[헤럴드경제=서정은 기자] Starting next year, a new lease model is expected to be introduced where landlords and tenants can check each other’s credit information and sign a contract. The purpose is to reduce the possibility of the contracting parties becoming embroiled in various disputes while concluding a rental contract with extremely limited information. The explanation is that unlike Korea, where mutual verification is in its early stages, ‘bilateral verification’, which allows contracting parties to evaluate each other’s suitability, is common overseas.
According to the real estate industry on the 8th, the Korea Housing Landlord Association plans to launch a ‘landlord/tenant screening service’ in conjunction with PropTech and a credit rating agency. The goal is to support a safe rental contract based on the mutual consent of the landlord and tenant. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the National Tax Service are also looking into details about the service, inquiring about the scope of information sharing and operating principles.
Once the service is launched, landlords will be able to know ▷the tenant’s rent payment history ▷reputation such as recommendations from previous landlords ▷financial data such as credit information ▷life pattern information, etc. Tenants will be able to find out about the landlord’s house: ▷ rights analysis through register copy analysis ▷ history of non-return of deposit ▷ status of national and local tax delinquency ▷ senior deposit forecast, etc. The Korea Housing Renter’s Association plans to score this to measure the comprehensive credit rating between contracting parties.
Seong Chang-yeop, president of the Housing Landlord Association, said, “As incidents of non-return of security deposits have increased in villas in recent years, there has been a burden to broadly disclose information such as credit rating, number of houses owned, tax delinquency, etc. only to landlords. The purpose is to reduce information asymmetry between tenants and landlords.”
Recently, a petition appeared on the National Assembly petition bulletin board asking to alleviate this information asymmetry, “Please introduce a tenant interview system to protect landlords from malicious tenants.” This petition, which was made public on the 12th of last month, had received the consent of 2,500 people as of today.
What about overseas? The association explains that unlike Korea, where the private sector is just starting to provide this service, mutual verification systems are common overseas.
For example, in the United States, ‘Tenancy Screening’ allows landlords to find out about their tenants. Tenants submit credit scores (FICO), proof of employment and income, consent to a criminal record check, and a letter of recommendation from a previous landlord, and the landlord evaluates the tenant’s eligibility based on this. In many cases, it is difficult to enter into a contract if the documents are insufficient or the credit score does not meet a certain standard. Conversely, it is also common for tenants to write letters of recommendation or conduct reputation checks on landlords for the next tenant.
In Germany, it is virtually mandatory for tenants to write a ‘self-introduction’ (Selbstauskunft) before signing a contract. This document includes personal information, income information such as pay stubs, debt and tax-related information, etc., and must be submitted to the landlord. In popular areas, the competition rate is tens to 1, so landlords sometimes select tenants through documents and interviews.
In France, it is common to request several documents such as pay stubs, tax returns, employment contracts, and guarantor-related documents for rental contracts. In some regions, interviews that go beyond simple document review and ask questions about housing purpose and family composition may actually be conducted.
In Japan, a tenant can only sign a lease if he or she passes the screening of a real estate company or guarantee company. In this process, you must submit proof of employment, proof of income, and guarantor information, and it is difficult to rent if you do not meet the internal credit rating standards set by the guarantor company.
Chairman Seong said, “It is time to design a system that requires balanced responsibilities and information from landlords and tenants,” and added, “We are putting the final touches on it with the goal of launching it in the first quarter of next year.”
