The total number of victims recognized as eligible for support under the special law for lease fraud has increased to 31,437.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 3rd that it held three full meetings of the 'Victim Support Committee for Lease Fraud' throughout June, deliberating on 2,151 cases and ultimately approving a total of 1,037 cases as victims of lease fraud.
Of the 1,037 approved cases, 922 cases were new applications (including reapplications). 115 cases were determined to be victims of lease fraud after a review confirmed compliance with the criteria set out in Article 3 of the Lease Fraud Victims Act following an objection to a previous decision.
Among the remaining 1,114 cases, 671 cases were rejected due to non-compliance with the criteria. 249 cases were excluded from consideration because full refunds of security deposits were possible through guarantee insurance and priority repayment funds. 194 cases were dismissed as the criteria were still unmet among those that filed objections.
The total number of individuals determined as victims of lease fraud by the committee stands at 31,437 (cumulative), with a total of 1,019 decisions made regarding urgent relief measures for public and auction suspensions (cumulative). A total of 34,251 cases (cumulative) of support are being provided to the determined victims in areas such as housing, finance, and legal procedures.
The total number of dwellings purchased by the Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) is 1,043, surpassing 1,000. This includes 73 illegal buildings that were previously in a gray area of victim relief.
As of the 25th of last month, LH received requests for preliminary consultations on 12,703 cases of damaged dwellings, and completed field surveys and purchases for 4,819 of those cases, notifying the victims that purchases were possible.
The purchase of damaged dwellings by LH involves acquiring the right of first refusal from the victims and then winning bids for those dwellings through public and auction sales, providing stability in housing by offering the dwellings for public rental to the victims. In this process, the auction profit from acquiring at a lower bid than the normal purchase price is converted into a security deposit, allowing the victims to reside without rental burden (up to 10 years). Upon eviction, the auction profits are immediately paid out to maximize the recovery of the security deposit losses.
A representative from the Ministry of Land said, 'We consider lease fraud a social disaster and plan to expand support for victims so that those who have fallen victim to lease fraud can quickly return to their daily lives.'