I need help with a lawsuit for the return of a deposit.

Hello. This is a real estate attorney at Daeryun Law LLC.

Your inquiry concerns a case in which, after the termination of a lease, the landlord refuses to return the deposit or avoids contact, which is a very frequently occurring type of dispute.

To address your question directly, a tenant legally holds the right to claim the return of the deposit, and if the landlord refuses to return it, you can recover your rights through a lawsuit for the return of the deposit.

In a lawsuit for the return of a deposit, the fact that the lease has terminated and the fact that the deposit was paid must be clear.

That is, you must prove that ① the lease term has expired, or ② the tenant lawfully gave notice of termination of the contract, and ③ the leased property was surrendered (delivered) to the landlord.

For this, the lease agreement, records of the deposit transfer, and materials confirming the handover of the building (such as text messages regarding the return of keys and photographs) serve as important evidence.

Before proceeding with litigation, if you formally demand the return of the deposit from the landlord through a certified content-proof mail, this can be used as evidence in any subsequent lawsuit.

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

A point to note when filing a lawsuit is whether the surrender of possession (vacating the premises) has been completed.

If the tenant is still in possession, or if the removal of fixtures and restoration to the original state has not been completed, the landlord is highly likely to argue, on this basis, that he “will offset the deposit” or that he “will withhold the timing of the return.”

Therefore, when vacating the premises, you must be sure to secure objective evidence, such as interior photographs, an estimate for the removal work, and text messages regarding the handover of keys.

In addition, if the landlord intentionally avoids contact, you may also make use of the application for a payment order, in addition to a court lawsuit.

A payment order is a procedure by which a decision can be obtained quickly through a review of documents alone, and if the other party does not raise an objection, it becomes final immediately, making compulsory execution possible.

However, the landlord may file a counterclaim during the litigation or assert an offset for the premium or facility costs, so it is necessary, from the pre-litigation stage, to organize the evidence and specify the purpose of the claim with the assistance of a legal expert.

Daeryun Law LLC has handled numerous cases relating to commercial leases, such as the return of deposits, lease disputes, and the recovery of premiums.

Because a prompt response is key in a lawsuit for the return of a deposit, consulting with a real estate attorney and proceeding systematically, from the preparation of certified content-proof mail to the filing of the lawsuit and the compulsory execution procedure, is what we recommend.