Deposit Protection Self-Check
Two rights protect a Korean deposit, and you create them yourself on specific days. Answer a few questions about what you’ve actually done, and see which rights you hold, from when — and how much room the register leaves for your deposit.
A foreigner cannot file 전입신고 — that form belongs to the resident-registration system. The immigration equivalent counts instead, by statute.
Leave it blank if you don’t have one yet. Filing the lease report gives you one automatically.
From 을구 of the 등기부등본 — the maximum reserved, not the loan balance.
A level people commonly use for (senior claims + deposit) ÷ value. Not a legal line — set your own.
| Opposing power (대항력) from | — |
| Priority repayment (우선변제권) from | — |
Protection begins at 00:00 the day after you register, not the moment you file. A mortgage registered the same day takes effect immediately and ranks ahead of you.
The government announced on March 10, 2026 that it intends to make 대항력 start the moment the report is processed. The bill was still before the National Assembly and is not in force — plan around today’s rule.
| Market value | 300,000,000 KRW |
| Senior claims (채권최고액) | 0 KRW |
| Left after senior claims | 300,000,000 KRW |
| Your deposit | 20,000,000 KRW |
| Deposit beyond that headroom | 0 KRW |
| Floor, once you qualify | 20,000,000 KRW |
Which version of that table applies is decided by the date the senior mortgage was registered, not by your lease. The figures here are the ones in force since 2023-02-21; an older mortgage is judged by the older, smaller table. You also have to actively claim (배당요구) in the auction — it is not automatic.
- File the address report the day you move in — not on day 15. Immigration allows 15 days; your deposit is unprotected for every one of them.
- Get 확정일자 on the lease. Any 주민센터 will stamp it, and your 외국인등록증 is accepted ID.
- This contract must be reported (전월세신고제) within 30 days of signing. Filing it with the contract attached gives you the 확정일자 in the same step.
- Your deposit is over ₩10,000,000, so you may inspect the landlord’s unpaid national taxes without their consent, at any tax office, up to the lease start date.
- Check the 등기부등본 for a 신탁 entry before signing. If the home is in trust, a contract with the original owner and no trustee consent creates no rights at all.
An estimate and a reading of your own answers — not a verdict on whether a home is safe, and not legal advice. Figures as published in the 주택임대차보호법 시행령 and by the Ministry of Land, checked Aug 28, 2026. Nothing you enter is stored.
How it works
Because a foreign resident cannot file 전입신고 — that form belongs to the resident-registration system. The Immigration Control Act makes 체류지 변경신고 substitute for it, the Overseas Koreans Act does the same for 국내거소신고, and the Supreme Court confirmed in 2016 that both carry the same 대항력. Most tools and most guides assume 전입신고 and quietly exclude you. This one starts there.
Because 대항력 begins at 00:00 the day AFTER you register, while a mortgage takes effect the moment it is filed. If you register on the day you hand over the balance, there is a window in which a new loan outranks your deposit. The tool compares the two dates you enter and tells you whether that window is open in your case.
The senior claims on the register (채권최고액, which is the ceiling a lender reserved, not the loan balance) plus your own deposit, measured against the home’s value. It is the standard screening arithmetic. The level it is compared against is yours to set — 80% is commonly used, but it is a rule of thumb, not a legal line.
From the enforcement decree of the Housing Lease Protection Act, in the version in force since February 21, 2023. Below a region-specific deposit ceiling you are a 소액임차인, and a capped amount is paid ahead of even an older mortgage. One caveat the tool repeats rather than hides: which version of the table applies is fixed by the date the senior mortgage was registered, not by your lease.
Read next
Questions people ask
No, and it deliberately does not try. It reads back which rights your own answers give you and on what dates, and it does the arithmetic on the numbers you take from the property register. Whether a particular home is a reasonable risk depends on things no calculator sees — the owner, the building, the market, the contract. Use this to know where you stand, not to get a verdict.
In 을구 of the 등기부등본, the section for rights other than ownership. You can pull one for any property from the Supreme Court’s internet registry office (iros.go.kr) for a small fee, without the owner’s permission. Add up every 근저당권 that is still live and ahead of you. The 안심전세App also surfaces senior encumbrances.
Especially then. A small deposit is the case the law protects most firmly — the 소액임차인 floor jumps ahead of even a bank — but only if you have possession and registration in place before the auction is registered, and only if you actively claim in the distribution. The tool shows you the floor for your region and both conditions.
Nothing. There is no login, no database and no server call — everything runs in your browser, and closing the tab discards it. That is why the tool asks you for the numbers rather than looking anything up.
Figures as of Aug 28, 2026 — the rules and official sources are set out in the full deposit-protection guide.