Gangdong-gu Office Vows to Help Residents Settle Real Estate Issues for Free through Professional Counseling Service Program

- One-on-one consultations on difficult real estate problems

- Every second/fourth Wed via advance booking from Feb until Nov

 Gangdong-gu Office (head: Lee Soo-hee) is planning to operate so-called ‘Real Estate Professional Counseling’ service program twice a month in an attempt to protect property rights and pursue housing stability for the district residents.

 The program, scheduled to last 10 months starting this month, is designed to provide residents counseling related to real estate issues – real estates sales, lease contract, etc. - by appointing professional counselors qualified with legal knowledge and related experiences. 

 Launched last year, the counseling service is targeted at residents who hesitate to get feedbacks on real estate problems due to long traveling distance and burdensome consultation costs of existing legal offices and other counseling centers operated by Seoul city government.

 The program in detail includes consultations on life-oriented real estate issues arising on the heels of signing contracts as well as in regards to recapturing provisional deposit and a large upfront ‘jeonse’ rental deposit, resolving dispute over housing lease, and claiming over contract renewal.

 According to a survey conducted by Gangdong-gu Office last year, a total of 97 residents took advantage of the service and 89 percent among them revealed satisfaction toward the service. Last year’s consultation result showed that there have been 15 cases of consultation relevant to disputes over contract fulfillment and building defects, 68 cases on rental deposit return and lease fee ceiling, and 14 cases on other matters.

 Operated by an advance booking system, the monthly-based service runs on Wednesday on the second and the fourth week, lasting two hours from 2 PM. The consultation takes place inside Gangdong-gu Office and it is free of charge.

 You may able to make reservation for the consultation by either calling or visiting the Real Estate Information Division at Gangdong-gu Office. You can also book online through the office’s official website: General Civil Petition > Consultation Registration Center > Consultation Support.

 “We hope to help residents resolve real estate issues without financial burden through this professional counseling service,” said Kim Hong-gun, head of the Real Estate Information Division at Gangdong-gu Office. “We will strive on to implement policies designed to support residents’ livelihood substantially.”