Renting a home in Korea safely: a jeonse and wolse guide for foreign residents

How jeonse and wolse work

• Jeonse (전세): you pay a large lump-sum deposit (보증금) and usually no monthly rent. When the lease ends, the landlord must return the whole deposit.
• Wolse (월세): you pay a smaller deposit plus monthly rent. A larger deposit with lower rent is often called semi-jeonse (반전세, 보증부 월세).

Either way, the deposit is your biggest risk. If the landlord has too much debt or the home is sold at auction (경매), you can lose part or all of it. This guide is mostly about protecting that money.

The Housing Lease Protection Act (주택임대차보호법) gives tenants a two-year term, one right to renew and a cap on increases. A contract clause that takes these protections away from a tenant has no effect.

Before you sign: check the property register

The key document is the certified copy of the property register (등기사항전부증명서, commonly ‘등기부등본’). Anyone can view it on the Internet Registry Office (대법원 인터넷등기소, www.iros.go.kr) by entering the address, for 700 won. The site is in Korean, so ask your agent or a friend to help.

• Choose “include cancelled entries” (말소사항 포함) to see past seizures and debts, shown crossed out.
• Detached and multi-household houses (단독주택, 다가구주택) have separate land and building registers. Check both.

Description section (표제부). Compare the address, unit number and floor area with your contract. The number on the door can differ from the register; your contract and move-in report must use the unit number on the register. Illegal extensions are not shown here, so also check the building ledger (건축물대장) on Gov24 (정부24).

Section A (갑구): ownership. The owner in the last ownership entry is the current owner. Check that the landlord’s ID matches the name and date of birth. Red flags:

If ownership changed in the last few months, ask why. Selling a new villa and renting it out the same day, for a deposit above the home’s value, was a common jeonse-fraud method.

Section B (을구): other rights, mostly bank collateral mortgages (근저당권). Look at the maximum secured amount (채권최고액), usually about 120–130% of the actual loan. In an auction the bank is paid before you, up to this amount.

Also watch for a registered lease (임차권등기): a previous tenant left without their deposit, and a new tenant in that home cannot get small-deposit priority repayment. Check that anyone else’s jeonse right (전세권) will be removed.

Check the register three times: before deciding, just before signing, and just before paying the balance (잔금).

The register does not show:

• Unpaid taxes. Ask for tax payment certificates (국세·지방세 납세증명서). Since April 2023, a tenant with a deposit over 10 million won can view the landlord’s unpaid taxes at the tax office or local government until the lease starts, without consent.
• Other tenants’ deposits in a multi-household house. They rank ahead of you. Get the record of fixed dates granted (확정일자 부여현황) and confirmation of registered households (전입세대확인서) at the community center (주민센터) with the landlord’s consent, which the landlord must give or show you since April 2023.
• The landlord’s guarantee history. HUG’s Safe Jeonse app (안심전세앱) shows market prices, and once an agent confirms you intend to sign, whether the landlord is banned from HUG guarantees.

Who you sign with and where the money goes

• Sign with the registered owner, and compare their ID with Section A.
• If a representative (대리인) signs, get a power of attorney (위임장) with the owner’s registered seal and a certificate of seal impression (인감증명서), and call the owner to confirm the terms. In one common fraud, a manager allowed to arrange only wolse signs a jeonse lease and keeps the deposit.
• Pay only into an account in the registered owner’s name.
• Trust homes (신탁): a lease with the original owner alone may not protect you. Get the trust record (신탁원부), and attach written consent from the trust company and the priority beneficiary (우선수익자). Pay into the account named in the trust record.
• Check the person is a licensed agent (공인중개사). An assistant (중개보조원) must say so and cannot write the contract.
• Be careful with new villas with no past sales to compare, or buildings where many units changed owners at once. Checking first whether deposit guarantee insurance is available is a good filter.

Agent’s fee (중개보수) is a legal maximum, not a fixed price, so agree it in writing before signing. For leases the cap is 0.5% (max 200,000 won) under 50 million won, 0.4% (max 300,000 won) from 50 to 100 million, and 0.3% from 100 to 600 million. For wolse, the amount is deposit + rent × 100 (or × 70 if that is under 50 million). VAT is extra. Payments above the cap are not allowed.

Special terms to add to the contract

A useful special term (특약) says who must do what, by when, and what happens if not (for example, you may cancel and get all your money back). “Will cooperate” has no force. Korean wording from this site’s Korean guide:

1. No new mortgage until the day after the balance payment.
   임대인은 잔금 지급일 다음 날까지 이 주택에 근저당권 등 담보권을 설정하거나 소유권을 이전하지 않는다. 이를 위반한 경우 임차인은 계약을 해제할 수 있으며, 임대인은 받은 금액 전부를 즉시 반환하고 이로 인한 손해를 배상한다.
2. Cancel if deposit guarantee insurance is refused because of the landlord or the home.
   임차인이 전세보증금반환보증(주택도시보증공사, 한국주택금융공사, SGI서울보증 등)에 가입하지 못하는 사유가 임대인이나 주택의 사정으로 확인된 경우 임차인은 계약을 해제할 수 있으며, 임대인은 받은 계약금 등을 즉시 반환한다.
3. Existing mortgage paid off and removed at the balance payment, or you may cancel.
4. Cancel if unpaid taxes are found before the balance payment, or if your jeonse loan is refused because of the home or landlord.
5. Trust consent attached; repairs of defects and worn-out boilers, pipes and leaks by the landlord; normal wear excluded from restoration, with move-in photos; notice before the home is sold; and for multi-household houses, disclosure of earlier tenants’ deposits.

Terms that break the Act and hurt the tenant, such as giving up your renewal right, have no effect. But terms on restoration, repairs, penalties or management fees are usually valid even if unfair, so change them before signing. A special term lets you undo a contract; it cannot recover a lost deposit.

On move-in day: 전입신고 and 확정일자

• Move-in report: online on Gov24 or at the community center. Foreign residents may follow a different procedure from citizens, so ask the community center or 1345 which report applies to you, and file it on move-in day.
• Fixed-date stamp: at the community center, a registry office, or online via the Internet Registry Office, from the day you sign. Online requests after 16:00 on weekdays may, and after 18:00 or on weekends and holidays will, be dated the next working day. Visit the community center on a weekday for a same-day date.
• A move-in report filed online does not include the stamp. Get both.

Keep your registration at this address for the whole lease; moving it elsewhere, even briefly, loses opposing power (unless family members stay registered). Take dated photos and video of the home on move-in day.

Report the lease within 30 days

Under the housing lease reporting system (주택 임대차 신고제, ‘전월세 신고제’), report the lease if:

• the deposit is over 60 million won, or the rent is over 300,000 won a month;
• the home is in a special self-governing city or province, a city or district (시·구), a metropolitan city, or a county (군) of Gyeonggi-do (counties in other provinces are excluded).

Report within 30 days of signing, online on the Real Estate Transaction Management System (부동산거래관리시스템) or at the community center. If one side submits the contract signed by both, it counts as a joint report. Reporting with the contract also gives you a fixed-date stamp, and submitting the contract with your move-in report completes the lease report. A renewal that only extends the term is exempt. For contracts from 1 June 2025, late or missing reports are fined 20,000–300,000 won; false reports, 1 million won.

Deposit return guarantee insurance (HUG basics, deadlines)

Deposit return guarantee insurance (전세보증금반환보증) pays your deposit if the landlord cannot. Rules of the Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (주택도시보증공사, HUG):

Example: a villa with a 200 million won official price counts as 280 million; 90% is 252 million, which must cover your deposit plus senior debts.

Main requirements: move-in report and fixed-date stamp; a lease of at least one year; a contract brokered and stamped by a licensed agent; land and building both owned by the landlord; no auction, seizure, attachment, injunction or provisional registration in Section A; not an illegal building (apartments excepted); and a landlord not banned by HUG. Ask HUG whether your residence status affects eligibility.

For wolse, HUG converts rent to a deposit amount at 6.5% a year. HF (한국주택금융공사) and SGI Seoul Guarantee (SGI서울보증) offer similar products.

Small-deposit priority repayment

In an auction, tenants with small deposits get part of their deposit back before even the bank (최우선변제). For mortgages set on or after 21 February 2023:

• Move in and file your move-in report before the auction-start entry is registered.
• All priority payments together cannot exceed half the home’s value.
• File a demand for distribution (배당요구) by the court’s deadline.
• The oldest mortgage’s date matters. For an older mortgage, its older, lower amounts apply; in Seoul, for one set from 11 May 2021 to 20 February 2023, the limits are 150 million and 50 million.
• For wolse only the deposit counts. A home with a registered lease gives a new tenant no priority.

Former Gwangju Metropolitan City areas, part of Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City (전남광주통합특별시) since July 2026, still use the metropolitan city amounts until the rules are amended. This protects only part of a deposit, so consider guarantee insurance too.

Renewal rights and the 5% cap

• Right to request renewal (계약갱신요구권): ask 6 to 2 months before the lease ends. Usable once, for 2 more years.
• 5% cap: deposit or rent can rise by 5% at most (local rules may set less), with no further rise for a year.
• You can end a renewed lease any time; it ends 3 months after the landlord gets your notice.
• Ask by text, email or certified mail (내용증명), clearly: “계약갱신요구권을 행사합니다.”

The landlord can refuse only for legal reasons, such as two months’ unpaid rent, subletting, serious damage, rebuilding, or the landlord or their lineal family (such as parents or children) moving in. If they refuse for their own use and then rent to someone else without a valid reason, you can claim damages, so keep the message.

Implied renewal (묵시적 갱신): if the landlord gives no notice 6 to 2 months before the end and you give none by 2 months before, the lease continues on the same terms for 2 years. You can leave with 3 months’ notice, and keep your renewal right for later.

Jeonse cannot be changed to wolse without your consent. If you agree, the conversion rate is capped at the lower of 10% and the base rate + 2 points (5% at today’s 3.0% base rate), and the total increase must stay within 5%.

If your deposit is not returned (임차권등기명령)

1. Do not rush to move out. Your protection depends on living there and staying registered.
2. If insured, claim from the guarantor; check its deadlines before the lease ends.
3. Apply for a lease registration order (임차권등기명령) at the local court after the lease ends. Move only after the registration appears on the register; moving after only applying loses your protection.
4. Send certified mail (내용증명), then a payment order (지급명령) or lawsuit, which can lead to a forced auction (강제경매).
5. Mediation by the Housing Lease Dispute Mediation Committee (주택임대차분쟁조정위원회) can be faster and cheaper than court.

For suspected jeonse fraud, the Jeonse Damage and Prevention Support Center (전세피해 및 예방지원센터) gives legal, financial and housing counseling, and since May 2026 also reviews registers and contracts before signing. Recognized victims under the special act can get postponed auctions, a right to buy first and financial support; it applies only to tenants who first signed their lease on or before 31 May 2025, the act runs until 31 May 2027, and minimum compensation and advance payments are scheduled from 13 November 2026.

Where to get help

Checked on official websites on 23 October 2026.

Sources: 1345 · KLAC · HUG · HUG jeonse support · Seoul portal · Danuri · Gov24. Korean originals with legal sources: /guide/registry/, /guide/after-contract/, /guide/renewal/.