Leakers of Duty: Real Estate Agents' Violations of Explanation Obligations to Prevent Jeonse Fraud Soar 4.6-Fold in Three Years

Although legal obligations have been introduced requiring real estate agents to explain information such as senior priority rights regarding brokerage properties to customers to prevent jeonse fraud and other damages, cases of violating these duties have surged more than fourfold over the past three years.

According to data submitted by the Korea Real Estate Board to Representative Yoo Sang-bum of the People Power Party on the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee today (September 26), the number of cases caught for "unfaithful explanation of brokerage objects" totaled 724 from 2023 through the end of July this year.

By year, the figures have increased steeply from 44 cases in 2023, when the scope of work for the Real Estate Transaction Order Disturbance Reporting Center was expanded, to 135 cases in 2024, and 298 cases in 2025.

As of the end of July this year, the count reached 247 cases, surging 461 percent higher than the total number of cases for the entire year of 2023 when statistics for this category first began to be classified, raising strong prospects that it will break the annual record.

The Certified Public Realtors Act stipulates that licensed real estate agents must faithfully and accurately explain the condition and location of a brokerage object, its rights relations—such as ownership, jeonse rights, mortgages, superficies, and lease rights—and whether the lessor has any delinquent taxes to the lessee, while presenting evidentiary documents such as certified copies of the registry and trust registry.

However, criticisms persist that despite the refinement of laws and regulations—such as breaking down the explanation obligations of real estate agents—lessees remain vulnerable to risks after signing contracts due to inadequate verification of senior priority deposits or rights relations.

Representative Yoo Sang-bum stated, "The duty of real estate agents to verify and explain is a core system that protects lessees' precious deposits and prevents transaction disputes." He added, "It is necessary to establish reasonable administrative disposition standards for acts that intentionally omit senior priority rights relations or repeatedly provide false explanations out of habit."

Meanwhile, looking at major types of violations of real estate transaction order disturbances under the Certified Public Realtors Act detected since 2021, "prohibited acts by real estate agents," such as false statements regarding important transaction matters, were the most common at 763 cases, followed by "housing price collusion" at 729 cases.

Among the violation types tracked since 2023, "unfaithful explanation of brokerage objects" was the most frequent.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.