경기도(Gyeonggi Province)announced on the 23rd that it conducted joint inspections of 527 licensed real estate brokerage offices in the province to create a safe real estate brokerage market and prevent jeonse fraud, uncovering 69 violations at 67 offices and taking administrative and investigative measures.
The province conducted joint inspections from April 27 to June 19 with municipal and county governments and the Safe Jeonse Management Team. The inspection targets were set through consultative meetings of municipal and county governments and the Safe Jeonse Management Team operating council.
As a result of the inspection, the province took 49 administrative actions including 2 cases of registration cancellation, 1 case of credential suspension, 18 cases of business suspension, and 28 cases of fines, while referring 9 cases for investigation. The remaining 11 cases were issued warnings or corrective measures.
The main violations were failure to fulfill obligations to confirm brokerage targets, prepare, deliver, and retain description documents, omission of signatures and seals, failure to report employment and dismissal, violations of display and advertising regulations, and others. Serious violations such as lending of registration certificates, unlicensed brokerage, and collection of brokerage commissions exceeding legal standards were also confirmed.
In particular, cases were identified where brokerage offices failed to properly explain whether the property owner had authority to lease the property or whether other mortgages or priority rights were established while brokering properties that were placed in trust (houses entrusted by owners to trust companies). Tenants suffered losses of deposits because the changes in rights were not re-examined before payment of the final installment.
Along with inspecting illegal practices, the province also examined whether 1,057 licensed real estate brokerage offices participating in the 'Gyeonggi Safe Jeonse Project' were fulfilling their implementation tasks. As a result, 933 offices, or 88.3%, were found to be implementing their tasks, including 770 excellent offices and 163 average offices. There were 101 offices with insufficient implementation and 9 non-participating offices, with 14 other cases including closures or suspensions.
The Gyeonggi Safe Jeonse Project is a public-private cooperation initiative designed to have licensed real estate brokers guide tenants on matters to confirm before contract and verify risk factors for jeonse fraud during the contracting process. In this inspection, the province guided brokerage offices with insufficient implementation or non-participation in the project on necessary implementation methods at actual contract stages, including provision of tenant checklists, explanation of mandatory special provisions, and re-confirmation of rights changes after contract.
Meanwhile, separate from this inspection, Gyeonggi Province and Yongin City conducted joint inspections from May to June targeting the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster development area, where concerns about overheated real estate transactions were raised, and referred 3 cases for investigation including 2 suspected cases of unlicensed brokerage and 1 suspected case of double registration. Four cases such as closed brokerage offices failing to remove signs or display mutual aid certificates were corrected on-site or subject to administrative guidance.
Son Im-seong, Director of Urban Housing at Gyeonggi Province, stated, "We will continuously monitor substantial implementation so that the Safe Jeonse Project takes root in the field and respond strictly to illegal practices in the brokerage process," adding, "We will create a transparent and safe real estate brokerage environment where residents can transact with peace of mind."