Korean rental-deposit guidebook: Protect Your Jeonse by Deokbang

Protect Your Jeonse and Monthly Rent Deposits arrived neatly

Deokbang Research Institute, a YouTube channel that explains real-estate basics in an accessible way, has released Protect Your Jeonse and Monthly Rent Deposits, a revised edition of Protect Your Jeonse. Personally, in Korea, where the number of victims of jeonse rental scams is rising sharply, I am glad there are YouTubers like Deokbang Research Institute who share their expertise and create their own positive influence.

When the book arrived at my home, seeing how neatly it was packaged put me at ease. Books are generally sent by courier without much packaging, so once in a while, even a clearly brand-new book arrives with a dented corner. But Protect Your Jeonse and Monthly Rent Deposits was delivered in very clean condition.

A rental-deposit book read at a café on a hot day

The tropical nights kept going, the weather was brutally hot, and the humidity was high, so I simply could not read at home. I briefly escaped to a café near my home, looked through Deokbang Research Institute's YouTube channel, and read the book too.

Real cases that protect a first-time renter's savings

Deokbang Research Institute had uploaded videos on how not to be scammed out of a jeonse deposit and what to do after recognizing a jeonse or monthly-rent scam. Protect Your Jeonse and Monthly Rent Deposits mainly organizes know-how for protecting as much as possible of the hard-earned savings of people new to real estate, such as newlyweds and university students, including jeonse deposits, banjeonse (a rental arrangement with both a large deposit and monthly rent), and monthly-rent deposits. Because it explains things through real cases, it was easier to understand.

For people who need real-estate knowledge

The YouTuber behind Deokbang Research Institute majored in real estate. The university I attended also had a real-estate department, but at the time I had no interest at all in what that department did, nor did I even try to find out.

Real estate is a field within urban studies that examines individual properties that make up a city from a micro perspective. If I had opened my eyes to this a little more when I was in college, I think I definitely would have studied real estate as a double major or minor.

My original major is social welfare, and many people who primarily receive social-welfare services are vulnerable when it comes to real estate. When supporting independence for people who have lived in residential facilities for people with disabilities for decades and want to live independently in the community, or for young people leaving orphanages, the most necessary thing is, of course, housing. But knowing something about real estate would help me support them even a little better, and there were often times I regretted not knowing enough. I am grateful that someone like the YouTuber behind Deokbang Research Institute shares their specialty through the new medium of YouTube.

The table of contents and what to check before a contract

The table of contents for Protect Your Jeonse and Monthly Rent Deposits was divided into “PART 1. Please Return My Deposit,” “PART 2. You Are Not Exempt from Jeonse Scams,” and “PART 3. A Jeonse Scam Prevention Guide for First-Time Home Renters.”

• PART 1. Please Return My Deposit: explains how to secure priority repayment rights and check jeonse deposit insurance.
• PART 2. You Are Not Exempt from Jeonse Scams: covers how real-estate businesses deceive people.
• PART 3. A Jeonse Scam Prevention Guide for First-Time Home Renters: offers the minimum guidance needed to avoid real-estate scams.

I had thought everyone working at a neighborhood real-estate office was a licensed real-estate agent who had passed an exam. This was the first time I learned that contracts can sometimes be handled through illegal work by unlicensed brokerage assistants.

Why I want to read it again when signing a contract

I liked that Protect Your Jeonse and Monthly Rent Deposits gives real cases alongside the specific websites to visit and the items to check. Even though I am not signing a real-estate contract right now, it made me think that when I make a housing-related contract in the future, I should read this book again and check everything step by step.

In addition, I think legal responsibility for fraud is far too limited in Korea. A jeonse deposit or monthly-rent deposit may be someone's entire fortune, yet the government does not seem intent on solving this issue, while an expert who majored in real estate has to open a YouTube channel and publish a book to teach first-timers about it. Personally, I think it is very important and meaningful for young people about to sign a housing contract to read Protect Your Jeonse and Monthly Rent Deposits and subscribe to Deokbang Research Institute in order to protect their assets, but I hope the country will also have the will to address this problem actively.