Since the 3rd Lease Act passed the National Assembly, the importance of an arbitration body to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants is growing.

The Housing Lease Dispute Mediation Committee is a device that allows landlords and tenants to resolve problems through expert arbitration before going to litigation.

However, among the dispute mediation applications filed with the committee, only 2 to 3 cases out of 10 were actually mediated, indicating that they did not work properly.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Justice and Korea Legal Aid Corporation on the 10th to the Democratic Party's Rep. Yang Gyeong-sook, a total of 6,502 dispute mediation applications received by the Committee until June of this year after the launch of the Housing Lease Dispute Mediation Committee in May 2017 were counted.

However, only 1,522 (23.4%) of dispute mediation applications were actually mediated.

2,366 cases (36.4%) were dismissed before the commencement of mediation, and 4,713 cases were dismissed or withdrawn before and after the commencement of mediation, accounting for 72.5% of the total.

The reason for dismissal before the commencement of mediation is often that the respondent does not respond to mediation.

Under the current Housing Lease Protection Act, even if an application for mediation is filed, if the respondent does not respond, the application is dismissed.

Disputes have arisen due to different opinions of the two sides. However, even if an application for dispute mediation is filed, the mediation will not proceed if one side rejects it.

Accordingly, when an application for mediation is received in the past 20th National Assembly, the Chiefs Act is revised so that mediation proceedings are automatically initiated, and it is expected to take effect from December 10th.

However, as the 3rd Lease Act was recently passed, demand for arbitration over contract contents such as exercise of the right to apply for contract renewal between landlords and tenants increased, but it is difficult to expect the committee's mediation function until December.

It is pointed out that it is unfortunate that legislation to strengthen the adjustment function of the Housing Lease Dispute Mediation Committee was not implemented in parallel with the introduction of the 3 Lease Act.

By type, the number of disputes that received mediation applications was 4,634 cases, with 71.3% of housing and deposit returns.

'Return of the house' is when the landlord asks the tenant to evict, and the'return of the deposit' is when the tenant asks the tenant to return the deposit as they leave.

Next, 522 cases of maintenance/repair obligations (8.0%), 415 cases of execution and interpretation of the contract (6.4%), 390 cases of compensation for damages (6.0%), 261 cases of contract renewal and termination (4.0%), 55 cases of lease period ( 0.8%), 35 cases (0.5%) for the increase or decrease in the amount of rent and deposit, and 35 cases (0.5%) including remuneration for the broker.

The Housing Lease Dispute Mediation Committee plays a role in deliberating and mediating a dispute between a landlord and a tenant regarding housing lease after investigation by legal experts.

The agreement between the landlord and the tenant is given enforcement power, and if the results of the mutual adjustment are not implemented, enforcement is possible.

The number of applications to the Housing Lease Dispute Mediation Committee increased from 1,88 in 2017 to 2,515 in 2018, then decreased to 2,192 last year, and 707 were received by June this year.

Currently, the committee has been installed and operated in six locations including Seoul, Suwon, Daejeon, Daegu, Busan, and Gwangju.

The government plans to increase the number of committees to install at least one in cities with a population of 500,000 or more.

Rep. Yang Gyeong-suk said, "The housing lease dispute settlement is a relatively quick way to resolve the lease dispute between the landlord and the tenant at a low cost." "The mediation system is more active so that tenants and landlords can use the mediation system to minimize lease conflicts. Publicity and inspection have to be done.”