I need help with a deposit return lawsuit.

Hello. I am a real estate specialist attorney at Daeryun Law Firm.

Your question is a very common type of dispute where the landlord refuses to return the deposit or avoids contact after the lease has ended.

To get straight to the point, the tenant legally has the right to claim the deposit return, and if the landlord refuses to return it, you can recover your rights through a deposit return lawsuit.

For a deposit return lawsuit, the fact of the lease termination and the fact of deposit payment must be clear.

That is, you must prove ① the contract period has expired or ② the tenant lawfully notified termination of the contract, and ③ the leased premises were delivered (turned over) to the landlord.

For this, the lease contract, deposit transfer records, and building delivery confirmation materials (key return text messages, photos, etc.) are important evidence.

If you officially demand the deposit return from the landlord through content-certified mail before initiating litigation, it can be utilized as evidence in subsequent litigation.

If the landlord still does not respond or shows an attitude of refusing to return, you must file a deposit return lawsuit at the district court.

One thing to be careful about when filing the lawsuit is whether vacating (eviction) has been completed.

If the tenant is still occupying or if the removal of facilities/restoration to original state has not been completed, the landlord is likely to claim "I will offset against the deposit" or "I will withhold the return time" for that reason.

Therefore, when vacating, you must secure objective evidence such as interior photos, removal estimates, and key delivery text messages.

Also, if the landlord intentionally avoids contact, you can also use the payment order application system in addition to court litigation.

A payment order is a procedure that can quickly receive a decision based only on document review, and if the other party does not object, it is immediately confirmed and compulsory execution becomes possible.

However, since the landlord may file a counterclaim during the litigation process or claim premium offset, etc., it is necessary to organize evidence and specify the cause of action through the assistance of legal experts from before the litigation stage.

Daeryun Law Firm has handled many cases related to commercial leases such as deposit return, lease disputes, and premium recovery.

Since prompt response is key in deposit return lawsuits, we recommend consulting with a real estate specialist attorney to systematically proceed from drafting content-certified mail to filing the lawsuit and compulsory execution procedures.