A Korean jeonse lease puts a person’s entire savings on one contract, and almost nobody is taught how it works. Checklists are everywhere; what they rarely explain is why the order is what it is. Open the statute and you find requirements and rights defined separately, stacking one on top of another.
1. What do I need in place. Taking delivery + resident registration gives opposing power (Art. 3(1)); adding a fixed-date stamp gives priority repayment (Art. 3-2(2)). They are separate provisions asking for different things — the stamp alone gets you halfway.
2. What is the risk. Even with the stamp, you cannot receive the deposit unless you hand the property over (same article, (3)). “I'll move out once I'm paid” does not work as the statute is written.
3. So what do I do. That is what lease registration is for — complete it and opposing power and priority survive your moving out (Art. 3-3(5)). Opposing power starts “from the following day”, so do the balance payment and the resident registration on the same day, and get the fixed-date stamp that day too.
What do I need, and what does it give me
Article 3(1) Even where a lease is not registered, it shall take effect against third parties from the day after the lessee has taken delivery of the housing and completed resident registration.
Article 3-2(2) A lessee who has met the requirements for opposing power under Article 3(1) … and obtained a fixed date on the lease agreement shall, in an auction or public sale, have the right to be repaid the deposit in preference to junior right holders and other creditors out of the proceeds of the leased housing (including the site).
| What you have | Right acquired | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery + resident registration | Opposing power — the right to stay if the property changes hands | Art. 3(1) |
| + fixed-date stamp | Priority repayment — ahead of junior creditors at auction | Art. 3-2(2) |
| + lease registration | both rights survive moving out | Art. 3-3(5) |
The statute contains no reference to “midnight.” Article 3(1) stops at “from the day after.” The widespread explanation that protection begins at 00:00 the day after registration does not come from this text — we used to write it that way ourselves, and removed it after reading the provision.
The one-day gap itself is in the statute, though. That is the structural reason a mortgage the landlord takes out on the day you pay the balance can rank ahead of you.
The provision requires both delivery and resident registration. Registering your address without actually moving in does not satisfy it.
Is a fixed-date stamp enough
This is the provision most often left out of practical guides.
Article 3-2(3) A lessee may not receive the deposit under paragraph (2) unless the leased housing is delivered to the transferee.
It is not “get paid, then leave” but “leave, then get paid.” To receive a distribution in an auction you must have handed the property over. Yet moving out before you are paid breaks the requirements for opposing power (delivery and resident registration). The next provision exists to resolve exactly that.
Set the two provisions side by side and you can see why lease registration exists.
What if I must move before being repaid
Article 3-3(1) Where the deposit has not been returned after the lease has ended, the lessee may apply to the district court, its branch, or the city or county court with jurisdiction over the location of the housing for an order of lease registration.
(5) A lessee who completes lease registration under such an order acquires opposing power under Article 3(1) and the priority repayment right under Article 3-2(2). Provided, that where the lessee had already acquired either right before the registration, that right is maintained as is, and after the registration the lessee does not lose an already acquired right even if the requirements for opposing power are lost.
(8) The lessee may claim from the lessor the costs incurred in applying for the order and in the resulting registration.
The proviso in paragraph (5) is the whole point — once registered, you can move out and transfer your resident registration and still keep the rights you had. It is the only provision that unlocks “I cannot leave because I have not been paid.”
The trigger is “where the deposit has not been returned after the lease has ended.” The term must have expired before you can apply.
Paragraph (8) lets you bill the landlord for the registration costs — a little-known provision.
Paragraph (6) covers the other side — anyone who leases a property after a lease registration has been completed on it has no right to the minimum priority repayment. If you see a lease registration on the register, walk away.
Who gets minimum priority repayment
If your deposit is under a threshold you are repaid first regardless of ranking. The figures sit in the Decree, not the Act.
| Region | Deposit ceiling (Art. 11) | Paid first (Art. 10(1)) |
|---|---|---|
| Seoul | up to KRW 165m | KRW 55m |
| Overconcentration zone (excl. Seoul), Sejong, Yongin, Hwaseong, Gimpo | KRW 145m | KRW 48m |
| Metro cities (excl. zone and counties), Ansan, Gwangju, Paju, Icheon, Pyeongtaek | KRW 85m | KRW 28m |
| Elsewhere | KRW 75m | KRW 25m |
(Both provisions were last amended on 21 February 2023.)
Do not mix the two numbers. In Seoul a deposit of up to KRW 165m qualifies, and KRW 55m of it is repaid first. It is not “your deposit must be under KRW 55m.”
And Article 10 adds three more limits — (2) the total is capped at half the value of the housing; (3) where there are two or more lessees, that cap is divided proportionally; (4) people in a shared household count as one lessee.
Worked through: a KRW 300m building with eight qualifying tenants — 8 × 55m = 440m, but the cap is 150m, so roughly KRW 18.75m each (our own calculation). In a multi-unit building, “my 55m is secured” simply does not hold. More in our Housing Lease Protection Act guide and lease fraud guide.
Here is the basis for “do all three on moving day,” laid out on a date axis.
So what order do I do it in
| When | What | Why (provision) |
|---|---|---|
| Before signing | Check the register for senior mortgages and lease registrations | Ranking under Art. 3-2(2); Art. 3-3(6) |
| At signing | Keep the original so a fixed date can be stamped on it | Art. 3-2(2) — on the lease agreement |
| Moving day | Actually move in + register + get the fixed date, same day | Art. 3(1) + Art. 3-2(2) |
| Term ended, not repaid | Apply for lease registration first, then move | Art. 3-3(1), (5) — reverse the order and the rights break |
The reason all three happen on moving day is in the text — opposing power requires delivery and registration (Art. 3(1)), and priority repayment requires those plus a fixed date (Art. 3-2(2)). Whichever comes last sets the date. Whether the registration actually went through is checked on the resident registration copy — how to get one is in the resident registration guide.
Questions that keep splitting opinion
Is a fixed-date stamp enough on its own?
No. Article 3-2(2) requires “the requirements for opposing power and … a fixed date” together. Those requirements are Article 3(1)’s delivery plus resident registration. All three are needed.
Is the “70% of market value” rule in the statute?
No. “Senior debt plus your deposit under 70% of market value is safe” is a widely used rule of thumb, not a statutory figure. This article states no threshold, because we could not source one. The statute governs ranking, not ratios.
Is deposit-return insurance part of this Act?
The Housing Lease Protection Act contains no such provision. It is a separate institution’s product, and we did not open that basis this time. What the statute supports is opposing power, priority repayment, minimum priority repayment, and lease registration.
What if the landlord wants to convert the deposit to rent?
There is a ceiling. Article 7-2 sets only the structure — “the lower of the following rates” — and the numbers live in Article 9 of the Decree: 10% per year and the base rate plus 2 percentage points, whichever is lower. See our conversion rate guide and deposit-to-rent converter.
How is semi-jeonse different?
It lowers the deposit and adds monthly rent, so more tenants fall into the qualifying band — which runs straight into Article 10(3), the proportional split. Covered separately in our semi-jeonse guide.
The order in a lease checklist is not custom, it is statute. Delivery and registration create opposing power, a fixed date adds priority repayment, and lease registration carries both past the day you move out.
Sources
- Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Housing Lease Protection Act, Article 3-2 (Recovery of Deposit). Source of paragraph (2) requiring both opposing-power requirements and a fixed date and paragraph (3), “may not receive the deposit unless the housing is delivered.”
- Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Article 3-3 (Order of Lease Registration). Source of the trigger in paragraph (1), paragraph (5)’s “does not lose an already acquired right,” paragraph (6) excluding later tenants from minimum priority repayment, and paragraph (8) on costs.
- Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Article 3 (Opposing Power). Source of “taken delivery … and completed resident registration … from the day after,” and the basis for saying the provision contains no reference to midnight.
- Ministry of Government Legislation, National Law Information Center — statutory text — Same Act, Enforcement Decree Article 10 (Scope of the Fixed Portion of the Deposit). Source of the regional amounts and of the half-of-value cap, the proportional split among multiple lessees, and the shared-household aggregation. The qualifying deposit bands are in Article 11 of the same Decree.
Where to check further
- The minimum priority amounts and deposit ceilings by region. Enforcement Decree arts. 10 and 11 set them, but they vary by region and by amendment date — check the figures in force at your contract date in the decree's schedules on the National Law Information Center and with HUG.
- How to file a lease registration, what it costs and how long it takes. Article 3-3 governs effect only; procedure falls to Supreme Court Rules — forms are at the Supreme Court Internet Registry Office and the court's public counter.
- How you actually recover a deposit that is not paid. The statute settles priority, not collection — the Korea Legal Aid Corporation (132) and the housing lease dispute conciliation committees advise and mediate free of charge.
Written as of August 2026. All quotations are the statutory text as published by the National Law Information Center, and what we could not confirm is listed separately above. Outcomes turn on the state of the register and any senior claims, so before signing, check with the Korea Legal Aid Corporation (132) or a licensed broker or judicial scrivener. This article is general information, not legal advice.
