You can usually keep your home for 2 more years, unless your landlord has one of the reasons the law allows to refuse. You have to ask at the right time. Miss the window and the lease either renews automatically or ends on the landlord's terms. Below are the dates, the 5% cap, the rate for turning deposit into rent, and how to leave early.
The renewal timeline: what each side does and when
The legal window runs from 6 months to 2 months before the lease ends. Both you and the landlord act inside it. For leases first signed or renewed before December 10, 2020, the window was 6 months to 1 month.
| When | Tenant | Landlord |
|---|---|---|
| 6 months before the end | The window opens. Decide whether you want to stay, leave, or renegotiate. | The window opens. The landlord can send a refusal or a changed-terms notice. |
| 6 to 2 months before | Send a renewal request, or a notice that you will leave. Use writing with a date. | Refusal is lawful only on a listed ground if you used the renewal right. |
| 2 months before | Your last day to give notice. If you stay silent, the lease can renew automatically. | The landlord's last day to give notice. If the landlord stays silent, the lease can renew automatically. |
| Lease end date | Hand back the home when you get the deposit back. | Return the deposit. |
Inside the window, do three things:
- Check what renewals and new leases near you were reported at. Open the price explorer's renewal contracts view and compare it with new leases. Both show reported contracts month by month.
- Send your request in a form that proves the date, such as certified-content mail (내용증명) or a text message you keep.
- Pull the property registry before you agree to any increase. You need to see whether a new mortgage was registered.
Using the renewal right
If you ask for renewal within the window, the landlord cannot refuse without a ground the law lists. Here is how the right works:
- Once only. You can use it one time per lease. The renewed lease runs for 2 years.
- Same terms. The renewed lease keeps the old terms. Only the deposit and rent can change, and only within the 5% cap.
- No forced switch to monthly rent. Easy Law explains that a landlord cannot turn your jeonse (전세) into wolse (월세) on a renewal-right renewal without your consent. If you agree to a switch, the legal conversion rate applies.
- An agreed renewal keeps the right. If you sign a renewal by agreement instead, for example with a bigger increase, Easy Law says you can still use the renewal right when that agreed term ends.
- An automatic renewal keeps the right too. An implied renewal does not count as using it.
For foreign residents, the address record works differently. Under Immigration Act Article 88-2, foreigner registration and the place-of-stay change report (체류지 변경신고) count as resident registration and the move-in report (전입신고).
When the landlord can refuse
The Act lists 9 grounds. The landlord can refuse a renewal request if:
- You have been behind on rent by an amount equal to 2 periods' rent.
- You got the lease by deceit.
- You and the landlord agreed, and the landlord gave you substantial compensation.
- You sublet all or part of the home without the landlord's consent.
- You damaged the home on purpose or through gross negligence.
- All or part of the home was destroyed, so the purpose of the lease can no longer be met.
- The landlord needs the home back to demolish or rebuild all or most of it, for one of three reasons: a plan explained to you in detail when you signed, a safety risk, or another law.
- The landlord, or the landlord's parents, grandparents, children, or grandchildren, will actually live there.
- You seriously broke your duties as a tenant, or another grave reason makes the lease hard to continue.
Damages when "moving in" is not true
Ground 8 has a safeguard. If the landlord refuses because a family member will move in, then rents the home to someone else without good reason before your renewed term would have ended, the landlord owes you damages.
Unless you agreed an amount, the damages are the largest of these three:
- 3 months of converted monthly rent (환산월차임). This is the monthly rent plus the deposit converted into monthly rent at the legal rate.
- 2 years of the difference between the new tenant's converted monthly rent and yours.
- Your actual loss from the refusal.
Keep evidence if you suspect this. Save later listings for the home and check the property registry.
The 5% cap, with examples
An increase claim cannot exceed 1/20 of the agreed deposit or rent. One-twentieth is 5%. A city or province can set a lower cap by ordinance, so check whether yours has one. If it has not, 5% applies.
What the cap covers, and what it does not:
- It is a ceiling. Easy Law says 5% is only the upper limit. You and the landlord can agree any amount inside it, including no increase.
- It covers two situations. It applies to an increase during an existing lease and to a renewal-right renewal.
- It does not cover everything. After the lease ends, a fresh contract can set new amounts. You and the landlord can also agree a larger increase before the end.
- There is a 1-year rule. No increase claim is allowed within 1 year of signing the lease or of the last increase.
- It works both ways. You can also claim a decrease. A clause that bans decreases is void, because it is unfavorable to the tenant.
Examples with round numbers, changing one amount at a time:
| Your current lease | Maximum on a renewal-right renewal | Maximum increase |
|---|---|---|
| Jeonse deposit ₩200,000,000 | ₩210,000,000 | ₩10,000,000 |
| Wolse rent ₩800,000 a month (deposit unchanged) | ₩840,000 a month | ₩40,000 |
| Wolse deposit ₩10,000,000 (rent unchanged) | ₩10,500,000 | ₩500,000 |
If the landlord wants to raise both the deposit and the rent at the same time, ask the mediation committee or a legal adviser how the cap applies to your numbers before you agree.
Converting deposit to rent (반전세)
Landlords sometimes ask to lower the deposit and add monthly rent. A jeonse becomes a part-deposit, part-rent lease (반전세), or a wolse gets a smaller deposit and higher rent.
The law caps the monthly rent you can be charged for the converted part. The formula is:
Maximum added monthly rent = converted amount × the lower of (10% a year) or (Bank of Korea base rate + 2% a year) ÷ 12
The Bank of Korea base rate has been 3.00% since August 27, 2026. So today's cap is the lower of 10% and 5.00%, which is 5.00% a year. The base rate changes at Bank of Korea meetings, so check the current rate and recalculate if it has moved.
Examples at today's 5.00%:
- Converting ₩50,000,000 of deposit. ₩50,000,000 × 5.00% = ₩2,500,000 a year. Divided by 12, that is about ₩208,333 a month at most. If the base rate were 2.50%, the cap would be 4.50%, and the maximum would be ₩187,500 a month.
- Jeonse ₩300,000,000 to a deposit of ₩200,000,000. You convert ₩100,000,000. ₩100,000,000 × 5.00% = ₩5,000,000 a year, so the maximum added rent is about ₩416,667 a month.
To see what the new deposit and rent cost you in cash over the lease, put both versions into Seoulstart's jeonse vs wolse comparison. For how each lease type works, read wolse explained and how jeonse works.
Implied renewal and leaving after it
An implied renewal (묵시적 갱신) happens when the landlord sends no refusal or changed-terms notice between 6 and 2 months before the end, and you send no notice by 2 months before the end. The lease then renews on the same terms. The new term is 2 years.
If either side sends a notice in time, the lease does not renew automatically. Implied renewal also does not apply if you are behind on rent by 2 periods or have seriously broken your duties as a tenant.
After an implied renewal, you have two options:
- Stay the full 2 years. You can insist on the 2-year term.
- Leave at any time. Send a termination notice. The lease ends 3 months after the landlord receives it.
The same 3-month rule applies after a renewal-right renewal. Easy Law adds that you still owe rent for those 3 months if the lease has not yet ended.
Moving out early in a fixed term
During a first fixed term, the lease ends when the term ends. The law gives no general right to leave early. You can end it early only if a termination ground exists. An example is a reserved-termination clause (해지권 유보 특약) in your contract.
A reserved-termination clause might say the lease ends 1 month after you give notice if a job transfer or school move forces you to leave. With such a clause, you prove the reason, and the lease ends 1 month after the landlord receives your notice. If you are signing a lease now, ask for this clause.
The grounds for ending a lease immediately are narrow. They include repairs the landlord does against your will that defeat the purpose of living there, and part of the home becoming unusable through no fault of yours.
If none of these applies, you can still ask the landlord to agree to an early end. Put it in writing.
Agent fees when you leave early
In 2009, the Ministry of Government Legislation (법제처) gave an interpretation that a tenant who asks an agent to find a new tenant before the term ends is not the client who owes the brokerage fee. This is an older interpretation, not a court ruling, and the law has been renamed since. Your lease or a written agreement with the landlord may settle who pays. Read it before you agree to anything.
How to give notice and protect your deposit
Easy Law suggests sending an early-termination notice by certified-content mail (내용증명). State the reason, that you are ending the lease, and that you want your deposit back.
Getting a deposit back after an early exit can be hard. Do not move out until you have the deposit. If you move, you lose your opposing power (대항력) and priority repayment right (우선변제권). The lease is treated as continuing until you get the deposit back. If you are moving anyway, plan the next place with Seoulstart's move-in cost tool, and read the deposit return guide.
Protecting your deposit after an increase
A bigger deposit means more money at risk. Easy Law gives two steps:
- Check the registry first. Look for a mortgage or other security right registered since you moved in. If you agree an increase after a mortgage was registered, you cannot assert the increased part against a buyer at an auction under that mortgage.
- Get a confirmed date on the increase. Write a contract for the increased part and get a confirmed date (확정일자) on it. Priority for the increased part runs from that date.
Before agreeing to a larger deposit, run Seoulstart's deposit safety check. For the papers to keep, see the lease documents checklist and how to avoid deposit scams.
If the home is sold during the lease or at renewal, the buyer takes over the landlord's position.
Lease reporting on a renewal
A renewal can need a lease report (주택 임대차 계약 신고). The rules:
- Which leases. Leases with a deposit over ₩60 million or monthly rent over ₩300,000 are reportable. A renewal that only extends the term, with no change in deposit or rent, is not.
- Where. Special self-governing cities and provinces, cities (si) and districts (gu). Counties (gun) are covered only inside metropolitan cities and Gyeonggi-do.
- When. Report within 30 days of signing. If the deposit or rent of a reported lease changes, report the change within 30 days. Landlord and tenant report jointly. If one side refuses, the other can report alone.
- Confirmed date. A completed report with the contract attached counts as a confirmed date.
- Foreign residents too. Easy Law says foreign landlords and tenants must report, using a passport, foreigner registration number, or residence report number.
- Penalty. Not reporting, or a false report, can bring a fine of up to ₩1 million.
Easy Law says the system covers new leases and renewals with a change in amount signed from June 1, 2021.
Disputes: mediation and legal help
If you and your landlord disagree about an increase, a refusal, the term, or deposit return, the Housing Lease Dispute Mediation Committee (주택임대차분쟁조정위원회) can help. Committees sit at Korea Legal Aid Corporation (대한법률구조공단) branches, LH offices, and Korea Real Estate Board offices. Some cities and provinces run their own.
- What it covers. Rent or deposit increases and decreases, the lease term, return of the deposit or the home, repairs, carrying out and interpreting the lease, renewal and termination, damages, agent-fee disputes, and an agent's liability for damages.
- How to apply. Apply to the committee for the area where the home is. You can apply in writing, including online, or in person by speaking. The Ministry of Justice says you can reach a committee by phone or through its website.
- How long. The committee must finish within 60 days of your application. It can extend that by up to 30 days.
- It is voluntary. If the landlord declines to take part, the application is dismissed. The other side has 7 days to say it will take part. A party that does not accept the proposal in writing within 14 days is treated as refusing.
The application fee depends on the value in dispute:
| Value in dispute | Fee |
|---|---|
| Under ₩100 million | ₩10,000 |
| ₩100 million to under ₩300 million | ₩20,000 |
| ₩300 million to under ₩500 million | ₩30,000 |
| ₩500 million to under ₩1 billion | ₩50,000 |
| ₩1 billion or more | ₩100,000 |
| Value cannot be set | ₩10,000 |
Some applicants can have the fee waived. These include tenants whose deposit qualifies for small-deposit priority repayment under Article 8 of the Act, basic-livelihood benefit recipients, and single-parent support recipients.
For a short legal question first, call Korea Legal Aid Corporation at 132. Phone consultations run on weekdays from 9:00 to 18:00, not between 12:00 and 13:00, and are kept within 5 minutes. For deposit disputes in more depth, read the landlord deposit dispute guide.
Renew or move: compare with new-lease rents
The 5% cap protects you on a renewal-right renewal. New leases have no such cap. So compare your renewal offer with what a new tenant would pay.
- Check new-lease medians. Seoulstart Housing rent pages show median rents for new leases by area. If the median for a similar home is close to your renewal offer, moving costs may decide it.
- Compare renewals with new leases. The price explorer shows reported contracts month by month. Switch between the renewal view and the new-lease view for your district.
- Count the cost of moving. Agent fees, movers, and a new deposit add up. Use the move-in cost tool to total them.
- Compare structures. If the landlord offers a part-deposit, part-rent lease, run it through the jeonse vs wolse comparison.
For a wider view of the market, see average rent in Seoul and renting an apartment in Korea.
Sources
Accessed October 27, 2026.
- Housing Lease Protection Act (주택임대차보호법): law.go.kr
- Enforcement Decree of the Housing Lease Protection Act: law.go.kr
- Act on Report on Real Estate Transactions: law.go.kr
- Enforcement Decree of the Act on Report on Real Estate Transactions: law.go.kr
- Immigration Act, Article 88-2: law.go.kr
- Bank of Korea, base rate history: bok.or.kr
- Easy Law, lease renewal: easylaw.go.kr
- Easy Law, rent and deposit increases: easylaw.go.kr
- Easy Law, ending a lease: easylaw.go.kr
- Easy Law, Housing Lease Reporting System: easylaw.go.kr
- Ministry of Government Legislation, interpretation 09-0384: law.go.kr
- Ministry of Justice, mediation committees: moj.go.kr
- Korea Legal Aid Corporation, 132 consultation: klac.or.kr