▲ Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that the amendment to the “Special Act on Support for Victims of Lease Fraud and Housing Stability” passed the plenary session of the National Assembly on August 28. 

The amendment to the Special Act on Deposit Fraud is the first achievement in which the ruling and opposition parties reached an agreement with the consensus of strengthening support for housing stability for victims of deposit fraud.

The amendment to the special law on lease fraud passed today is expected to lower the burden of housing costs on victims of lease fraud and significantly strengthen housing stability.

At the request of a victim of a rental fraud, Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), etc., transfers the victim's preferential purchase right and actively bids for the damaged house through auctions, etc., and utilizes the profit generated in the process (LH appraised value - successful bid price)* Therefore, we plan to provide long-term public rental for up to 10 years without burden of rent to the victims.

If the damage is not recovered after that, you can live in public rental housing for an additional 10 years at a low rent of 30-50% of the market price.

To ensure that all victims can receive support, victims of double contract fraud* who have no ability to fight back were added to the scope of victim recognition, and the deposit size was also increased from the current maximum of 500 million won to 700 million won.

In addition, it is possible to purchase violative buildings with no safety issues, houses damaged by trust fraud, and houses damaged by priority tenants, to ensure thorough housing support for victims.

The amendment will be implemented from the date of promulgation after deliberation by the State Council. However, matters related to public purchase of damaged housing and rental support, etc. require the preparation of detailed standards, so it will take effect from the date two months have elapsed from the date of promulgation.

However, as it is possible to purchase enough damaged houses even before the effective date of the amendment, LH will actively purchase damaged houses upon request from victims, and will retroactively apply the expansion of the purchase scope of damaged houses and rental support in accordance with the implementation of the amendment in the future.

In addition, as more strengthened support measures are scheduled to be implemented, a close cooperation system will be established with relevant agencies such as relevant ministries and judicial authorities, including the postponement of auctions, while preparing specific action plans with LH and disseminating them to local governments to support victims. We plan to prepare to avoid any inconvenience.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Park Sang-woo said, “The government’s proactive proposal of alternatives has laid the foundation for the ruling and opposition parties to reach an agreement,” and added, “Now that the amendment has been passed, we will make every preparation to ensure that it is implemented without a hitch.”

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