The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recognized 658 additional people in August as charter fraud victims and related categories. The number of charter fraud dwellings purchased by Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) has also exceeded a cumulative 10,000 units.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said on the 7th that it held a full meeting of the charter fraud victim support committee last month and, after reviewing 1,798 cases, recognized a total of 658 cases as charter fraud victims and related categories. Of the 658 approved cases, 627 were new applications (including reapplications), and 31 were objections to existing decisions.
Of the remaining 1,140 cases, 626 were rejected for failing to meet the requirements, and 239 were excluded because the full deposit could be returned through guarantee insurance and priority repayment, among others. In addition, 275 of the objection cases were dismissed on the grounds that they still did not meet the requirements.
As a result, the cumulative number of charter fraud victims and related categories finally decided by the charter fraud victim support committee has increased to 40,936. There have been 1,225 decisions requesting cooperation to suspend urgent auctions and public auctions. Housing, financial, and legal procedure support provided to victims totals a cumulative 77,805 cases.
LH has purchased 10,718 charter fraud dwellings. From January to August this year, it purchased 5,727 units, averaging 716 per month. Under the charter fraud dwelling purchase program, public housing operators such as LH exercise the right of first refusal at the request of charter fraud victims to purchase the affected dwellings by winning them through auctions or public auctions. Victims can convert the auction margin into their deposits and live in the affected dwellings for up to 10 years.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and LH are operating purchase review meetings and a fast track to speed up the purchase of affected dwellings, and they plan to continue consultations with district courts on proceeding with auctions to support housing stability.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) and Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG) will promote a "safe contract consulting program" at eight charter fraud damage and prevention support centers nationwide in Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Gwangju, Daejeon, Gyeonggi, and South Jeolla, so that prospective tenants can check rights relations and contract risk factors in advance before signing a lease.
Prospective tenants can visit the center to receive counseling on analysis of the rights relations of the property they intend to contract for before signing a lease, review of wording in the lease certificate, and precautions for a safe lease contract.