Renting a Korean apartment? When you move out, check you get your long-term repair reserve back. Article 30 of the Multi-Family Housing Management Act has management collect the reserve for replacing and repairing major facilities from the owner. In practice tenants often pay it within the monthly fees, so Decree Article 31(8) says the owner must repay reserves the occupant paid on their behalf, and para. 9 requires management to issue a payment confirmation without delay on request. The calculator works out the refund from the monthly amount and months.
1. The reserve is the owner’s to pay (Act Art. 30(1)).
2. If the tenant paid it, the owner repays (Decree Art. 31(8)) — 18,000 won × 24 months is 432,000 won (our example).
3. Ask management for a payment confirmation; it must be issued without delay (para. 9).
Calculator
Updates as you type. Refund = monthly reserve × months paid (our sum from para. 8). The optional fields check your monthly amount with the para. 3 formula; leave them at 0 to skip.
The provisions — Act Art. 30, Decree Art. 31
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Act Art. 30(1) | Management collects the reserve for major facility replacement and repair from the owner under the long-term repair plan | The owner bears it |
| Act Art. 30(2) | Used per the plan; with a majority’s written consent, also for dispute and defect-inspection costs | — |
| Decree 31(1) | The rate is set in the management rules considering common-part lifespans | Varies by complex |
| Decree 31(3) | Monthly reserve per unit = [total repair cost ÷ (total supplied area × 12 × plan years)] × unit supplied area | Optional calculator fields |
| Decree 31(6) | Collected monthly from the month in which a year has passed since use approval | May be nothing in a new building’s first year (ours) |
| Decree 31(8) | The owner must repay reserves the occupant paid | The tenant’s basis |
| Decree 31(9) | Management must issue a confirmation without delay on request | — |
In a new building, collection starts from the month in which a year has passed since use approval, so first-year bills may not show it (para. 6); unsold units’ share is paid by the developer (para. 7). A tenant gets back only the months actually paid, so count from when the line first appears on the bill (ours).
Two sums — our example
| Case (our example) | Sum | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 18,000 won a month on the bill, 2 years | 18,000 won × 24 months | 432,000 won back |
| Repair total 12bn, supplied area 100,000 m², 30-year plan, 84 m² unit | [12bn ÷ (100,000 × 12 × 30)] × 84 | 28,000 won a month |
| Living there 2.5 years | 28,000 × 30 | 840,000 won back |
Use the figure on your bill or the confirmation. The repair total and areas in the second case are our example. Checks around getting your deposit back are in housing lease protection.
Checklist
- ☐ Find the reserve line on the fee bill
- ☐ Ask management for a confirmation before moving
- ☐ Claim it from the owner at deposit settlement
- ☐ Any special clause in the lease?
- ☐ Don’t mix it up with routine maintenance fees
Questions that remain
What if the lease says the tenant bears it?
Para. 8 sets the repayment duty and says nothing about contrary terms. We didn’t check such clauses; get legal advice in a dispute.
What if the owner won’t pay?
No sanction is in what we read. Claim with the confirmation and consider the housing lease dispute mediation committee (ours).
Sources
- Korean law database (law.go.kr) — Multi-Family Housing Management Act Art. 30 — source (current text, effective 1 July 2026, Act No. 21447; checked 20 October 2026). Collection from owners, use rules and the majority-consent exception.
- Korean law database — Enforcement Decree Art. 31 — source (effective 1 July 2026, Decree No. 36424; checked 20 October 2026). Rates in management rules, the formula, start of collection, unsold units, owner’s repayment duty, confirmations.
- Not read. Mediation procedure; validity of contrary clauses.
- What we added. The “worth noting” column and the Korean everyday gloss.
Where to check further
- The management office — confirmation and monthly amount.
Written on 20 October 2026. The content is from the source; the glosses are ours.
