A Study on Legal and Institutional Measures for the Prevention and Remedy of Jeonse Fraud: Focusing on Field Experts' Perspectives

This study aims to identify the limitations of current laws and institutional frameworks related to jeonse(long-term rental deposit) fraud—a serious crime that distorts the real estate market and undermines tenants' property rights —and to propose effective policy improvements to enhance tenant protection and housing stability. To this end, the study analyzed special government enforcement cases and existing domestic literature, and conducted a FGI(Focus Group Interview) with on-site legal and real estate professionals, including licensed real estate agents, appraisers, foreclosure instructors, professors, city council members, lawyers, and police officers. The analysis of the FGI results yielded six major institutional reform proposals: (1) strengthening the social responsibility and ethical standards of licensed real estate agents through improved training and qualification measures; (2) enhancing the duty of explanation and verification regarding real estate properties to address information asymmetries that increase risk for tenants; (3) introducing a mandatory notification system to inform tenants of any change in the landlord's ownership, particularly in high-risk scenarios such as fraudulent transfers or hidden trusts; (4) establishing a pre-compensation and post-recovery(Seongujae-Hugusang) system to provide timely relief for victims by easing the requirements for official victim recognition; (5) mandating the registration of leasehold rights to legally protect tenants’ claims and enhance transparency; and (6) applying criminal organization charges and introducing emergency confiscation and preservation measures to more effectively address and deter organized and large-scale jeonse fraud. This study holds academic significance in that it systematically examines the limitations of current laws and institutions related to rental fraud through a review of previous studies, and derives more empirical and in-depth policy improvement measures by incorporating the perspectives of legal and field experts.