A licensed real estate agent who brokered a large number of buildings for lease fraud was punished 'with a soft bat'.

It's difficult to return the deposit, but they lie and say, "There's no problem."
In reality, you can only be prosecuted and fined for ‘violation of the Licensed Real Estate Act’.
Expert: “It is difficult to prove accomplices… The level of punishment under the Brokerage Act must be increased.”

In Busan, real estate agents and brokerage assistants who were put on trial on charges of brokering a large number of leased buildings were sentenced to fines one after another. There are many voices demanding that those who provided the primary cause of jeonse fraud be severely punished, but in reality, only fines are imposed, raising criticism that punishment should be strengthened.

According to the legal community on the 26th, Judge Beom-yong Lee of the 4th Division of the Eastern Branch of the Busan District Court sentenced five people, including licensed real estate agent A and a real estate agent assistant, to fines of 2 to 7 million won each, who were indicted on charges of violating the Licensed Real Estate Agent Act.

While working as a licensed real estate agent and brokerage assistant in Suyeong-gu, Mr. A and others are accused of inducing a provisional contract by hiding this fact during the brokerage process, although the return of the deposit is not guaranteed as they have collateral for an officetel equal to the price of the building.

Afterwards, when the tenants found out about this fact on the day of signing the contract, Mr. A and others are accused of deceiving them again by saying, "The sale price of the officetel building is over 8 billion won, so there is no problem with returning the deposit."

However, the appraised value of the building was only 4.8 to 5.3 billion won, and the mortgage amounted to 5.2 billion won.

In fact, Mr. B (40s), the officetel landlord brokered by Mr. A and others, did not return the 1.745 billion won rental deposit of 17 tenants, and the tenants who were introduced to the house by them became victims of lease fraud overnight.

In addition, Mr. A and others are known to have brokered dozens of buildings for the case of C (40s), who committed a 15.5 billion won lease fraud, and Mr. D (50s, female), who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for a 18 billion won lease fraud.

In this process, Mr. A and others are said to have reassured the tenants by saying things like, "It is safe because Mr. C's father is the head of a successful small business," or "There are several other buildings besides this one. All senior loans are held by a corporation, so it is safe," and then encouraged them to sign a real estate contract.

Afterwards, tenants tried to sue them, but it was reported that they were unable to sue as recordings of conversations or messages they had with real estate agents when signing contracts between 2020 and 2023 disappeared over time, or even if they did, most of them were acquitted.

Previously, last March, Criminal Division 3 of the Western Branch of the Busan District Court sentenced real estate agents and brokerage assistants indicted on charges of violating the Licensed Real Estate Brokerage Act to fines of 2 to 5 million won.

They were also known to have brokered many of the buildings in Mr. D's case, but the assistant broker was only indicted on charges of brokering buildings in the name of a licensed real estate agent and was only punished with a fine.

Victims of jeonse fraud claim that real estate agents who provided the primary cause of the jeonse fraud should also be punished as accomplices to the jeonse fraud, but the reality is not easy.

Attorney Seungchan Lee of Daeryun Law Firm said, "The essence of large-scale lease fraud is 'fraud.' Therefore, in order to punish a real estate agent as a principal or accomplice to fraud, it is necessary to prove that it meets the requirements of the crime of fraud, but in reality, it is very difficult to prove the intentionality of the fraud." He added, "For this reason, it is not easy to punish the real estate agents or assistant brokers who brokered a large number of buildings for lease fraud as accomplices in the lease fraud."

Experts suggested raising the level of punishment under the Licensed Real Estate Agent Act as a realistic alternative.

Kang Jeong-gyu, dean of Dong-A University's Graduate School of Real Estate, said, "Although it is a small number, some unscrupulous real estate agents are abusing jeonse fraud. There is a need to strengthen the punishment provisions of the Licensed Real Estate Agent Act in order to prevent future (lease fraud) crimes. Also, if similar cases continue to occur, there is an alternative to creating a detailed punishment provision in the Licensed Real Estate Agent Act to provide for aggravated punishment in cases related to jeonse fraud."

Reporter Kwon Tae-wan (kwon97@newsis.com)

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