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Rep. Park Dae-chul (left), the ruling People Power Party's chief policymaker, and Land Minister Won Hee-ryong, talk during a meeting at the National Assembly on Thursda. (Yonhap) |
The ruling People Power Party and the government discussed a series of measures to support victims of home rental scams Thursday, but rejected a proposal from the main opposition Democratic Party to publicly purchase housing units involved in the scams.
The support measures discussed in Thursday's meeting included giving victims the priority right to purchase the affected homes, providing them with low-interest loans and postponing or temporarily suspending auctions of the homes.
The two sides also agreed to seek measures to have scammers forfeit all criminal proceeds.
"We will look actively into requests from victims while leaving all possibilities open," said Rep. Park Dae-chul, the People Power Party's chief policymaker. "We will put together workable and effective additional support measures at an early date."
But they rejected the Democratic Party's proposal to enact a special bill aimed at helping the victims of the organized frauds that targeted tenants of the "jeonse" scheme by having the state-run Korea Asset Management Corp. purchase the houses involved in the scam.
"The Democratic Party's special bill does not prioritize compensating the victims but other preferred creditors," Park said, arguing that the proposal would place an undue financial burden on the state, urging a bipartisan effort to develop more effective countermeasures.
Creditors here include financial institutions such as banks.
In recent months, three cash-strapped tenants have taken their own lives in the city of Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul, in the wake of a massive home rental scam, sending the government scrambling to find remedies.
Under the scam, the mastermind, surnamed Nam, rented highly collateralized homes to victims for deposits worth tens of millions of won. The homes ended up being put up for auction as Nam failed to repay debts to financial institutions, leading to victims facing eviction without getting their deposits back.
Similar rental scams have been reported elsewhere.
"Relevant government agencies have been working closely together since the day before yesterday in response to a special order from President Yoon Suk Yeol, to protect vulnerable people and victims by sharing tears with them." Land Minister Won Hee-ryong said.
Under the country's unique rental agreement called jeonse, tenants give their landlord a large upfront deposit worth as much as 70 percent of the home's value instead of paying monthly rent. Then, the landlord earns interest off the deposit and returns the deposit at the end of the lease.
Three victims took their own lives in recent months after losing rental deposits in a scam in the western city of Incheon, highlighting the dismal situation the victims are under and sending the government scrambling for remedies.
"It is time for us to focus on the victims and come up with measures," Won said. (Yohap)
