Housing
Your deposit is usually the largest sum you’ll hand over in Korea. Here’s how jeonse and wolse work, and what you have to do to get that money back.
Jeonse, wolse, banjeonse — what’s the difference?
With jeonse you hand over a large lump-sum deposit, often 50–80% of the home’s value, and pay little or no monthly rent. You’re meant to get the deposit back when you leave — the rest of this page is about making sure you do. Wolse is a smaller deposit plus monthly rent. Banjeonse sits in between.
Why is that? With jeonse the landlord uses your deposit instead of charging rent. With wolse you pay every month. Which one costs less depends on what that deposit could have earned elsewhere. Put your own numbers into the calculator above.
How do I protect my deposit?
Two things protect it: your address report, filed the day you move in, and a fixed-date stamp (확정일자) on your contract, which you can get as soon as you’ve signed. Foreign residents file the 체류지 변경신고 instead of 전입신고, and the law treats the two the same. Those two steps give your deposit legal priority if the landlord goes bankrupt. Skip them and you can lose it.
Why is that? Your address report and 확정일자 together create 대항력 (the right to stay) and 우선변제권 (priority to be repaid from the property before later creditors). The Supreme Court has confirmed that a foreign resident’s 체류지 변경신고 carries the same effect as 전입신고. Many deposit losses happen simply because tenants skipped these two same-day steps. You can also insure the deposit: 전세보증보험, deposit-guarantee insurance from HUG (the state housing-guarantee corporation). Foreign tenants can buy it for deposits up to ₩700 million in the capital region or ₩500 million elsewhere, as long as they apply before half the lease term has passed.
How do I avoid jeonse fraud (전세사기)?
Before you pay, read the property register (등기부등본) and see what mortgages are already on the home. Check that the person signing actually owns it. Be wary when the deposit is close to the property’s value. Deposit-guarantee insurance (HUG) adds a safety net.
Why is that? In recent years tens of thousands of tenants lost deposits to fraud, many of them young or foreign. In those cases the home was already over-mortgaged, or the “landlord” wasn’t the owner. The register and insurance are your main defenses.
Renting as a foreigner — what it costs and what gets in the way
You can rent on jeonse or wolse as a foreigner, and even get a jeonse loan if you meet certain conditions. The agent fee (복비) has a legal cap set by each city or province: at most 0.8% of the deal value for leases, and lower in cheaper brackets. The main hurdles are Korean-language contracts and landlords who hesitate to rent to foreigners.
Why is that? An agent can’t charge above the cap, so ask what the rate will be before you agree to anything. Bring someone who reads Korean, or an interpreter, to the signing, and keep every document and transfer record.
Related calculators
Common terms
Before you sign a lease
- Check the property registerRead the 등기부등본 for mortgages and the real owner before paying
- Leave a deposit cushionBe wary if the deposit is close to the home’s value
- Register the same dayOn move-in day, file your address report (체류지 변경신고 for foreign residents) and get 확정일자
- Consider HUG insurance전세보증보험 can pay you if the landlord can’t
- Keep every recordSave the contract and all transfer receipts
Frequently asked
Yes. You can also apply for a jeonse loan if your ARC has enough time left, you have a job, and your debts aren’t too high. Some landlords are still hesitant about foreign tenants.
If your address report and 확정일자 are in place, you have repayment priority. HUG insurance can repay you, and you can apply for a lease-registration order (임차권등기명령). Get help early, and don’t move out before it’s resolved.
Yes, within limits. The brokerage fee has a legal cap that depends on the price bracket, and the actual rate is agreed between you and the agent within that cap. Settle the rate before you sign, and ask for a receipt.