Seo Hyun Jin has become the latest victim of Korea’s growing Jeonse rental fraud.
Jeonse is a Korean rental system where tenants pay a large lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent. The landlord returns the full amount when the lease ends. Jeonse fraud happens when the landlord can’t—or never intended to—return the deposit. This can be due to hidden debts, foreclosure, or deliberate scams. Victims often lose their entire deposit, with limited legal protection.
According to court auction records released on June 3rd, Seo was unable to recover her 2.6 billion won ($1.9 million USD) deposit for a villa in the Cheongdam district of Seoul, and ended up filing for a court auction herself.
She first signed a Jeonse rental contract for 2.5 billion won in April 2020 and renewed it in 2022 at a slightly higher price. But when the contract ended in April 2024, the villa’s owner failed to return her deposit. In September, Seo officially registered her leasehold rights and moved out, starting the legal process for a forced auction.
The villa was appraised at 2.87 billion won, but after one failed bidding round, the minimum bid has dropped to 2.3 billion won ($1.7 million). The next auction is set for June 17th, and the final bid must exceed 2.6 billion won for Seo to fully recover her deposit.
In the meantime, Seo has moved into an apartment in the Oksu district of Seoul, which she reportedly bought in 2018 for 1.5 billion won ($1.1 million) in cash under her own name.
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