Seoul City Publishes Private Rental Business Manual... Comprehensive Coverage Including Legal Interpretations

[Financial News] Seoul City has published the 'Registered Private Rental Housing Business Manual' reflecting the revised Private Rental Housing Special Act from last June for private rental housing operators and tenants. 
According to Seoul City on the 3rd, private rental housing is owned by rental businesses for leasing purposes and registered through autonomous districts according to the 'Special Act on Private Rental Housing'. Rental businesses must comply with 16 obligations to protect tenant rights and can receive tax benefits from national and local taxes.
Currently, in Seoul, 97,233 private rental business operators provide 415,460 private rental housing units. This accounts for about 11% of the total housing units in Seoul (3.879 million units) and about 20% of the total tenant households, playing a significant role in providing residential space for citizens. The most common type of private rental housing is apartments (44.2%), followed by multi-family (22.4%), officetels (14.6%), and multi-household (8.6%).
The city has published the business manual to protect tenant rights by addressing the lack of clear regulations on administrative dispositions for rental business obligation violations and the succession of rental business status upon inheritance, organizing them into consistent standards.
As a representative case of administrative complaints, there was no explicit regulation on whether the registration would be canceled if the heir registers the inheritance and reports the transfer after the rental business operator's death. Opinions were divided among the National Rights Commission, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Seoul Administrative Court, but Seoul City included a unified guideline in this business manual through inquiries to the Ministry of Land and legislative interpretations.
The authority to impose fines for rental business obligation violations has been delegated from the Minister of Land to the heads of autonomous districts, and Seoul City has published the business manual to prevent inconsistent administrative dispositions across districts, implementing system improvements.
In particular, 185 Q&A cases are included to provide a reference point for legal interpretations and introduce actual administrative cases and audit inquiries and criticisms from 2023-2024 in autonomous districts, serving as a practical guide for both public officials and rental business operators.
Seoul City plans to enhance practical capabilities and administrative consistency by conducting three training and discussion sessions in August for autonomous district private rental system managers along with the publication of the manual. The manual is distributed to Seoul City, each autonomous district, the National Assembly Library, and the Seoul Library for easy access by anyone.
Choi Jin-seok, Director of Housing at Seoul City, said, "This registered private rental housing business manual is expected to reduce confusion in legal interpretations and enhance citizen trust in the system," adding, "We will continue to promote public-supported private rental housing to alleviate citizens' rental anxiety and contribute to housing stability."

ming@fnnews.com Min-kyung Jeon Reporter