ACRC enhances system for protection of tenants’ property rights

- Expanding the subject to moving-in registration to include foreigners, for check on prior-order tenants for house auction, etc. -

December 14, 2020

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

The Republic of Korea

Property damage that used to be incurred to tenants and other parties because residence of foreigners and Koreans with foreign citizenship is not indicated on moving-in registration records for houses will disappear.

The Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission (Chairperson Jeon Hyun-Heui, ACRC) has set up a “plan for indication of foreigners’ residence on moving-in registration records” for protection of tenants’ property rights and recommended institutional improvement to the Ministry of Justice.

Moving-in registration records are checked before beginning of a real estate auction process, in order to identify whether there exists any prior-order tenant of the house put up for the auction.

Currently, residence of Korean citizens and Korean expatriates can be identified on moving-in registration records, but there is no legal ground for inspection of residence of foreigners and Koreans with foreign citizenship.

Such problem has been caused because foreigners are not subject to mandatory moving-in report.

This would bring about a risk of unexpected restriction of property rights of other tenants or auction bidders, if there exists a foreigner resident who is not indicated on the moving-in registration of a house.

That is why the ACRC has recommended institutional improvement to the Ministry of Justice of Korea to ensure that residence of foreigners and Korean citizens with foreign citizenship can be identified from inspection of moving-in registration records of houses.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Justice has decided to amend the enforcement rule of the Immigration Control Act, and the enforcement rule of the Act on the Immigration and Legal Status of Overseas Koreans, to indicate moving-in information of foreigners who have reported change of place of residence and Koreans with foreign citizenship who have reported their residence in Korea on moving-in registration records of houses, within the second half of the next year.

Yang Jong-sam, the Director General of the ACRC’s Institutional Improvement Bureau, said, “We hope this institutional improvement serves as an opportunity to more thoroughly protect the property rights of tenants.

We will keep finding out inconveniences for people and improving them through diverse channels of communication with the people such as People’s Idea Box and e-People.”