A foreign tenant's deposit is protected under the Housing Lease Protection Act exactly as a Korean tenant's is. Problems arise when the conditions for that protection are met too late, or when conditions already met are lost before the lease ends. Opposing power arises from the day after delivery of the home and address registration are completed; priority repayment additionally requires a fixed date. For a foreign national, address registration means alien registration and the report of change of place of stay. Below are eight issues that recur in assignee housing, each with its statutory basis. This article reflects the provisions in force as of October 2026.
- Opposing power = delivery + address registration, effective from the following day. For foreign nationals, alien registration and the report of change of place of stay serve as address registration.
- Priority repayment = the requirements for opposing power + a fixed date on the lease contract.
- Opposing power for a lease in a company's name is recognized only for small or medium enterprise corporations.
- If you must move out or leave Korea before the deposit is returned, consider an order to register the lease right first.
- Special terms that are unfavorable to the tenant have no effect.
What happens to the deposit if alien registration is delayed?
Article 88-2(2) of the Immigration Act provides that alien registration and the report of change of place of stay take the place of resident registration and the moving-in report. So even after moving in, there is no opposing power until the place of stay has been reported. The statutory deadline for the report of change of place of stay is 15 days from the date of moving in (Article 36), but for deposit protection the target is move-in day, not the deadline. If alien registration itself is not finished, the sequence is longer still. Check the alien registration process after arrival first.
Why does "from the following day" matter?
Opposing power arises not on the day delivery and address registration are completed, but from the following day. If the landlord creates a security interest on the home in between, that interest may rank ahead of the tenant. Checking the property register before signing is not enough; the practical response is to align the balance payment date, the move-in date and the report date on the same day, and to check the property register once more just before paying the balance.
Do I really need a fixed date?
Opposing power alone lets you assert the lease against a new owner, but priority repayment — recovering the deposit by rank in an auction — arises only once a fixed date is also in place (Article 3-2(2)). Fixed dates are granted by eup and myeon offices, dong community service centers, si, gun and gu branch offices, district courts and their branches, registry offices and notaries (Article 3-6(1)). For a lease that is subject to residential lease reporting, once the contract is submitted and the report is accepted, the lease is deemed to have received a fixed date (Act on Report on Real Estate Transactions, Article 6-5(3)).
Can a lease in the company's name fail to be protected?
Yes. A corporate tenant has opposing power only where a small or medium enterprise under the Framework Act on Small and Medium Enterprises leases the home for its employees' residence and the employee selected by that corporation has taken delivery and completed address registration (Article 3(3)). If the tenant is a corporation that is not a small or medium enterprise, this provision does not protect it. Such companies also consider a structure in which the lease is in the employee's own name and the company funds the deposit. The pros and cons of each structure are set out in jeonse vs wolse in Korea.
What should I obtain from the landlord?
When entering into the lease, the landlord must present to the tenant the fixed date, rent and deposit information on that home, together with national and local tax payment certificates (Article 3-7). The landlord may instead consent to the tenant viewing that information. The deposits of other tenants who received fixed dates earlier and the landlord's unpaid taxes are amounts that may be distributed ahead of your deposit if the home goes to auction. Always review them before signing.
What if I must move out or leave Korea before the deposit is returned?
Even after the lease ends, the lease relationship is deemed to continue until the deposit is returned (Article 4(2)). However, moving your place of stay elsewhere or vacating the home can cause the requirements for opposing power to lapse.
Sequence matters. Move out or change your place of stay only after confirming that the lease right registration has been completed. The costs of the application and registration can be claimed from the landlord (paragraph (8) of the same Article). The order to register the lease right is a court procedure, and preparing documents for submission to a court is within the scope of a certified judicial scrivener's work (Certified Judicial Scriveners Act, Article 2). A lawsuit for return of the deposit is also outside the scope of an administrative agent's work. At this stage, KOCATION organizes the facts and the timeline and coordinates them with the departure and residence schedule, and connects you with the appropriately qualified professional for the court procedure.
What if the end of the assignment and the end of the lease do not line up?
If the landlord does not give notice refusing renewal between six months and two months before the lease ends, the lease is deemed renewed for two years on the same terms (Article 6). A lease renewed in this way may be terminated by the tenant at any time by notice, and the termination takes effect three months after the landlord receives the notice (Article 6-2). For a lease renewed in this implied way, notice of termination must be given at least three months before the date of return to headquarters for the lease to end before departure. Within the originally agreed term, early termination conditions follow the contract, so it is safer to address the possibility of recall to headquarters in a special term at the time of signing.
What if the lease has special terms that are unfavorable to the tenant?
Any agreement that violates the Housing Lease Protection Act and is unfavorable to the tenant has no effect (Article 10). For example, a special term that alters the statutory renewal or opposing power rules to the tenant's disadvantage is void. Being void, however, is not the same as being free of disputes. It is better to keep such terms out of the contract from the start.
Frequently asked questions
Q. If I report my change of place of stay on move-in day, am I protected from that day? No. Opposing power arises from the day after delivery and address registration are completed (Article 3(1)).
Q. Do I need a residence card to obtain a fixed date? The fixed date is obtained on the lease contract. Priority repayment, however, arises only when both the requirements for opposing power and a fixed date are in place, so the fixed date is meaningful only once alien registration and the report of change of place of stay are also done.
Q. We signed the lease in the name of a large corporation. How do we protect the deposit? Corporate opposing power under Article 3(3) is recognized only for small or medium enterprises. One option is to review the lease structure again at renewal. A specific assessment is possible only after reviewing the contract and the facts.
Q. Is a certain amount protected separately when the deposit is small? A certain portion of the deposit can be repaid ahead of other secured creditors (Article 8). The requirements for opposing power must be met before the registration of the auction application, and the eligible deposit range and amount are set by Enforcement Decree, so check them as of the time of contract.
Q. Can I receive the deposit after returning home? If you leave Korea after the lease right has been registered, the opposing power and priority repayment already acquired are preserved (Article 3-3(5)). It is safer to settle the method of return and the remittance route before departure.
Q. If the landlord does not return the deposit, will KOCATION bring the lawsuit for us? No. Representation in litigation is outside the scope of an administrative agent's work. We handle organizing the facts and timeline and the immigration-side procedures, and connect you with the appropriately qualified professional for the court procedure.
Tell us the move-in date, alien registration status, the name on the lease and the expected return date, and we will combine the opposing power, fixed date and termination notice schedule into one plan. Fees vary by case, so we explain them during the consultation.
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