Korea's Housing Lease Report: Deposits Over ₩60 Million or Rent Over ₩300,000 Within 30 Days

What the lease report is

Korea’s housing lease reporting system (주택 임대차 신고제, often called 전월세 신고) requires certain home leases to be reported within 30 days of signing. Article 6-2(1) of the Act on Report on Real Estate Transactions (「부동산 거래신고 등에 관한 법률」) says the landlord and tenant report the deposit, rent and other terms jointly to the office with jurisdiction over the home. The rules don’t depend on your nationality, so they apply to foreign tenants too.

Item	Rule	Source
Covered amounts	Deposit over ₩60 million, or monthly rent over ₩300,000	Enforcement Decree Art. 4-3(1)
Covered areas	Special self-governing cities and provinces, cities, counties in metropolitan cities and Gyeonggi-do, and autonomous districts	Enforcement Decree Art. 4-3(2)
Deadline	Within 30 days of signing the contract	Art. 6-2(1)
Who reports	Landlord and tenant together; one may file alone if the other refuses	Art. 6-2(1), (3)

A renewal that only extends the term, with the deposit and rent unchanged, is not covered (Enforcement Decree Art. 4-3(1)).

Does my contract need a report?

The report is required if either amount is over the threshold. These are examples to show how the rule works.

Contract	Report required?
Jeonse deposit of ₩200 million	Yes (deposit over ₩60 million)
Deposit ₩10 million, rent ₩500,000 a month	Yes (rent over ₩300,000)
Deposit ₩50 million, rent ₩300,000 a month	No (neither is over the threshold)
Renewal with the same terms, longer term only	No
Renewal with a higher deposit or rent	Yes

The threshold is “over” ₩300,000, so rent of exactly ₩300,000 with a deposit of ₩60 million or less doesn’t need a report.

Why it helps your deposit

If the lease report is accepted and you submitted the lease contract with it, you are treated as having received a fixed date (확정일자) under the Housing Lease Protection Act (Art. 6-5(3)). A fixed date, together with moving in and the address report, gives you priority repayment of your deposit at an auction.

For Korean citizens, a move-in report under the Resident Registration Act also counts as the lease report (Art. 6-5(1)). Foreign residents file a change-of-address report under the Immigration Act instead, so don’t assume it is processed as a lease report. File the lease report directly with your contract, or ask the community center (주민센터) whether your address report was handled as one.

Change-of-address report for foreigners: 15 days

Protect your deposit: move-in report and fixed date

The fine

Failing to report a housing lease, or reporting it falsely, can bring an administrative fine of up to ₩1 million (Art. 28(5)3). This also covers a party who refuses to report jointly. The actual amount follows the criteria in Table 3 of the Enforcement Decree.

Common questions

Q. My landlord won’t cooperate. Can I report alone?

A. Yes. If one party refuses to report, the other can file alone under Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport ordinance (Art. 6-2(3)).

Q. I live in a county (군). Do I need to report?

A. Among counties, only those in metropolitan cities and Gyeonggi-do are covered areas (Enforcement Decree Art. 4-3(2)). Cities and autonomous districts are covered.

Q. We renewed with a higher deposit. Do we report again?

A. Yes. A renewal that changes the deposit or rent is covered. Only a renewal that extends the term with the same amounts is excluded.

How much can rent go up on renewal? The 5% rule