Things to check before signing a lease or rental agreement

The Land Registration Certificate (Land Register Extract) can be obtained by anyone without the landlord's consent. Simply enter the address on the Supreme Court Internet Land Registry, and the fee for online viewing is 700 won per document, while the issuance fee is 1,000 won per document.

Check the following three sections in order

If there is attachment, seizure, or auction initiation decision in Section A, that house is not suitable. It is not a place to proceed with conditions.

Relationship Between Priority Claims and Your Deposit

If the auction proceeds, the distribution order is based on registration and confirmation date. If the maximum claim amount of the prior mortgage is large, your deposit will be pushed back accordingly. The closer the sum of the priority claim amount and your deposit is to the market value of the house, the lower the chance of recovering it.

If the deposit is small, there is a mechanism to receive some of it first regardless of the priority (Article 8, Paragraph 1 of the Act on Protection of Tenants' Rights). However, there are two restrictions.

• The tenant must complete the handover and resident registration before the auction application is registered (same paragraph, latter part)
• The amount received cannot exceed half of the house's value (same article, Paragraph 3, same law, Article 10, Paragraph 2 of the Enforcement Decree)

The amount is determined by the mortgage setup date, not the contract date

This is a point where mistakes are easy to occur. The applicable standard is not the current enforcement decree, but the enforcement decree in effect on the day the highest priority mortgage was set on that house. This is because every time the enforcement decree is amended, a transitional provision is added stating that "for tenants who acquired a mortgage right before the implementation of this decree, the previous provisions shall apply" (Article 2 of the Appendix to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Protection of Tenants' Rights, Presidential Decree No. 33254, February 21, 2023).

Therefore, in Section B, you first check the setup date of the highest priority mortgage, and then read the corresponding line for that date.

The basis for each row is the provisions of Article 11, Paragraphs 3 and 4 (target deposit) and Article 10, Paragraph 1, Paragraphs 3 and 4 (amount received first) of the enforcement decree in effect at that time. If there is no mortgage right at all in Section B, the current standard is applied. If the mortgage was set before March 31, 2016, the amount is even lower (for other regions, 4,500만원 or less → 1,500만원). Mortgages set between March 31, 2016, and September 17, 2018, have the same amounts as the 2018 row in the table for both Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongsang areas. In any case, you can check the enforcement decree's "history" on the National Legal Information Center to confirm the applicable Article 10, Paragraph 1 and Article 11 directly on the setup date.

There are items in the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongsang industrial complex area that still have mortgages set before February 21, 2023. If you move in with a deposit of 8,000만원 to such a house, according to the current table, you would be a top priority claimant, but if the mortgage was set in 2020, it would fall under the previous standard (6,000만원 or less), and you would not receive anything. If you only look at the table and calculate that "2,800만원 is secured," you would reach the opposite conclusion.

Gijang and Ulju are on the same line as Gyeongsangnamdo because Article 11, Paragraph 3 of the enforcement decree excludes the county areas from the metropolitan city areas. People looking at rooms in Onsan and Unyang check this line.

Two Things Not Listed in the Land Register

• Unpaid national taxes by the landlord — Although arrears are not listed in the register, they can be prioritized in the distribution. A tenant who signs a contract with a deposit exceeding 100 million won can view the unpaid national taxes and arrears without the landlord's consent from the day the lease starts (Article 109, Paragraph 2 of the National Tax Collection Act, same law, Enforcement Decree, Article 97, Paragraph 2). A tenant can apply at a tax office other than the jurisdictional one by submitting documents proving the conclusion of the lease contract (same law, Article 109, Paragraph 1, latter part, same law, Enforcement Decree, Article 97, Paragraph 1, Item 1)
• Deposits of tenants who moved in before you — In multi-unit housing, this is effectively a priority claim. The landlord must present the tenant with the confirmation date, rent, deposit information, and proof of national and local tax payments for the house at the time of signing the lease contract (Article 3-7, Items 1 and 2 of the Act on Protection of Tenants' Rights). However, if the tenant agrees to the viewing before the contract is signed, this can be substituted for actual viewing, so if you substitute with consent, check it directly by viewing.

The land register is obtained twice. Once just before the contract, and once in the morning of the day the balance is paid. There may be new mortgages set during this period.

Whether it is a full payment or monthly rent, the power to protect the deposit does not come from the lease agreement, but from three facts.

• Move-in — Actually move your belongings and live in the house
• Residence Registration (전입신고) — Move your resident registration to that address
• Certified Date (확정일자) — Obtain a certified date on the lease agreement

If the first two are completed, the right of opposition is created. Once the tenant has completed the move-in and the resident registration, the lease becomes effective against third parties the next day (Article 3, Paragraph 1 of the Act on Protection of Tenants' Rights). The latter part of the same paragraph states that the time when the resident registration is moved is considered as the time when the registration is completed. If the certified date is also present, the right to receive the deposit before the rights of subsequent claimants in auction or public sale is established (Article 3-2, Paragraph 2 of the same Act).

If even one of the three is missing, the others become ineffective. If you only obtain the certified date and delay the residence registration, the right of priority repayment will not be created.

Make the residence registration on the day of the move

According to the Resident Registration Act, the deadline is within 14 days from the day of the move. If you do not complete it within the period without a valid reason, you may be fined up to 50,000 won (Article 16, Paragraph 1 and Article 40, Paragraph 4 of the Resident Registration Act). However, you should not use up all 14 days. The right of opposition is created at 00:00 the day after the registration is made, so the period without protection is extended by the number of days the registration is delayed.

For the same reason, the day of the final payment is the most dangerous. If the landlord sets up a mortgage on the same day they receive the final payment, that mortgage will take precedence over your right of opposition. This is why the lease agreement should include a special clause stating "No change in ownership or establishment of a security interest will be made until the day after the final payment."

Where to do it

The certified date can be obtained in advance before the move if you have only the lease agreement. However, the right of priority repayment itself is created at 00:00 the day after the move-in and the residence registration are completed.

From June 1, 2025, an administrative fine (과태료) is actually charged for not reporting a housing lease contract (주택 임대차 계약 신고). The grace period that began on June 1, 2021 ended on May 31, 2025, and contracts signed on or after June 1 are subject to the fine.

• Legal basis — Act on Report of Real Estate Transactions (부동산 거래신고 등에 관한 법률), Article 6-2 (1)
• Deadline — within 30 days from the day you sign the contract
• Covered amounts — deposit over 60 million won (6,000만원) or monthly rent over 300,000 won (30만원). A renewal that only extends the period without changing the deposit or rent is excluded (Enforcement Decree of the same Act, Article 4-3 (1))
• Who must report — the landlord and the tenant jointly. If one side refuses, you can report alone (same Act, Article 6-2 (3))
• Change or cancellation — if the deposit or rent changes, or the contract is cancelled, report again within 30 days from the day it becomes final (same Act, Article 6-3 (1))

The fine went down on April 29, 2025

The legal ceiling is still up to 1 million won (100만원) (same Act, Article 28 (5) 3), but Annexed Table 3 of the Enforcement Decree, which sets the actual amounts, was amended on April 29, 2025, and the fine for a simple late or missed report dropped to at most 300,000 won (30만원). The 1 million won (100만원) fine now applies only to false reports.

The contract amount is the deposit; if there is monthly rent, add 200 times the monthly rent (Annexed Table 3, Note 2). With a deposit of 30 million won (3,000만원) and monthly rent of 400,000 won (40만원), the contract amount is 110 million won (1억 1,000만원).

A false report costs 1 million won (100만원) regardless of the contract amount. The reporting office can raise or lower the amounts above by up to one half, considering the motive, result, and number of violations (Annexed Table 3, No. 1), and if you report your own late filing, the fine can be reduced or waived (same Act, Article 29).

Am I covered in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam?

The areas where reporting is required are special self-governing cities, special self-governing provinces, cities (si), counties (gun), and districts (gu) — but among counties, only those belonging to metropolitan cities and Gyeonggi-do are included (Enforcement Decree of the same Act, Article 4-3 (2)).

Gijang-gun and Ulju-gun were left out of the top-priority repayment (최우선변제) brackets, but here they are included. Each system treats counties differently, so check each table on its own.

How to finish it in one go with your move-in report

If the tenant files a move-in report (전입신고) under the Resident Registration Act, the lease contract is considered reported (same Act, Article 6-5 (1)). And once the lease report is accepted, a fixed date (확정일자) is considered granted — but only when the lease contract document has been submitted (same Article, Paragraph 3).

So if you file your move-in report at the community service center (주민센터) and hand in the lease contract at the same time, everything except handover of the house is finished on the spot. If you file the move-in report without the contract, you must get the fixed date separately. Online, use the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Real Estate Trade Management System (부동산거래관리시스템).

Even in county areas where reporting is not required, you must still do the fixed date and the move-in report — they are separate. Having no reporting duty does not mean you can go without the protections for your deposit.

The main workplaces in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam manufacturing areas are mostly located within industrial complexes. These include areas such as Noksam and Shinho (Busan Gwangseo), Mipo and Onsan (Ulsan), Changwon National Industrial Complex, Gimhae Golden Route, and Yangsan Sammak and Eokgok. Since there are fewer available one-room apartments and many of them are old, it is common for workers to rent a room in the city and take a shuttle bus to work.

Therefore, the order must be reversed. Renting a room first and then choosing a company can cause problems with commuting. First, check the shuttle bus routes of the company you are applying to, and then look for a room in the neighborhood that the route passes through.

The Point Where Monthly Fixed Costs Differ

On the BIZ360 Small and Medium Enterprise Detail page, there are four items: shuttle bus, dormitory, shift pattern, and starting salary. Each company fills in these items to a different extent, so by comparing a few companies that have filled in the most important details, you can narrow down the neighborhoods you need to visit to look for a room. Leave the empty items as questions to ask during the interview.

Shortening the Contract Period Doesn't Necessarily Mean a Loss

It is common to hear that it is burdensome because the probation period is 3 months, while the lease is for 2 years. If the lease period is not specified or is less than 2 years, it is considered as 2 years, but the tenant can argue that the period specified as less than 2 years is valid(Article 4, Paragraph 2 of the Housing Lease Protection Act). Even if you sign a lease for 1 year, it does not necessarily put you at a disadvantage.

However, leaving in the middle of the contract period is a different issue. If you leave before the contract period is up, the deposit refund may be delayed until the next tenant is found. In reality, there are cases where people move after a few months because the shift pattern doesn't suit them, so checking the shift pattern before signing the contract can also help reduce the problem of finding a room.