Refusing a renewal has four steps — how the same refusal became ₩0 or ₩6M

You moved out because the landlord said they were moving in. Two months later you pass the building and someone else is living there. There is money you can claim for this: ₩6M on a ₩300M jeonse deposit. But it does not apply in every case. It applies only when the landlord's refusal ground was one particular ground of the nine, 'I will live there myself'. If they said 'redevelopment', it does not apply. The situations look the same, and the outcomes split.

The right to demand renewal has been in force for six years. It is not a new system but a right already in use, and often unused because people do not know how. There are four steps. ① When must you demand it? ② On what grounds can the landlord refuse? ③ What happens if they refuse and then rent to someone else? ④ How much do you get? The order is chronological: ① and ② happen before the lease ends, ③ and ④ after you have moved out.

Step one: timing. The window for the demand runs from 6 months to 2 months before the lease ends. Too early does not count and neither does too late. One day past the 2-month mark the right is gone, and it cannot be won back by arguing. People lose it not because they do not know the right but because they do not know the date. And it is a one-time right: once per tenancy, and a renewal adds 2 years, hence the nickname '2+2'. The law sets no form for the demand, so spoken words count, but if it comes to a dispute the burden of proof is on the person who made the demand, so a text message or certified mail with a date on it is the better way.

Step two: grounds for refusal. The law lists 9 grounds and the landlord cannot refuse on any other. 'I just don't like the tenant' is not a ground. The main ones: arrears that have reached 2 months' rent (not two late payments that were made up, but arrears that at some point totalled 2 months' rent); a lease obtained by fraud or improper means; a mutual agreement in which the landlord provided substantial compensation; damage to the property by intent or gross negligence; and demolition or redevelopment, which comes with conditions: the construction timing and period were specifically disclosed at signing, the building is old or damaged enough to risk an accident, or the demolition is required by another law.

And ground 8: the landlord moving in. This is the center of today's story, and it has a defined scope. It covers not only the owner but lineal ascendants and descendants, so a parent or child moving in counts as owner-occupation. Siblings are not lineal. 'Owner-occupation' sounds broad, but the law draws the line.

Step three. The landlord refused renewal to move in, and now someone else is living there. Damages attach, but only if all three conditions hold. ① The refusal ground was ground 8, owner-occupation; a 'redevelopment' refusal does not qualify. ② The would-be renewed term has not expired: had the lease been renewed it would have run 2 years from the original end date, so the property must have been rented out before those 2 years passed. Two years and one day later, it does not apply. ③ No justifiable reason: the law recognizes that plans to move in can fall through, and that reason is the landlord's to explain if it comes to a dispute. Note that you cannot freely inspect someone else's tenancy. The fixed-date registry is open only to interested parties, and the property register shows the owner, not the tenant.

Step four: the amount. There are three measures, and you do not add them up. You receive the largest. ① 3 months of converted monthly rent; ② the difference between the converted rent charged to the new tenant and the converted rent at the time of refusal, × 2 years; ③ actual loss. Even a jeonse with no monthly rent is converted to a monthly figure, using the lower of two rates: 10% a year, or the Bank of Korea base rate + 2%p. With the base rate at 3.00% (August 27, 2026) that is 5.00%, and as long as the base rate stays under 8% the second is always lower, so in practice it tracks the base rate.

Take a ₩300M pure jeonse. ₩300M × 5% = ₩15M a year, ÷ 12 = ₩1.25M a month. That is the converted monthly rent. Measure ① is 3 months of it: ₩3.75M. If the landlord is charging the new tenant ₩1.5M a month, the difference is ₩250,000, and × 24 months is ₩6M. The largest of the three is ₩6M.

There is one exception. If the contract set an agreed amount of damages in advance, that agreement comes first; the three measures are the fallback when nothing was agreed. One more reason to reread the special-terms clause of your lease. It may work for you or against you. And the conversion rate is not fixed. It is 5% today because the base rate is 3.00%; if the base rate falls, the conversion rate, the converted rent and the damages all fall with it. Calculate on an old number and the amount you expect will not match.

Two things to do now. ① Write the lease end date on a calendar and mark 6 months and 2 months before it. The span between those two marks is your demand window. ② Make the demand in a form that leaves a date: a text message or certified mail. Today covered only the main requirements; each of the 9 grounds has its own points of dispute, and whether a reason was justifiable differs case by case, so get professional advice when the amount is large. Past the 2-month mark there is no arguing it back. One note on a calendar protects 2 more years.