A bill extending the sunset provision of the 'Special Law on Lease Fraud' for two years was passed by the National Assembly's Land and Transport Committee on the 23rd to ensure housing stability for victims of lease fraud.
The Land and Transport Committee held a plenary session on that day and processed the amendment to the 'Special Act on Support for Lease Fraud Victims and Housing Stability', which extends the sunset provision of the Special Law to May 31, 2027. This bill passed the Land Committee's legislation review subcommittee on the 16th.
The Special Law on Lease Fraud includes measures for the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) to purchase lease fraud-affected housing through auctions and public sales, supporting victims with the profits and providing financial and housing assistance. The amendment extends the validity of the special law, but recognizes lease fraud victims covered by the law only for tenants who signed initial contracts by May 31 of this year.
The Special Law on Lease Fraud, introduced conditionally for a two-year period on June 1, 2023, was set to expire on the 31st of the following month. However, as cases of lease fraud continued to emerge until recently, calls were made to extend the sunset provision. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the number of lease fraud victims has reached a cumulative total of 28,866 as of March this year since the law was enacted. Of these, 873 cases were recognized as new victims last month.
The amendment to the special law is likely to pass the National Assembly's Legislative and Judiciary Committee and the plenary session along with the supplementary budget early next month.
The Land Committee also processed an amendment to the Housing and Urban Fund Law that allows tenants to verify lease guarantee accident histories without the landlord's consent when requested by the tenant. Currently, the tenant must request information from the landlord, and the information is only disclosed with the landlord's consent. This has led to concerns that tenants might hesitate to request information due to potential friction in their relationship with landlords.
This amendment provides for the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) to disclose the number of lease guarantee enrollments, guarantee accident histories, whether the landlord is subject to guarantee restrictions, and any debts owed to HUG in the past three years without the landlord's consent.