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▲ A text message sent to the tenant by Mr. Kim, the deceased 'Villa King'
Mr. Kim (42), who was called the 'Villa King' because he owned 1,139 villas and officetels in the metropolitan area, suddenly died, and victims who could not get back the jeonse deposit are appearing one after another.
Mr. Kim bought a house at random by receiving deposits from the victims with little investment of his own capital.
After he died at a hotel in Seoul last October, hundreds of tenants are struggling to get back their deposits of around 100 to 200 million won each.
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A (39), a victim of the king of villas, decided to move from the old apartment she originally lived in in September 2020, and searched for new villas and officetels with good soundproofing and insulation.
Among them, we signed a charter contract for an officetel in Sungui-dong, Michuhol-gu, Incheon, which is relatively new in its fourth year of completion.
This 22 pyeong (74㎡) house with a deposit of 215 million won was at the same time chartered and sold.
This is the so-called 'buying and selling'.
At this time, the new landlord who bought the house was Villa Wang Kim.
He bought this house for 215 million won, the same as the rental price.
In other words, Mr. A paid for the house with only Mr. A's deposit without any equity capital.
At the time, Mr. A did not know exactly how much the villa king, Mr. Kim, bought the officetel with the jeonse money, but when he was told that he could sign up for the jeonse guarantee insurance, he thought, 'Is there anything special?', so he signed a global contract.
It was almost two years after the signing of the contract that the truth of the villa king scam was revealed.
Mr. A contacted Mr. Kim several times in September to extend the charter contract, but he was silent.
When I sent a text message saying that I would cancel the contract, Mr. Kim only then said, 'The comprehensive real estate tax was too high and I became a credit delinquent, and the house will also be foreclosed.' I gave an answer like a high-pitched thunderbolt.
When I hurriedly took off the certified copy of the register, the house had already been foreclosed in July.
Mr. A said today (21st), "I have an apartment for which I bought a right to sell, so I have to pay the interim payment loan and balance by March next year, but I am in a desperate situation because I have not been able to get back the deposit of more than 200 million won." I did.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport first commissioned the police to investigate 106 suspected charter scams.
Of these, 16 cases were related to Villawang.
The government believes that Mr. Kim, who had little property and economic activity, took on the role of the so-called 'pants boss'.
When the building owners who built the building pay commissions to the brokers who signed the charter contract at a higher price than the market price, they attract interest subsidies as bait to attract tenants, and the building is handed over to Mr. Kim, the president of the bar.
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Summarizing the damage cases of Internet cafes where the tenants of the villa king were gathered, it seems that most of Kim's houses were able to sign up for charter guarantee insurance or charter security loans from the Housing City Guarantee Corporation (HUG).
Many victims were relieved by this and signed a charter contract.
One victim signed a charter contract with Mr. Kim for about 200 million won on the condition that the charter security loan was approved, but after that he lost contact and the house was foreclosed.
There was also a victim who moved in with the same loan, but Mr. Kim changed to a landlord in the middle and the house was foreclosed.
With Mr. Kim's death, it has become difficult for even victims who have signed up for charter guarantee insurance to get their deposit back.
In order for the guarantee to be fulfilled, the lessees must notify Mr. Kim of the termination of the contract because his heirs have not been determined.
If no next of kin inherits, tenants will have to wait for the court to appoint an administrator for the estate.
However, it seems difficult to find an heir because the house he owns is foreclosed as Mr. Kim defaulted on 6.2 billion won in comprehensive real estate tax last year, and there is a high possibility that he will not be able to return the deposit even if he sells the house.
For this reason, there are cases where HUG did not receive a deposit even after completing the legally necessary procedures.
Mr. A completed this procedure on the 30th of last month when he was told that in order to get the money back through the jeonse guarantee insurance, he had to issue a lease registration order.
This order is a device that allows the tenant to be recognized for preferential repayment if the tenant whose deposit has been terminated moves out without getting the deposit back.
However, the HUG side, which received the application for guarantee fulfillment, returned an answer that the guarantee was difficult because a registration order was set after Mr. Kim died.
Mr. A complained, "HUG should have recognized earlier that Mr. Kim is a landlord who keeps paying jeonse guarantee accidents, but did not notify the tenants of this fact, so the damage was greater."
As the situation grew, HUG decided to hold a briefing on the damage to the villa king scam at the Western Management Center in Seoul tomorrow at 2:00 pm, and notified the tenants.
Choi Hwang-soo, an adjunct professor at the Graduate School of Real Estate at Konkuk University, said, "Most of the victims of charter fraud are newcomers to society, so they often take out loans through HUG for insufficient budget." It should be accompanied,” he pointed out.
(Photo=provided by readers, Yonhap News)