Landlord Sentenced Again to 1 Year in Prison for Rental Deposit Fraud After Heavy Conviction

A landlord, who had already received a heavy sentence for multi-billion won rental deposit fraud, has again been handed a prison term in another fraud case.

The landlord was brought to trial on charges of defrauding two tenants out of a total of 250 million won during the rental process for multi-family housing in Yuseong-gu, Daejeon in 2021, by misrepresenting the actual size of prior deposit obligations or claiming they didn't exist. It was revealed that Mr. Lim had been operating his business by purchasing multiple properties using loans or borrowed money, and then using deposits from new tenants to pay off previous rental fees or debts. Despite the precarious situation where the amount of existing debt already exceeded the property's actual value, he concealed or lied about these facts.

A licensed real estate agent, indicted alongside Mr. Lim in this case, was found to have aided the crime by facilitating the contract as if deposit returns were possible, without properly informing the tenants of Mr. Lim's financial situation, and was sentenced to 4 months in prison.

The court ruled, "Rental deposit fraud often involves the majority of the victim's assets, causing significant financial damage and emotional distress that is difficult for victims to bear, resulting in considerable social harm." However, the court added, "It is difficult to conclude that the fraud was planned from the outset, and factors such as business expansion and external economic conditions played a role."

Mr. Lim had previously been sentenced to 13 years in prison in a separate trial for embezzling rental deposits worth tens of billions of won in the Yuseong-gu area of Daejeon. Two real estate agents indicted alongside him at the time also received prison sentences, and their appeals are currently pending.