Section A and Section B: Reading Korea's Real Estate Register

It is just like checking a new classmate's name tag and basic details on the first day of school. When signing a property deal, the very first thing you must check is Section A (Gap-gu), which records the complete history of ownership. It lists every transfer of title in chronological order, starting from the original builder down to the current owner.

When signing a lease—whether monthly rent or jeonse (Korea's lump-sum deposit lease)—always verify that the final owner listed at the bottom of Section A matches the government ID of the person standing in front of you. Check their name and date of birth. If an agent represents the owner, this section serves as your benchmark to confirm a valid power of attorney.

Section A also lays bare the owner's financial distress. Provisional seizures and attachments mean creditors have frozen the owner's assets, while an auction commencement decision indicates a forced court sale is already underway. Provisional registrations or injunctions signal that ownership could shift to someone else. If a trust is registered, the legal owner is actually the trust company. In that case, leasing from the original landlord requires pulling the trust agreement to verify the trust company's explicit consent. Any active, uncanceled marks here demand extreme caution.

Think of it like checking how much money a friend already owes other people before lending them cash. Section B (Eul-gu) covers rights other than ownership, meaning debts and legal claims secured by the property. If the property carries no active mortgage or registered lease rights, Section B will only show crossed-out historical records or remain completely blank. Keep in mind that personal debts not secured by the home will not appear here.

The most common entry in Section B is a collateral mortgage (geunjeodanggwon). When a homeowner borrows from a bank, the lender registers this security interest against the property. The listed 'maximum debt claim amount' represents the highest ceiling the bank can claim through a judicial auction ahead of others if the borrower defaults. Lenders typically set this buffer at 120% to 130% of the actual loan balance.

Before moving in on a lease, add this maximum claim amount to your deposit and check if the total is dangerously high relative to market value. As a common rule of thumb, experts suggest keeping this sum under 70% to 80% of market value, though this is not an official legal threshold. In multi-unit housing (dagagu), you must also factor in deposits owed to other tenants. If the property goes to court auction, a bank registered earlier in Section B gets paid first, putting your entire deposit at risk.

Picture runners crossing a finish line, where medals are awarded strictly by arrival order. Competing claims on a real estate register are ranked by priority numbers and filing receipt numbers. Within the same section, priority numbers decide who comes first; between different sections—such as an attachment in Section A versus a mortgage in Section B—the official filing receipt number settles priority. However, actual payout distributions in court auctions may vary based on statutory priorities, unpaid taxes, and statutory protections for small-sum tenants.

To be even more precise, checking Section A and Section B alone does not eliminate all financial risks. Unpaid national or local taxes owed by the landlord do not show up on the title register immediately. For safety, ask the landlord for tax clearance certificates. If your deposit exceeds 10 million KRW (around $7,500), you can also inspect the landlord's delinquent taxes directly at tax offices or local district offices between signing and move-in without needing their consent.

Finally, inspect the 'Property Description Section' (Pyoje-bu), which outlines the physical building. Make sure the building name, unit number, square footage, and land category match your contract exactly so your legal protections hold up in court.