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Seoul City Begins Advance Deposit Refunds for Social Housing Jeonse Fraud Victims

[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that the Seoul Metropolitan Government has begun the process of providing advance deposit refunds to residents of social housing who have fallen victim to jeonse fraud. A Seoul City official stated, "Last week, the Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH) provided an advance deposit refund to one household." It is understood that the Seoul Metropolitan Government and SH have been proceeding with advance refunds and building acquisition procedures following a budget expansion.

On August 26, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced measures regarding social housing in Seoul affected by jeonse fraud. The policy aims to provide advance refunds to 7 households that were unable to recover their deposits from two project sites located in Jangwi-dong and Seongsan-dong, Seoul. The original goal was to begin returning deposits in October, amounting to approximately 344 million won.

Seoul City began the advance refund process last week. A city official stated, "Out of the 7 eligible households, we have completed payment to the one household that applied. We understand that the other households also plan to apply as they prepare. The budget has also been expanded."

While there are currently 7 households eligible for advance refunds, the number of target households may increase in the future. A victimized social housing resident stated, "We were informed that the building is currently going to auction and that SH plans to purchase it."

The two social housing sites where the non-refund of deposits occurred contain 20 and 9 rental units, respectively. The total number of Seoul social housing units operated by these providers is approximately 70. The scale becomes even larger when including other rental housing operated by them, such as LH youth-specialized housing.

Seoul City plans to continue providing advance refunds if deposit non-refund cases occur before the building is purchased. A city official stated, "If the contract has expired and the refund deadline has passed without the deposit being returned, they become eligible for advance refunds until the building is purchased. Currently, there are 2 target households, but this procedure will be applied if similar situations occur in land-lease social housing in the future."

Seoul City recently announced that it would also provide advance deposit refunds to tenants who failed to receive their deposits back from Youth Relief Housing. The city established the 'Ordinance on the Establishment and Operation of the Seoul Housing Promotion Fund' to provide the necessary legal basis. Seoul plans to provide approximately 18.3 billion won in deposits to 296 households across 4 complexes through the Seoul Housing Promotion Fund.