Uijeongbu Legal Consultation | A Client Who Came to Daeryun Recovers a Deposit From a Landlord Who Disappeared Without Returning It

The client who visited Daeryun Law Firm through an Uijeongbu legal consultation was an ordinary office worker.

Because the distance between the client's family home and workplace was far, the client needed to find a studio apartment to live in near the workplace.

After searching diligently, the client found a studio apartment in a good location, and without hesitation entered into a two-year lease.

The client paid a deposit of approximately 150 million won, moved in, and even obtained a fixed date.

A year and six months passed, and the client was assigned to another region.

Because the client had to move, the client informed the landlord of the plan to vacate without renewing the contract.

The landlord also responded by saying, "Understood."

However, a few months later, the landlord's position reversed completely.

The landlord began to assert that the deposit could not be returned until the next tenant was found.

A few days later, an even more astonishing development occurred.

The landlord notified the client to recover the deposit from a new landlord, stating that ownership of the real estate had been transferred to another person.

However, the new landlord also did not pay the deposit to the client.

Accordingly, the client visited Daeryun Law Firm through an Uijeongbu legal consultation and requested the assistance of the legal team.

■ Relevant Statutes

Housing Lease Protection Act, Article 3

If the deposit has not been returned after the lease has ended, the lessee may apply for an order to register the lease right to the district court, the branch of the district court, or the city or county court having jurisdiction over the location of the leased housing.

Housing Lease Protection Act, Article 4

Even after the lease term has ended, the lease relationship shall be deemed to continue until the lessee has been refunded the deposit.

Civil Act, Article 393 (2)

The obligor shall be liable to compensate for damage arising from special circumstances only where the obligor knew or could have known of such circumstances.

■ Relevant Precedent

In a housing lease with opposing power, even where the lease has terminated by expiration of the term or by agreement of the parties, the lessee is deemed under Article 4 (2) of the Housing Lease Protection Act to remain in the lease relationship until the deposit has been refunded. Therefore, where the leased real estate is transferred in such a state, the transferee, under Article 3 (2) of the same Act, naturally succeeds to the position of lessor in the state in which the lease has terminated. Where the transferee succeeds to the position of lessor, the obligation to return the lease deposit is also transferred as a whole in combination with the ownership of the real estate, so that the transferor's position as lessor and the obligation to return the deposit are extinguished. However, in light of the legislative purpose of the lease protection statute, which is to protect the lessee, where the lessee does not wish for the lessor's position to be succeeded, it is reasonable to find that the lessee may be released from the binding effect of the succeeded lease relationship by raising an objection within a reasonable period from the time the lessee becomes aware of the fact that the leased housing has been transferred. In such a case, the transferor's obligation to return the deposit to the lessee shall be found not to be extinguished (see Supreme Court Decision 2001Da64615, decided September 4, 2002, and others)

The attorneys of Daeryun Law Firm who conducted the Uijeongbu legal consultation formed a dedicated team and established a strategy for winning the case so that they could recover the deposit as quickly as possible.

As a result of the assistance provided to the client by the attorneys of Daeryun Law Firm through the Uijeongbu legal consultation, the court rendered a judgment for the plaintiff.

The court decided that the existing landlord and the new landlord should jointly return the deposit to the client.