maximum secured amount of a mortgage). Housing Lease Protection Act (주택임대차보호법) Article 3-3(6) (no small-deposit priority after a lease registration), Article 3-6(4) (requesting fixed date records with the landlord's consent), Article 3-7 (landlord must show fixed date records and tax payment certificates), Article 4(1) (lease of less than 2 years), Article 30 (standard lease form). Civil Act (민법) Article 130 (contract by a person without authority), Article 565 and Article 567 (down payment). Immigration Act (출입국관리법) Article 88-3 (record of foreigners registered at a building). Building register under the Building Act (건축법); licensed brokers under the Licensed Real Estate Agents Act (공인중개사법).

This is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different.