South Korea’s three guarantee providers to bar landlords who failed to return jeonse deposits

South Korea’s three housing guarantee providers will jointly block guarantee issuance for landlords who failed to return tenants’ jeonse deposits and forced the providers to pay them instead. The restriction begins October 1.

The Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation, Korea Housing Finance Corporation and SGI Seoul Guarantee said they will share information on landlords subject to subrogation, meaning the guarantee company reimbursed the tenant after the deposit went unpaid. The information will be sent to the Korea Credit Information Services for integrated management and used during guarantee assessments.

The providers said the joint restriction is intended to prevent recurring jeonse fraud before it happens. The shared information can be collected and distributed without the landlord’s consent under an amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Credit Information Act that took effect on February 3.

The three institutions will share information on landlords whose deposits went unpaid from February 3 onward. Starting on the 21st, tenants will be able to use HUG’s Safe Jeonse app to check whether a landlord is subject to the guarantee ban before signing a housing contract.

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This measure jointly restricting the handling of deposit-return guarantees for landlords who failed to return deposits aims to prevent recurring jeonse fraud in advance.