'We'll pay you 10 million won to leave' — landlord-tenant disputes more than double in a year as owner-occupancy rules tighten

"The landlord said he would help me find a new jeonse place if I cooperated with the sale of the apartment. But once the deal closed, he just disappeared. There are no jeonse listings out there, and my kids' school situation is a problem — what am I supposed to do?" (Tenant A)

Market confusion is growing as government policies centered on owner-occupancy — including the land transaction permit zone system — have sharply reduced the supply of rental listings. Tenants who cannot find a new home after their lease expires are holding out, while some landlords are failing to honor commitments made to their tenants, producing a wide variety of disputes. Filings with the Lease Dispute Mediation Committee have more than doubled in a year.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to the office of Rep. Kim Mi-ae, a People Power Party lawmaker on the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, housing disputes filed with the Lease Dispute Mediation Committee totaled 618 in the January–April period this year — 2.3 times the 274 cases recorded in the same period last year. Cases filed through April already exceed half of last year's full-year total of 1,170. The contrast with commercial property disputes is stark: filings in that category came to 68 over the same period, barely changed from 63 a year earlier.

The most common dispute type was "return of deposit or property," accounting for roughly 34 percent of cases, or 210 filings. That was followed by maintenance and repair obligations (147 cases), damages claims (74), contract renewal and termination (69), and contract performance and interpretation (61). Cases involving "lease duration" — a category with zero filings in the same period last year — reached seven this year, with every category showing an increase.

A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official said key cases include disputes over rent increases or decreases, disagreements over contract renewal procedures and agreed conditions, and damages claims filed after landlords refused to renew leases on owner-occupancy grounds but then listed the property for a third party.

Industry observers say the worsening housing crunch for tenants — driven by policy changes that tighten owner-occupancy requirements — lies at the root of the growing conflict. As landlords convert properties to owner-occupancy or vacate them for sale, the rental supply has shrunk and prices have risen, leaving tenants with nowhere to go.

"When there are plenty of listings, there are many ways to handle variables like moving timelines or lease adjustments, but in a jeonse shortage there are no alternative options," one real estate expert said. "Buying is not easy in a high-interest-rate environment, and Seoul is in a state of excess demand, so we could see more extreme cases ending up in legal disputes going forward."

Conflicts between landlords and tenants are playing out on the ground. Since non-resident single-homeowners were recently permitted to sell properties with sitting tenants, some tenants who find it difficult to exercise their lease renewal rights have begun holding out.

B, who owns a property in Gyeonggi Province, said he told his tenant he intended to sell the wolse unit now that non-resident single-homeowners are allowed to do so, but the tenant has refused all text messages, calls and replies and will not allow viewings. "Someone willing to buy without an inspection came along, so we are proceeding with the contract for now," he said. Another landlord, C, said the tenant refused to leave even after the lease expired. "I offered 10 million won (about $6,470) as a goodwill payment, but they held out, so I had to hire a lawyer to deal with it," he said.

Landlords are also taking a more proactive approach to tenant relations than in the past in an effort to head off disputes. D, a jeonse tenant in Gyeonggi Province, said the landlord contacted him exactly six months before the lease expired to ask whether he wanted to renew. "It's not easy to find a place available for move-in six months from now, and I felt pressured to make a decision on the spot," he said.

Experts say that as uncertainty in the rental market grows, both landlords and tenants will become increasingly assertive in protecting their rights.

Kim Hyo-seon, a senior real estate specialist at KB Kookmin Bank, said tenants should secure objective documentation — text messages, certified mail — rather than relying on verbal promises, and should put any agreement to waive renewal rights or move out in writing to avoid future disadvantage. "Sellers should also confirm in advance whether a tenant's exercise of the right to request renewal can be transferred to the buyer, in order to reduce the potential for conflict," she said.

Data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's actual transaction price disclosure system show that the average deposit on new jeonse contracts signed in Seoul from Jan. 1 through June 8 came to 656.33 million won — up roughly 100 million won over two years — reflecting surging jeonse demand.

서울 아파트 전세 새로 구하려 봤더니 2년 새 1억 올랐다 [부동산360]

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