Korea's Lease Report System (전월세 신고제): What Foreign Tenants Need to Know
Since 2021, Korea has required tenants and landlords to report certain rental contracts to the government — the lease report system (전월세 신고제). For four years it ran without penalties, but as of June 2025 fines apply for not reporting.
The good news for most foreign tenants: if you complete your address registration, the lease report is usually taken care of at the same time. But it's worth understanding what it is, whether it applies to you, and the one case where you need to do it separately.
What It Is
The lease report is a requirement to notify your local government of the details of a rental contract — the deposit, the rent, the term — within a set time. Its purpose is transparency: making actual rental prices visible so the market is fairer and harder to manipulate.
It was introduced in June 2021 but ran with a grace period. From June 2025, missing it carries a fine.
Does It Apply to Your Lease?
Not every rental has to be reported. Two conditions determine it — location and size.
By size: the lease must be reported if the deposit exceeds ₩60,000,000 or the monthly rent exceeds ₩300,000. For a semi-jeonse (반전세), meeting either threshold triggers it.
Since most standard one-room rentals have rent above ₩300,000, most foreign tenants' leases do qualify.
By location: it applies in the Seoul metropolitan area, the metropolitan cities (Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, Ulsan, etc.), Sejong, Jeju, and the city (시) areas of provinces. Rural county (군) areas are generally excluded.
Property types: ordinary apartments, villas, and officetels — and also quasi-housing like goshiwon and dormitories. So a goshiwon room above the rent threshold can be reportable too.
| Reportable | |
|---|---|
| Deposit over ₩60,000,000 | Yes |
| Monthly rent over ₩300,000 | Yes |
| In Seoul / metro city / 시 area | Yes (if size threshold met) |
| Rural 군 area | Generally no |
The Good News: Address Registration Usually Handles It
Here's the part that saves most foreign tenants a separate errand.
When you file your move-in report — for foreign nationals, your 체류지변경신고 — and submit your lease, the lease report is treated as done. The systems are connected. Filing your address registration with your contract counts as filing the lease report.
There's a second benefit that's genuinely valuable: completing the lease report is treated as granting 확정일자 on your contract. So the same step that registers your address and satisfies the lease report can also give you the date-stamp that protects your deposit priority.
What this means in practice: for most foreign tenants, doing your address registration properly — with your lease in hand — covers the lease report and the 확정일자 in one visit. You don't need to treat the lease report as a separate task.
⚠️ Crucial Requirement: To ensure your lease report and Hwakjeong-ilja (확정일자) are processed automatically during address registration, you must present your official, signed lease agreement (임대차계약서) at the community center (주민센터) or immigration office. Simply submitting an address change form without the lease will not trigger automatic deposit protection.
💡 This is one more reason to complete your address registration promptly and to bring your contract when you do. One properly-done visit can satisfy three things at once: address registration, lease report, and 확정일자.
→ How to Register Your Address in Korea After Moving In: A Guide for Foreign Renters → 전입신고 vs 체류지변경신고: What Foreigners in Korea Need to Know
When You Need to Do It Separately
The automatic route works when your address registration and your lease line up cleanly. You may need to file the lease report separately if:
- Your circumstances mean you're not filing an address registration at the same time as the lease begins
- There's a timing mismatch between your registration and your contract
In those cases, the report is filed within 30 days of signing the contract, either at the local 주민센터 (community centre) or online through the government's real estate transaction system (부동산거래관리시스템), or via 정부24.
Either the tenant or the landlord can file, and it can be done by submitting the jointly-signed lease. An agent can file on your behalf.
💡 Mind the Two Different Deadlines:
- Lease Report (전월세 신고): Must be reported within 30 days of signing the contract.
- Foreigner Address Registration (체류지 변경 신고): Must be completed within 14 days of moving in. To get both handled at once seamlessly without incurring fines, complete your address registration with your lease contract in hand within 14 days of moving in.
The Penalty
Since June 2025, failing to report — or reporting falsely — carries a fine. The amount scales with the size of the contract and how late the report is:
- Small contracts, briefly late: as little as ₩20,000–₩40,000
- Larger contracts, long overdue, or refusing joint filing: up to ₩300,000
- A false report: up to ₩1,000,000
These aren't large sums for most tenants, but they're avoidable — and since address registration usually handles the report automatically, the simplest way to avoid the fine is to complete your registration properly and on time.
The Short Version
- The lease report applies to most standard rentals (rent over ₩300,000) in cities
- Doing your 체류지변경신고 with your lease usually satisfies the report automatically
- It also counts as getting 확정일자 — protecting your deposit priority
- If you're not registering at the same time, file separately within 30 days
- Since June 2025, not reporting carries a fine
For most foreign tenants, this isn't a separate chore — it's one more thing that a properly-done address registration takes care of. Bring your contract, register on time, and it's handled.
Keeping track of which registration covers what — address, lease report, 확정일자 — is exactly the kind of overlapping paperwork that's hard to navigate in a new country. CheckmateKorea's ongoing support helps foreign tenants get daily life assistance