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Yesterday we told you about a charter scam where we bought hundreds of homes and then deliberately took away tenants’ deposits.
Immediately after the report was published, the police began collecting information for a full-scale investigation.
Even the president has announced that he will severely punish the charter fraud, but the system to protect tenants is still full of holes.
Reporter Shin-Young Hong will tell you about this unique charter system that only exists in Korea, and whether it is okay to leave it as it is.
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When the charter fraud spread, even the president stepped forward.
[윤석열 대통령 (7월 20일)]
“More than anything else, crimes that threaten people’s livelihood, such as charter fraud, will be punished through a strong investigation.”
The National Police Agency has set up a dedicated investigation headquarters with the head of the investigation bureau as the head of the division.
By January next year, 1,500 people will be sent in to intensively crack down on them.
Will this eliminate charter fraud?
The reason why jeonse fraud can be rampant is that first of all, tenants do not have the right information about the landlord.
The Housing Lease Protection Act and the National Tax Collection Act stipulate that “tenants can check the status of the landlord’s unpaid national and local taxes, as well as the fixed date.”
By the way, both of them are attached with a “with the consent of the landlord.”
If the landlord does not agree, it means that the inquiry is not possible.
Even if the landlord changes midway, or if there is a deliberate foreclosure of taxes, the tenants will not know.
In the face of scammers, it’s no use getting a fixed date.
[김태근/변호사]
“So, national taxes or taxes levied on those houses are now taken first by the state, so that’s the first priority.”
As the jeonse fraud spread, the Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation filed criminal charges against three malicious landlords for the first time last month, and decided to indict 11 more.
However, when asked to reveal who they were, they refused to disclose it on the grounds that it was personal information.
[김진유/경기대 도시·교통공학과 교수]
“Since the entire nation can become a victim, I think we should continue to go in the direction of transparently disclosing information to the extent possible.”
A bill to amend the law to disclose the identity of a malicious homeowner has been submitted to the National Assembly for several years, but it has been discarded without a single discussion.
Two bills are still pending.
This is Shin-Young Hong from MBC News.
Video coverage: Heo Won-cheol / Video editing: Lee Ji-young
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