A person in his 40s who disposed of an apartment without permission from the actual owner… Law: “Compensation of 1 billion won for house price”

Let’s sell the apartment after signing the sales contract… “In effect, the apartment was disposed of without a trust agreement or permission.”
The court said, “Plaintiff immediately delivers the money to the defendant and returns the deposit directly… It is subject to a title trust agreement.”

A man in his 40s who arbitrarily disposed of an apartment that had been entrusted to him by a relative had to pay over 1 billion won in damages.

According to the legal community on the 15th, the Seongnam Branch of Suwon District Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit seeking compensation filed by A, a man in his 60s, against B, a man in his 40s, on the 12th of last month.

In 2016, Mr. A signed a sales contract with Mr. B, a relative, and transferred the title to the apartment he owned. Soon after, after consultation with the tenant who lived here, Mr. B terminated the lease contract and began living on his own.

However, a problem arose when Mr. B disposed of the apartment in 2023. Mr. A's side claimed that the real estate contract in question was concluded in the form of a 'title trust' and that, therefore, Mr. A disposed of the apartment without permission even though he was the actual owner. At the same time, he filed a lawsuit claiming that he should receive back about 1 billion won, which is equivalent to the market price of the apartment at the time of sale.

Mr. B immediately refuted. It is said that the real estate was purchased by paying the sale price to Mr. A normally. He emphasized that even when he terminated the contract with the existing tenant, he personally returned the deposit.

The court ruled in Mr. A’s favor. The court said, "It is confirmed that the plaintiff sent the money received during the contract process directly to the defendant's father, which is consistent with the plaintiff's claim that he entered into a real estate trust contract in the form of a sales contract." The court said, "As for the deposit returned to the tenant, the defendant's father also stated that he received money from the plaintiff and remitted it to the defendant. However, the defendant does not clearly explain the circumstances in which the money was received."

He added, "The plaintiff also sent a separate money when the tenant moved out, which appears to have paid moving expenses and brokerage fees to the tenant who was still on the contract at the time." He added, "Looking at these circumstances, the two people entered into a real estate title trust agreement, and the defendant disposed of the real estate without the plaintiff's permission, so they are obligated to compensate for the damages."

Attorney Kang Dae-hee of Daeryun Law Firm, who represented Mr. A, explained, "A title trust can be established explicitly or implicitly by agreement between the parties, and its determination is based on the circumstances in which registration was completed and the status of real estate management, etc." He added, "Even though Mr. B acquired ownership of the real estate, we were able to obtain a favorable ruling by proving that there was a title trust contract based on the fact that Mr. A paid the deposit and eviction costs to the tenant."

Reporter Seohyun Lee (sunshine@kyeonggi.com)

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A man in his 40s who disposed of an apartment without permission from the actual owner... Law “Compensation of 1 billion won for house price” (Shortcut)