Rental deposit protection in Korea — what foreigners must do

Korean rental deposits are large — often years of savings. The law does protect them, but the protection is not automatic: it starts on a specific date, triggered by a specific filing.

And for foreigners that filing is a different one from the one every Korean guide names.

Short answer

Three defences, in order
  1  Opposing power    move in + register your address → from the NEXT DAY
  2  Priority          add a CONFIRMED DATE stamp on the contract
  3  Small-deposit     extra protection for smaller deposits, before any auction filing

For foreigners  You have no resident registration.
                ALIEN REGISTRATION and CHANGE-OF-RESIDENCE REPORT count instead
                (Immigration Act, Article 88-2(2))

Jeonse and wolse

Two systems, and the risk sits in different places.

전세 jeonse   one large lump sum, no monthly rent.
              You get it all back at the end — that is where the risk is.
월세 wolse    smaller deposit + monthly rent.
              Less at stake, but the deposit still needs the same protection.

Either way the deposit (보증금) is your money on loan to the landlord, and everything below applies to both.

Defence 1: opposing power — the date that matters

Housing Lease Protection Act, Article 3(1):

Even where the lease is not registered, once the lessee has taken delivery of the house and completed resident registration, it takes effect against third parties from the following day. In this case, resident registration is deemed to have been made at the time the move-in report is filed.

Two things must both be true — you have moved in, and the address is filed. Protection starts the day after, not the same day.

The part written for Koreans, and how it applies to you

You cannot make a resident registration. That is what this article is for:

Immigration Act, Article 88-2(2):

Alien registration and a change-of-residence report under this Act shall take the place of resident registration and a move-in report.

So your change-of-residence report (체류지 변경신고) is your move-in report. The day you file it is the day the clock starts.

This connects to something we wrote before: after moving you must report your new address — the Immigration Act says within 15 days, and the Taipei mission notice says 14. It is not only an immigration duty. Every day you delay, your deposit sits unprotected. File it the same week you move.

Paragraph 1 of the same article helps elsewhere too: wherever a procedure asks for a resident registration card or abstract, your alien registration card or a certificate of alien registration stands in for it.

Why "the day after" matters

If the landlord registers a mortgage on the same day you file, the mortgage wins — yours starts the next day. This is exactly how deposits are lost. Do not hand over the balance and move in on the same day the landlord is doing paperwork at the bank.

Defence 2: the confirmed date stamp

Article 3-2(2):

A lessee who has met the opposing requirements under Article 3(1) and holds a confirmed date (확정일자) on the lease contract has the right, in an auction under the Civil Execution Act or a public sale under the National Tax Collection Act, to be repaid the deposit in preference to junior right holders and other creditors out of the proceeds of the leased house, including the land.

Opposing power alone says "the new owner must honour my lease". The confirmed date says "when the house is sold off, I get paid before the others".

You get the stamp at a 주민센터 (community centre), a court, or online — bring the signed contract. Do it the day you file your address, not later.

One catch, in paragraph 3: you cannot receive the deposit without handing the house back to the buyer. You cannot keep the keys and the money at once.

Defence 3: small-deposit priority

Article 8(1):

A lessee has the right to be repaid a certain portion of the deposit in preference to other holders of security interests. In this case the lessee must have met the requirements of Article 3(1) before the registration of the auction application for the house.

This is the strongest layer — it beats even a bank mortgage registered earlier. But it applies only up to certain deposit amounts, and only if your filing came before the auction was registered. One more reason not to delay.

The amounts and the qualifying deposit ranges are set by Presidential Decree and differ by region. We have not verified those figures against the source, so we do not print them here — ask at the 주민센터 or call 1345.

Before you sign: what the landlord must show you

Article 3-7 (added 18 April 2023) — the landlord's duty to provide information:

When concluding a lease contract, the lessor shall present the following to the lessee: 1. Information on the confirmed date, rent and deposit already recorded for that house (or consent to your inspecting it) 2. Tax payment certificates under the National Tax Collection Act and the Local Tax Collection Act (or consent to your inspecting unpaid national and local taxes)

Read item 2 twice. Unpaid taxes can rank ahead of your deposit. A landlord who will not show a tax certificate is telling you something.

Item 1 tells you how many tenants are already ahead of you and for how much.

And one more you can check yourself

Immigration Act, Article 88-3 creates a certificate of foreign residents (외국인체류확인서) showing the names and change-of-residence dates of foreigners registered at a given building. Under paragraph 2(1), a person who is a party to the lease contract may apply to inspect or receive it — at the immigration office or the local 읍·면·동 office.

If other foreign tenants filed before you, they rank before you.

Term, renewal and rent increases

Article 4(1): a lease with no fixed term, or a term of under two years, is deemed to be two years. The lessee may still insist that a shorter agreed term is valid — the choice belongs to the tenant only.

Article 4(2) is worth memorising:

Even after the lease term ends, the lease relationship is deemed to continue until the lessee is repaid the deposit.

Your rights do not evaporate the day the contract expires.

Article 6-3 gives you a renewal right you can exercise once, for another two years. The landlord cannot refuse without good reason, but the Act lists nine — including two months' worth of unpaid rent, subletting without consent, damage through intent or gross negligence, demolition or reconstruction, and the landlord or their direct ascendants/descendants moving in themselves.

Article 7(2): an increase in rent or deposit may not exceed 1/20 — five percent. And under paragraph 1, no increase may be demanded within one year of the contract or of the last increase. Cities and provinces may set a lower cap by ordinance.

Frequently asked questions

I filed my change-of-residence report late. What now? File it today. Protection starts the day after filing — it is not retroactive, but every day you wait makes the gap longer. If the landlord's situation already looks unstable, call 1345 and ask about your options immediately.

The landlord asks me not to get the confirmed date stamp. Is that normal? No. There is no legitimate reason for that request. The stamp costs almost nothing and takes minutes. A landlord discouraging it is a reason to walk away.

Can I get a jeonse loan as a foreigner? Loan products are bank and guarantee-agency policy, not statute — we do not paraphrase what we have not read in a source. Ask the bank directly, and ask about the guarantee (보증) attached to it.

The contract ended and the landlord will not return the deposit. Article 4(2) keeps the lease alive until you are repaid, so do not simply move out and hand over the keys — that can weaken your position. There is also a court order that registers your lease right (임차권등기명령, Article 3-3) for people who must move out. Get advice before you act: 1345, or the Housing Lease Dispute Conciliation Committee established under Article 14 of this Act.

Sources

Housing Lease Protection Act (주택임대차보호법) — in force 2026-01-02
   Art. 3 (opposing power) · Art. 3-2 (recovery of deposit, confirmed date)
   Art. 3-3 (lease-right registration order) · Art. 3-7 (landlord's duty to inform)
   Art. 4 (term) · Art. 6-3 (renewal right) · Art. 7 (5% cap) · Art. 8 (small deposits)
   Art. 14 (dispute conciliation committee)
   https://www.law.go.kr/법령/주택임대차보호법

Immigration Act (출입국관리법)
   Art. 88-2(1)(2) — alien registration stands in for resident registration
   Art. 88-3 — certificate of foreign residents
   https://www.law.go.kr/법령/출입국관리법

Foreigner information centre: 1345 (multilingual)