Key Money, Jeonse, and Wolse: How Housing Deposits Work in Korea and How to Protect Yours

Legal disclaimer: This guide is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. Housing deposit disputes in Korea turn on the exact lease, the order of entries on the property register, and the dates on which each step was completed. Statutes, decree thresholds and guarantee conditions change, and the figures here are dated to October 2026. Anyone signing a lease or facing an unreturned deposit should confirm current rules with the relevant office, consult a lawyer or certified judicial scrivener (법무사) for anything substantial, and contact HUG on 1566-9009 for guarantee questions or the Immigration Contact Center on 1345 for address registration questions.

This guide covers: why the deposit, not the monthly rent, is the decision that matters most; how academy-provided housing differs from a housing allowance and who carries the risk in each; what key money, jeonse, wolse and banjeonse actually mean; the two-year term, the one-time renewal right and the 5 percent cap on increases; how to read the property register for mortgages before any money moves; the move-in report and fixed date that give a deposit legal protection, and how foreigners complete them; where a deposit ranks if the home is auctioned, including the small-deposit priority amounts; jeonse fraud and the HUG deposit guarantee that foreigners can join; maintenance fees; moving out, getting the deposit back, and the lease registration order for when it does not come back; and what academies providing housing should do.

The deposit is the real housing decision

Short answer: In Korea, rent is usually secured by a lump-sum deposit (보증금) paid to the landlord at the start and returned at the end. The monthly rent is an expense, but the deposit is the tenant's own money sitting with a stranger for two years or more. Korean law protects that money well, but only when the tenant completes two simple administrative steps on time and only to the extent that nothing ranks ahead of the tenant on the property register.

A deposit is protected not by the contract but by where it sits in a queue of creditors if the landlord cannot pay. Registering the address and getting a fixed date puts the tenant in that queue.

The Housing Lease Protection Act (주택임대차보호법) is the statute that sets these rules. The version referred to throughout this guide is the one in force from January 2, 2026, with its Enforcement Decree as in force from July 1, 2026.

School-provided housing or a housing allowance

Short answer: Where the academy provides housing and signs the lease itself, the academy normally pays the deposit, holds the lease, and carries the deposit risk. Where the teacher takes a housing allowance and rents independently, the teacher signs the lease, pays the deposit, and carries all of the risk this guide describes. The two arrangements look similar on a job advert and are very different in practice.

Which arrangement applies decides who needs to read most of this guide closely.

Public school programs follow the same pattern. EPIK, for example, describes its housing as a leased house, apartment or studio provided by the education office, states that size and location vary by region, and makes utilities and maintenance fees the teacher's responsibility.

The middle cases

Where an academy asks a teacher to contribute part of the deposit, or a teacher takes over an academy lease, the teacher has money at risk and should know whose name is on the lease and the fixed date, and how that money comes back at the end of employment.

Practical tip: Before accepting a position, ask in writing three questions: who will be the named tenant, who pays the deposit, and what the teacher pays monthly beyond rent (utilities, maintenance fees, internet). The answers belong in the employment contract, not in a message thread.

For how housing affects savings overall, see the savings reality check.

Key money, jeonse, wolse and banjeonse

Short answer: "Key money" is the expat term for the deposit (보증금). In jeonse (전세) the tenant pays a very large deposit and no monthly rent. In wolse (월세) the tenant pays a smaller deposit plus monthly rent. Banjeonse (반전세) is a hybrid with a large deposit and reduced monthly rent. All three are leases under the same Act, and the deposit in each is protected in the same way.

The terms describe how the payment is split, not different legal relationships.

Amounts vary widely by city and building type, so this guide gives none as "typical".

Converting deposit into rent

When some or all of a deposit is converted into monthly rent during a lease, the Act caps the rate used. The annual rate cannot exceed the lower of 10 percent, or the Bank of Korea base rate plus 2 percentage points. The calculation is simple: the converted amount multiplied by the annual rate, divided by twelve.

The 4.5 percent figure is illustrative; the base rate should be checked on the date of conversion.

Maintenance fees

Maintenance fees (관리비) are charged on top of rent for shared building costs and sometimes usage charges such as water or internet. They are not part of the deposit and are not covered by the 5 percent cap on rent. Since 2023, listings and the standard lease form must break down fixed maintenance fees of ₩100,000 a month or more.

From September 21, 2023, advertisements for small homes such as one-room units and officetels with a fixed maintenance fee of ₩100,000 or more must itemize it, separating general management charges from usage charges such as electricity and water. From October 6, 2023, the standard housing lease form issued by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport records the same breakdown.

Practical tip: Ask for the breakdown in writing and for the last few months of actual bills. A low rent paired with a high, unexplained fixed fee is a common way to make a listing look cheaper than it is.

The two-year term, the renewal right and the 5 percent cap

Short answer: A residential lease shorter than two years, or with no stated term, is treated as a two-year lease, although the tenant may still choose to rely on the shorter term. A tenant can demand one renewal for a further two years, and the landlord can refuse only on listed grounds. On renewal or any mid-lease increase, rent and deposit can rise by no more than 5 percent, and not within a year of the last increase.

When a landlord can refuse renewal

The listed grounds include rent arrears amounting to two periods' rent, a lease obtained by deception, compensation agreed between the parties, subletting without consent, intentional or grossly negligent damage, destruction of the home, demolition or rebuilding in specified circumstances, the landlord or the landlord's parents or children actually moving in, and other serious breaches. A landlord who refuses on the ground of moving in and then leases the home to someone else within the period that would have been covered owes the former tenant damages.

In money terms, monthly rent of ₩500,000 can rise to at most ₩525,000, and a deposit of ₩10,000,000 to at most ₩10,500,000.

Practical tip: The automatic renewal window runs from six months to two months before expiry. A teacher who knows a contract with the academy ends around the same time as the lease should decide early whether to stay, because silence in that window has legal consequences in both directions.

Checking the property register before any money moves

Short answer: The property register (등기부등본, formally 등기사항증명서) shows who owns the home and what debts are secured against it. Anyone can view it online at the Internet Registry Office (iros.go.kr) for ₩700, or obtain an issued copy for ₩1,000. It should be checked before the contract is signed and again on the day the balance is paid, because mortgages ranking ahead of the tenant are the main reason deposits are lost.

Doing the arithmetic

Add the maximum secured amounts in Section B to the deposits of any tenants already living in the building, then compare the total with a realistic sale price for the home. If the home were sold at auction, everything ranking ahead of the new deposit would be paid first. The smaller the cushion between those senior claims plus the new deposit and the home's realistic value, the greater the risk.

HUG uses a version of this test for its guarantee: senior claims must be within 60 percent of the assessed home value, and the deposit plus senior claims must fit within 90 percent of the home price. Those figures are a useful outside benchmark even for a tenant who does not plan to buy the guarantee.

What the landlord must now show

Since an amendment in April 2023, a landlord must show a prospective tenant, when the contract is made, the fixed-date and deposit information already recorded for the home, and certificates showing national and local taxes have been paid, or consent to the tenant viewing that information. Unpaid taxes matter because tax claims can rank ahead of a tenant in an auction.

Practical tip: Print or save the register on the day of signing and again on the day the balance is transferred. A mortgage registered between those two dates is exactly the kind of change that matters, and comparing two copies is the only way to see it.

Moving a large deposit can also run into bank transfer limits on a new account. The guide to opening a Korean bank account explains limit accounts and how to lift them.

The move-in report and the fixed date

Short answer: Two steps turn a deposit into a protected claim. The move-in report (전입신고), together with actually living in the home, gives opposing power (대항력): the right to stay and to be repaid even if the home is sold. The fixed date (확정일자) stamped on the lease adds priority repayment (우선변제권): a place in the queue if the home is auctioned. For a registered foreigner, the report of change of residence under the Immigration Act counts as the move-in report.

How each step works

The rules for foreigners

The Immigration Act provides that foreigner registration and the report of change of residence take the place of resident registration and the move-in report. A registered foreigner who moves must report the new address within 15 days of moving in, at the city, county or district office, the community service center, or the immigration office. The residence card (외국인등록증) also substitutes for resident registration documents wherever a law calls for them.

In other words, the address report a teacher makes for immigration purposes is the same act that starts deposit protection. Doing it promptly serves both. The immigration playbook covers the residence card itself.

The lease report

Separately, leases with a deposit over ₩60,000,000 or monthly rent over ₩300,000 must be reported within 30 days of signing, in cities, autonomous districts, and the counties of metropolitan cities and Gyeonggi Province. The parties are meant to report jointly, but either can report alone if the other refuses. Renewals with no change in rent or deposit are excluded. The penalty for not reporting can reach ₩1,000,000, and news reports from 2025 indicate that the grace period ended on May 31, 2025, so leases signed or renewed from June 1, 2025 are subject to fines. A completed report with the contract attached is treated as a fixed date, which makes it a convenient way to get both done at once.

The one-day gap

Opposing power begins on the day after registration, while a mortgage takes effect on the day it is registered. A mortgage registered on the same day the tenant moves in and reports can therefore rank ahead of the tenant. This is why the register should be checked on the balance payment date, and why some tenants ask for a contract clause that the landlord will not create new security over the home until the tenant's protection is in place.

Practical tip: Report the address and obtain the fixed date on moving day, not "sometime this week". Each day of delay is a day in which a new mortgage or seizure could slip ahead.

Practical tip: Do not move the registered address out of the home before the deposit is back in hand. Opposing power depends on continued residence and registration. Moving the registration elsewhere early can end the protection, unless a lease registration order (covered below) is completed first.

Where the deposit stands in line

Short answer: If the home is auctioned, a tenant with opposing power and a fixed date is paid according to the date that protection arose, behind anything registered earlier. Separately, tenants with small deposits are paid a fixed amount ahead of even earlier mortgages. In Seoul, a tenant whose deposit is ₩165,000,000 or less can receive up to ₩55,000,000 first, capped at half the home's value.

Ordinary priority

Priority repayment ranks the tenant by date against other secured creditors. A mortgage registered before the tenant's protection arose is paid first, and the tenant is paid ahead of anything registered later. To collect from an auction, the tenant must also hand the home over to the buyer.

Small-deposit priority (최우선변제)

For small deposits, a fixed portion of the deposit is paid ahead of other secured creditors, provided the tenant had moved in and registered before the auction was registered. The current thresholds come from the Enforcement Decree as amended on February 21, 2023.

Two limits matter. The amount paid first cannot exceed half the home's value, and where several small-deposit tenants share one home their combined priority amounts are scaled down to that half. And a mortgage created before February 21, 2023 is measured against the thresholds in force when it was created, which were lower. A tenant in a building with an older mortgage may therefore receive less than the table suggests.

Jeonse fraud and the HUG deposit guarantee

Short answer: Jeonse fraud refers to landlords who took deposits they had no realistic ability or intention to return, often across many units, leaving tenants unpaid when the homes went to auction. The most direct protection is a deposit return guarantee from the Korea Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG). HUG states that foreigners can join, and if the landlord does not repay, HUG pays the guaranteed amount and pursues the landlord.

HUG guarantee conditions (as published October 2026)

Two conditions often trip up teachers: an officetel must be marked residential, and a lease signed without a licensed agent does not qualify.

The special act for fraud victims

The Special Act on Support for Jeonse Fraud Victims sets a separate route for tenants already harmed. Its requirements include the move-in report and fixed date (or a completed lease registration), a deposit of ₩500,000,000 or less, which a review committee may raise by up to ₩200,000,000, harm affecting two or more tenants, and reasonable grounds to suspect the landlord never intended to repay. It does not apply where a guarantee will return the full deposit. Whether and how foreign nationals are covered could not be confirmed in an official source for this guide, so anyone in this position should ask the local jeonse damage support office directly.

Practical tip: Treat a landlord or agent who discourages the guarantee, or a home that fails its conditions, as information. A home HUG will not guarantee is a home where an independent assessor has concluded the deposit is not well covered.

Moving out and getting the deposit back

Short answer: The landlord must return the deposit when the lease ends and the tenant hands the home back, with deductions only for unpaid rent, unpaid charges, or damage beyond ordinary wear. The tenant should keep the address registered and remain in possession until the money arrives. If it does not arrive, a lease registration order (임차권등기명령) preserves the tenant's protection so the tenant can move out without losing it.

Step by step

1. Give notice in the right window. For a lease that is ending, notice not to renew goes to the landlord at least two months before expiry. For an automatically renewed or renewed lease, notice ends it three months after the landlord receives it. Send it in writing and keep the record.
2. Agree the date and the handover. Confirm in writing the move-out date, the account the deposit goes to, and that payment and key handover happen together.
3. Settle the bills. Final utility and maintenance fee readings are normally settled on move-out day. Keep receipts.
4. Photograph the home. Compare with move-in photos. Pre-existing marks recorded on day one are not deductions on the last day.
5. Do not deregister early. Keep the address registered at the home until the deposit is received in full.
6. If payment does not arrive, apply for a lease registration order. Apply at the district court, branch court or city or county court for the area where the home is located, once the lease has ended and the deposit has not been returned.
7. Wait for the registration to appear. Protection is kept from the moment the lease registration is entered on the register, not from the date of the application. Check Section B of the register before moving out or changing the address.
8. Then move and pursue payment. With the registration in place, the tenant keeps opposing power and priority even after moving out, and can pursue mediation, a lawsuit, or an HUG claim where a guarantee exists.

The lease registration order in more detail

Once the lease registration is completed, opposing power and priority already acquired are kept even if the tenant moves and changes address. The court can have the registration executed before its decision reaches the landlord, and the costs of the application and registration can be claimed back from the landlord. A later tenant of the same home cannot claim small-deposit priority, which tends to make a landlord more motivated to resolve the matter.

Mediation

Housing Lease Dispute Mediation Committees sit at branches of the Korea Legal Aid Corporation, Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and the Korea Real Estate Board, and some cities and provinces run their own. Mediation is usually faster and cheaper than a lawsuit; for a dispute valued under ₩100,000,000 the fee is ₩10,000.

Practical tip: A teacher leaving Korea at the end of a contract should plan the lease end date with the departure date in mind and, if there is any doubt about repayment, start the lease registration order early enough for the registration to be completed before the flight.

For the language needed to report problems and request repairs during a tenancy, see the guide to reporting apartment problems in Korean.

For academies

Housing is one of the largest costs an academy carries for a foreign teacher, and the deposit is a balance-sheet asset that deserves the same care a teacher would give it.

• Know whose name is on the lease. Where the academy is the tenant, its deposit is protected through opposing power and the fixed date. The Act extends opposing power to a small or medium-sized corporation that leases a home for staff once the employee it selects moves in and registers, and restarts the clock when the employee changes. An academy run as a sole proprietorship falls outside that provision's wording and should take legal advice on how its own deposit is best protected.
• Check the register before every new lease and every renewal. The same mortgage and seizure checks apply, and HUG guarantees are available to corporate tenants, with additional conditions for corporations that are not small or medium-sized.
• Make sure each teacher reports the address promptly. The teacher's 15-day address report is both an immigration duty and, for a corporate lease, part of what protects the academy's deposit.
• Put the money terms in the employment contract. State who pays the deposit, any teacher contribution and how it is refunded, and which monthly costs (utilities, maintenance fees, internet) the teacher pays.
• Coordinate lease and employment dates. A changeover between teachers is the moment a lapse in registration, or a gap with nobody living in the home, can weaken protection.
• Document the condition of the unit at each handover. Dated photographs at move-in and move-out prevent arguments over who caused damage and protect both the academy and the teacher.

Common problems and what causes them

Frequently asked questions

What is key money in Korea?
Key money is the expat term for the security deposit (보증금) paid to the landlord at the start of a lease and returned at the end. Legally it is the lease deposit protected under the Housing Lease Protection Act.

What is the difference between jeonse and wolse?
Jeonse uses a very large deposit and no monthly rent. Wolse uses a smaller deposit plus monthly rent. Banjeonse sits between them with a large deposit and reduced rent.

Can foreigners do a move-in report (전입신고) in Korea?
Yes. Under the Immigration Act, a registered foreigner's report of change of residence counts as the move-in report, and it must be made within 15 days of moving in at the community service center, the district office, or the immigration office.

How do I get a fixed date (확정일자) on my lease?
Take the original lease to the community service center, a registry office, a court or a notary, or apply online through the Internet Registry Office. The fee is ₩600 in person and ₩500 online.

Can a landlord raise the rent by more than 5 percent when renewing?
Not by request under the Act. Increases are capped at 5 percent of the agreed rent or deposit and cannot be requested within a year of the last increase. A new lease with a new tenant is not subject to the cap.

Can a foreigner get HUG jeonse deposit insurance?
HUG states that individuals, corporations and foreigners can apply. The usual conditions apply, including the move-in report, fixed date, a lease through a licensed agent, and applying before half the term has passed.

Is a one-year lease valid in Korea?
A lease under two years is treated as two years for the tenant's protection, but the tenant may choose to rely on the one-year term. The landlord cannot insist on ending it early because of the short term written in the contract.

How do I check if a Korean apartment has a mortgage?
View the property register online at iros.go.kr for ₩700. Mortgages appear in Section B (을구) with their maximum secured amount and registration date.

What if the landlord does not return my deposit?
Keep the address registered and stay in possession, then apply to the local court for a lease registration order. Once the registration appears on the register, the tenant can move out without losing protection and pursue mediation, a lawsuit, or a guarantee claim.

Does the landlord have to tell me about unpaid taxes?
Yes. Since 2023 a landlord must show tax payment certificates when the lease is made, or consent to the tenant viewing unpaid tax records.

The short version

In Korea, the deposit is where the real money is, and it is protected by paperwork rather than by promises. Who signs the lease, academy or teacher, decides whose money that is.

Before signing, read the property register for mortgages and seizures, ask the landlord for tax certificates and existing deposit information, and check whether the home would qualify for the HUG guarantee. On moving day, report the address and get the fixed date on the lease.

During the lease, the two-year term, the one-time renewal right and the 5 percent cap give stability. At the end, keep the address registered until the deposit is returned, and use a lease registration order if it is not.

The single most useful action is to report the address and get the fixed date on the day of moving in, because every other protection in this guide depends on it.

Sources

• National Law Information Center, Housing Lease Protection Act in force from January 2, 2026: opposing power, priority repayment, lease registration order, landlord disclosure duties, two-year term, renewal right, 5 percent cap, conversion rate rule, mediation committees (Korean)
• National Law Information Center, Enforcement Decree of the Housing Lease Protection Act in force from July 1, 2026: increase cap, conversion rates, small-deposit priority amounts and thresholds, mediation committee locations and fees (Korean)
• National Law Information Center, rule on fixed dates on housing lease contracts: ₩600 in person and ₩500 online fees (Korean)
• National Law Information Center, registry certificate fee rule in force from August 1, 2025: ₩700 online viewing, ₩1,000 online issuance, ₩1,200 at the counter (Korean)
• National Law Information Center, Immigration Act: report of change of residence within 15 days and its equivalence to the move-in report (Korean)
• National Law Information Center, Act on Report on Real Estate Transactions and its Decree: lease report thresholds, 30-day deadline, fixed-date effect, fines (Korean)
• KB Think, end of the lease report grace period and fines from June 1, 2025 (Korean)
• Korea Housing and Urban Guarantee Corporation (HUG), jeonse deposit return guarantee product overview: eligibility including foreigners, deadlines, limits, conditions and fee rates (Korean)
• National Law Information Center, Special Act on Support for Jeonse Fraud Victims in force from October 2, 2026: victim requirements and exclusions (Korean)
• Ministry of Justice, October 5, 2023 release on the revised standard lease form itemizing maintenance fees of ₩100,000 or more (Korean)
• SBS Biz, September 21, 2023 report on the listing rule requiring itemized maintenance fees (Korean)
• EPIK, salary and benefits: provided housing and teacher responsibility for utilities and maintenance fees (English)
• Korea Legal wiki, lease registration orders and the 2023 change allowing registration before service on the landlord (Korean)
• HUG call center: 1566-9009
• Korea Immigration Contact Center: 1345

For what to say when something in the home breaks, see the guide to reporting apartment problems in Korean. For the residence card and address changes, see the immigration playbook. For moving a large deposit through a new bank account, see the guide to opening a Korean bank account. For how free housing shapes savings, see the savings reality check.