CONTENTS
- 1. Attorneys Handling Jeonse Fraud Matters | Jeonse Fraud Damage Still on the Rise
- - Government and Local Authority Responses Expand… Yet the ‘Contract-Stage Risk’ Remains
- - Private Insurance Supplements Emerge… How Effective Are They?
- 2. Attorneys Handling Jeonse Fraud Matters | Risk Points in the 2026 Jeonse Market
- - The March Moving Season: Checkpoints to Review Before Signing a Contract
- - Jeonse Fraud: Prevention and the Initial Response Determine the Outcome
- 3. Attorneys Handling Jeonse Fraud Matters | Scope of Assistance by Daeryun Law Firm LLP
- - Materials to Prepare for a Jeonse Fraud Consultation
1. Attorneys Handling Jeonse Fraud Matters | Jeonse Fraud Damage Still on the Rise
Attorneys handling jeonse fraud matters have clearly sensed in recent consultations the anxiety that precedes the March moving season.
This is because, with the new semester and the corporate personnel-transfer season overlapping, a ‘jeonse fraud alert’ has once again been issued for the lease and monthly-rent market.
Coinciding with the period when demand for housing among university students and people early in their careers surges, organized and sophisticated schemes such as double contracts, fake landlords, and document forgery are recurring.
In particular, with the mindset of “surely it won’t happen to me” combining with tight moving schedules, cases in which the indispensable pre-contract verification steps are skipped continue to occur.
According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, the number of recognized jeonse fraud victims increased from 35,909 on December 31, 2025, to 36,449 on January 27, 2026.
This figure represents an additional 540 victims within a single month, and 60.4% of the damage (Seoul 10,375, Gyeonggi 8,010, and Incheon 3,635 cases) is concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area.
In particular, young people under the age of 40 account for 75.96%, showing a close connection with the demand for solo housing among those moving to the capital region.
In the consultation cases of attorneys handling jeonse fraud matters as well, multi-household housing, officetels, and multi-family housing appear as the principal types of disputes.
Government and Local Authority Responses Expand… Yet the ‘Contract-Stage Risk’ Remains
To support jeonse fraud victims, the government is pursuing measures such as expanding LH’s purchase of affected housing, a fast-track for auction procedures, and strengthened housing, financial, and legal support.
In fact, LH’s purchase record has reached 5,889 units, and the pace of purchases has increased substantially of late.
Local authorities are also strengthening preventive and follow-up measures, including forming legal advisory teams, providing guarantee-fee support, linking with jeonse damage support centers, and launching safe-jeonse management units.
The aspect of greatest concern, however, is the ‘forgery and deception occurring at the contract-conclusion stage’, as set out below.
2. Contracts with fake landlords
3. Mortgage registered on the day of the move-in report
4. Document fabrication by colluding brokers
With these schemes, the deposit is already tied up or gone before the victim-recognition procedure begins.
Institutional relief is expanding, but the safeguards that prevent the harm from occurring in the first place remain weak.
Private Insurance Supplements Emerge… How Effective Are They?
Private insurers have recently drawn market attention by launching supplementary products for jeonse fraud.
Some products expressly list contracts with fake landlords, double contracts, forged real estate registers, and a mortgage registered on the day of the move-in report as covered events, and coverage limits are set from a minimum of 10 million won up to a maximum of 1 billion won.
Insurance, however, is not a substitute for ‘verification procedures’; it is closer to a device that supplements the risk remaining even after verification.
Accordingly, regardless of whether insurance is obtained, the steps of checking the rights relationships in the real estate register, checking senior deposits and any arrears, verifying the owner’s real name and authority to act, and reviewing eligibility for a return guarantee must always be carried out first.
2. Attorneys Handling Jeonse Fraud Matters | Risk Points in the 2026 Jeonse Market
2. A structure of concentrated harm among young people and those early in their careers is becoming entrenched
3. Forgery and deception schemes at the contract stage are becoming more refined
4. Even with the expansion of after-the-fact relief systems, the recovery rate drops sharply when the initial response is delayed
Jeonse fraud cases, in particular, are not simple monetary disputes; they have a composite structure in which procedures such as criminal complaints (for fraud, document forgery, and the like), civil litigation for the return of the deposit, and responses to auction and distribution procedures proceed simultaneously.
The assistance of attorneys handling jeonse fraud matters carries significance not at the level of representing a client in filing a complaint, but at the strategy-formulation stage of integrating the criminal, civil, auction, and administrative procedures into a single design.
The March Moving Season: Checkpoints to Review Before Signing a Contract
- Confirm a ‘same-day-issued copy’ of the real estate register
- Whether the owner’s identification and account holder name match
- The amount of senior deposits
- The possibility of a mortgage being registered
- Management of the move-in report and fixed-date scheduling
- Eligibility for a return guarantee
Attorneys handling jeonse fraud matters can block structural risks in advance through legal review not only when responding after damage has occurred, but also at the pre-contract risk-diagnosis stage.
Jeonse Fraud: Prevention and the Initial Response Determine the Outcome
Jeonse fraud is a serious matter that can derail one’s entire plans for study, work, and daily life.
Institutional support from the government and local authorities is expanding, but the risk at the contract stage still falls heavily on the individual.
If you are preparing a contract ahead of the March moving season or have noticed suspicious circumstances, it is safer to set the direction of your response through an initial diagnosis by an attorney handling jeonse fraud matters.
In the following situations, it is safer to seek legal review immediately.
3. Attorneys Handling Jeonse Fraud Matters | Scope of Assistance by Daeryun Law Firm LLP
The attorneys at our firm who handle jeonse fraud matters provide practical assistance through coordinated collaboration with relevant legal experts.
Response to Criminal Procedures
- Reviewing whether there was fraud, document forgery, or broker collusion
- Drafting the criminal complaint and accompanying the client when giving statements to investigative agencies
- Analyzing the accomplice structure and identifying the scale of the damage
- Reviewing the possibility of seizure and collection of equivalent value
Design of Civil Procedures
- Determining whether to file litigation for the return of the deposit
- Applying for preservative measures such as provisional attachment and provisional injunction
- Applying for an order to register the lease right
- Formulating a joint response strategy for cases involving multiple victims
Linkage with Administrative and Support Procedures
- Reviewing the application for recognition as a jeonse fraud victim
- Determining eligibility for the purchase of affected housing
- Supporting the procedure for claiming under the guarantee insurance
- Linking with local-authority legal support and guarantee-fee support
Materials to Prepare for a Jeonse Fraud Consultation
If you prepare the materials below before a consultation with an attorney handling jeonse fraud matters, a response can be arranged more smoothly.
Category | Materials to Prepare |
Contract documents | Lease agreement, special terms, and the brokerage object confirmation and explanation statement |
Remittance records | Transfer records for the down payment and balance |
Registration materials | The real estate register at the time of the contract and as of the present |
Move-in report and fixed date | Move-in report date and fixed-date confirmation |
Landlord and broker materials | Text messages, KakaoTalk messages, recordings, and a copy of the identification |
Return-request records | Content-certified mail and text-message captures |
Auction and attachment materials | The auction commencement notice and the claim notice |
Guarantee insurance and support materials | Whether a return guarantee was obtained, and the victim application form |
Even if not all materials are available, an attorney handling jeonse fraud matters can make an initial diagnosis of procedural priorities and the likelihood of recovery based on the materials secured.
By conducting a preliminary review with an attorney handling jeonse fraud matters, you can reduce unnecessary losses of time and cost.
