“Tenant Unknowingly Scammed into Homeownership: Public Rental Housing Eligibility Should Be Preserved”

• A tenant loses eligibility for public rental housing due to unavoidable circumstances and receives an eviction notice.
• The ACRC expresses that if eligibility was lost due to fraud and the tenant has since regained non-homeowner status, he should be allowed to remain in public rental housing.

(September 11, 2024, ACRC)

A decision has been made to provide tenants who lose their non-homeowner eligibility due to unavoidable reasons, such as fraud, with more opportunities to continue residing in public rental housing.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC, Chairperson Ryu Chul Whan) expressed that if a North Korean defector referred to as “Mr. B,” lost his eligibility for public rental housing after becoming a homeowner through fraud or other unavoidable circumstances, it would be reasonable to cancel the eviction order and allow him to continue residing in public rental housing.

In February 2022, Mr. B was deceived by an acquaintance and unknowingly became the owner of a house in ○○ City. As a result, he lost his eligibility for public rental housing, which requires non-homeowner status, and subsequently received an eviction notice.

In March, with assistance from the staff at the public rental housing management office, Mr. B filed a grievance complaint with the ACRC, explaining that if evicted, he had no family to rely on and faced severe financial difficulties.

Mr. B stated, “After arriving in the country, I was in desperate need of financial assistance and trusted an acquaintance I met by chance, who promised I could make money. Following his instructions, I unknowingly signed a real estate sales contract, which I only discovered when I received the eviction notice. I also learned I had loans under my name only when the financial institutions began demanding repayment.

Following multiple interviews and a thorough investigation, the ACRC confirmed that ▴Mr. B was deceived by acquaintances shortly after arriving in Korea and purchased a home in ○○ City, where he had no prior knowledge or connections, ▴the property was heavily mortgaged, and a substantial deposit had been placed on it. The ACRC also verified the credibility of Mr. B’s claims by cross-checking the police report he had filed.

Based on these findings, the ACRC concluded that ▴Mr. B defected from North Korea in 2019 and acquired a home in February 2022, but considering the timing, cost, and location, it was unlikely he had the financial means or voluntarily purchased the property, ▴Mr. B, unaware of real estate transactions or financial loans, only realized the fraud after receiving collection notices from financial institutions and subsequently filed a police report, ▴Mr. B had only been in Korea for four years and had not yet achieved stable resettlement, meaning eviction could jeopardize his housing and livelihood, and ▴considering the public rental housing system’s purpose of supporting the housing stability of low-income and socially vulnerable groups, allowing Mr. B to remain in public rental housing after regaining his non-homeowner status would not undermine the system’s intent.

Yang Jong-Sam, Director General for the Ombudsman Bureau of the ACRC, stated, “The applicant, a North Korean defector, fell victim to this situation without knowledge of real estate or financial matters. The ACRC will continue to work to ensure that North Korean defectors and others facing difficult situations are not deprived of their basic rights and can maintain a minimum standard of living.”