300 REALTORS LINKED TO RENTAL SCAM

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The prevalent rental fraud cases in the capital region involve landlords, real estate agents, and others working together to deceive tenants, by presenting the property as a safe listing and taking their deposit money. In Guri City, Gyeonggido Province, more than 20 people are under investigation in relation to a "rental fraud" case. According to a KBS report, over 300 real estate agents are known to be involved.

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Park moved into a newly built studio apartment located in Guri, Gyeonggido Province in June 2021 under the "jeonse" rental scheme involving a lump sum deposit. The sale and jeonse price for the unit was the same and a consulting firm assured the tenant with these words.

[Soundbite] (Rental fraud victim(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "The landlord is a rental business operator and has mandatory membership of the Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation. He is offering advance payment of KRW 2 mn to cover the interest on the jeonse loan."

However, in February, four months before the rent was to expire, Park found out that the house was under seizure. It was seized last September due to tax arrears by the landlord surnamed Go. All 11 tenants in the same building found themselves in the same situation.

[Soundbite] (Rental fraud victim(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "I said I can't live in anxiety and asked to end the contract before it expired. The landlord said he would do it but he didn't mention returning the deposit."

According to a police investigation, Go and his associates, dubbed the so-called "Villa Kings", were renting out a total of 946 residential units in Seoul and Incheon, including 11 studio apartments in Guri. Police suspect the men purchased properties using the jeonse deposit, an investment method involving little or no capital due to the slim difference between the sale and jeonse price. The suspects are also found to have solicited the help of a large number of real estate agents whose job was to attract tenants. Over 300 realtors received kickbacks in the form of brokerage fees higher than the legal rate. Among them, police are narrowing down those who actively took part in such transactions.

[Soundbite] Eom Jeong-suk(Lawyer) : "Realtors are inevitably involved in 80-90% of all rental scams. This is proactive deception."

Go is also among the list of 176 "vicious landlords" compiled by KBS and a research team at Yonsei University. Go alone owns 540 or so properties, including 175 in Seoul's Gangseo-gu District, 58 in Geumcheon-gu District, 57 in Guro-gu District and 34 in Incheon's Namdong-gu District. Go and some 20 associates have been booked on fraud charges as the police expand their probe into realtors and other involved parties.