Seo Hyun-jin's W2.62b jeonse deposit at stake as Cheongdam-dong villa heads back to auction at half price

A luxury villa in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where actor Seo Hyun-jin had sought to recover a 2.62 billion won ($1.93 million) jeonse deposit through a forced auction, is heading back to the auction block after the landlord was declared bankrupt.

According to real estate information service Landchigo on Friday, the fourth floor of Hestia, a luxury villa in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, will go up for auction Tuesday with a minimum bid of 1.47 billion won.

Seo signed a jeonse contract for the unit in April 2020 at a deposit of 2.5 billion won. She later renewed the contract with an additional 125 million won, bringing her total deposit to 2.62 billion won.

When the contract expired in April 2024, however, the landlord failed to return the deposit. Seo completed a lease-right registration in September of that year and vacated the property.

A lease-right registration allows a tenant who has not received their deposit back after a lease expires to move out while retaining their legal priority and right to preferential repayment.

A forced auction was subsequently initiated at Seo's request. The property had been appraised at 2.87 billion won, but three rounds of bidding drew no offers, pushing the minimum bid down to around 1.4 billion won.

The auction was suspended once in July last year after the landlord sought court receivership. It resumed after the landlord was declared bankrupt in December of that year. The new auction will restart from the minimum bid of 1.47 billion won set when proceedings were halted.

The central question is how much of Seo's 2.62 billion won deposit she will actually recover. The current minimum bid is about 1.15 billion won lower than the deposit she paid.

The minimum bid does not necessarily reflect the final sale price, however. The outcome will depend not only on the winning bid but also on the various encumbrances registered against the property.

Financial institutions also hold senior mortgage rights on the property alongside Seo's lease claim, meaning the final amount she receives will hinge on a comprehensive assessment of the winning bid and the priority of competing claims.

Meanwhile, Seo is set to meet audiences through "Liar," a new MBC Friday-Saturday drama series premiering Oct. 30.