HF to Eliminate Bogeumjari Loan 'Marriage Penalty'... Income Thresholds Eased

The Korea Housing Finance Corporation announced today (September 28) that it will improve its lending system so that newlywed couples can use the Bogeumjari Loan even if their combined income exceeds the limit, as long as the annual income of one spouse is 70 million won or less.

This system improvement is a follow-up measure to the government's comprehensive financial countermeasures for real estate market stabilization announced on August 13, and will be applied to new loan applications starting October 19.

The Bogeumjari Loan is a long-term, fixed-rate, amortizing mortgage loan provided by the HF.

Households are classified as newlyweds if the loan application date is within seven years of the marriage registration date or if they are planning to marry within three months of the application date.

Currently, the Bogeumjari Loan can be applied for by couples with a combined annual income of 70 million won or less when purchasing a home valued at 600 million won or less.

For newlywed couples, the income limits are extended up to 85 million won or less for childless households, 90 million won or less for households with one child, and 100 million won or less for households with two or more children.

Moving forward, even if these income thresholds are exceeded, newlyweds can still use the Bogeumjari Loan as long as the annual income of one spouse is 70 million won or less.

The new income criteria will apply only when the combined marital income exceeds the existing newlywed household income limits.

If the combined marital income falls within the current income limits, the existing combined marital income criteria will continue to apply.

When applying the single-person income criterion, the spouse with an annual income of 70 million won or less must directly apply for the loan and become the borrower, and loan repayment capability will be evaluated based on the income and debt of that specific borrower rather than the combined income of the couple.

However, the HF plans to check the income and debt of the spouse during the screening process to verify preferential interest rates and actual homebuyer requirements, and the number of homes owned will also be judged based on the combined total of the couple.

(Photo provided by Korea Housing Finance Corporation, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.