Back-to-school season and moving season, a time when rental contracts are crowded... How to prevent multi-generational/multi-household lease fraud

March, when the new semester and spring moving season overlap, is the time when lease and monthly rent contracts are concentrated. When a property for sale becomes scarce, you become anxious and it is easy to omit or postpone basic procedures such as checking a copy of the register or verifying ownership. In addition, there are many tenants who are unaware that the documents and precautions to check are different depending on the type of housing, such as multi-family, multi-generational, or officetel.

Most jeonse fraudsters prey on the impatience of these tenants. In reality, lease fraud, such as double contracts and falsified documents, is repeated every year. According to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the cumulative number of victims of charter fraud reached 36,449 as of the end of January 2026. What is especially noteworthy is that multi-generational/multi-family housing and officetels account for approximately 68.2% of all damage types. Three out of four victims are under the age of 40, and they are concentrated in the youth group.

Multi-family houses and multi-family houses, where damage is concentrated, have similar appearances, but their legal structures are completely different. Since multi-generational housing is registered for each generation, there is a separate copy of the register for the room being contracted, so only the rights to the room in question need to be clearly considered. However, caution is needed as there are quite a few so-called ‘tin leases’ where the deposit exceeds 70% of the sale price.

On the other hand, in multi-family housing, the entire building has one owner. For this reason, it is necessary to check the loans for the entire building and the rights of other tenants. This is because the total deposit of tenants who moved in before my deposit often exceeds the value of the building. If the auction proceeds in this situation, it is highly likely that it will be difficult to recover the full amount of my deposit, which is subordinate.

In fact, the Supreme Court and various courts have recently ruled that when brokering a multi-family housing lease, a real estate agent has an obligation to accurately check the total deposit amount of the senior lessee and explain it to the lessee, and has acknowledged liability for damages if this is neglected.

Therefore, a thorough preliminary inspection is the only way to prevent damage. Before signing a contract, it is necessary to compare the lessor's original ID card with the registered owner. When signing a contract with an agent, you must check the power of attorney and seal certificate more carefully.

It is also a good idea to check in advance whether you can sign up for a deposit return guarantee. If the guarantee agency refuses to sign up, it is a strong signal that there is a problem with the rights to the property. Even before paying the balance, you must re-issue a copy of the register and make a final check to see if any liens, etc. have been added in the meantime.

However, there are limits to the ability of individuals to completely filter out increasingly sophisticated fraud methods. This is because issues such as whether the building ledger matches the register and the risk of seizure due to the landlord's tax delinquency are areas that individuals can easily miss. Therefore, it is safest to receive a legal review from an expert at the pre-contract stage.

If damage occurs, quick response is vital. Depending on the situation, you must immediately review possible legal means such as sending a certificate of contents, applying for a lease registration order, or filing a criminal complaint. This is because the possibility of recovering the deposit can vary greatly depending on the order and timing of response.

Since the best way to prevent rental fraud is above all, minor doubts that arise during the contract process should not be overlooked lightly. In order to keep your precious deposit safe, it is time to be more careful than ever to carefully inspect and confirm the entire contract process.

Help: Attorney Daehee Kang of Daeryun Law Firm

Reporter Jin Ga-young, Lawissue news@lawissue.co.kr

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A time when lease contracts are crowded during the new semester and moving season... Here's how to prevent multi-generational/multi-family rental scams (Go here)