Henceforth, tenants of private rental housing will receive immediate text notifications regarding the status of rental deposit guarantee memberships upon contract signing.
On the 8th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport announced that from the 14th, tenants will start receiving text notifications about the rental deposit guarantee membership information as soon as their lease contract report is accepted. This system expands the previous method, which only notified of non-membership, to include cases where guarantees are in place.
Until now, the rental registration system ‘Rent Home’ of the Ministry only sent text notifications to tenants when there was no membership. Once there was membership, notifications were provided by the guarantee institutions through mail or alert messages, which sometimes delayed immediate notification to tenants about rental deposit guarantees.
Starting from the 14th, local governments, upon accepting lease contract reports, will directly send text notifications about guarantee membership status, amount, and duration via Rent Home. The Ministry explained that they pursued this improvement to prevent forged contracts or deceitful agreements where guarantees were not registered.
Additionally, the structure where separate re-membership notifications were omitted when only tenants changed during the guarantee period will be improved. This ensures that tenants can confirm the return guarantee for their deposit themselves.
For accurate text notifications, tenants’ mobile numbers must be clearly listed in the standard lease contract. Consent to provide personal information to third parties is also required. The Ministry urged caution to prevent cases where notifications are missed due to omitted or incorrect numbers.
Kim Gye-heung, head of the Private Rental Policy Division, stated, “The improvement of the system will promote compliance with guarantee membership obligations by rental business operators and reduce tenants’ concerns about the return of their deposits.”
The government plans to enhance information accessibility and transparency in the rental market by expanding the text notification system. Guarantee information will no longer require confirmation but becomes a ‘basic right’ that is communicated immediately.
