Deposit safety check · Mapo-gu
In jeonse, your deposit is effectively a loan to the landlord. Ondol compares it with what similar-size homes actually sold for nearby — the jeonse ratio at the heart of Korea's deposit-fraud cases.
An estimate, not a verdict. This score compares one number — your deposit — against nearby sale records. It cannot see mortgages already registered on the property, the landlord's tax debts, or earlier tenants' claims. Only the property registry (등기부등본) shows those. Information, not legal or financial advice.
Jeonse ratio · 전세가율
In jeonse you hand the landlord a huge lump sum and get it back when you leave. If they can't repay, the home is sold at court auction and you are paid from the proceeds. The jeonse ratio measures how much of the home's value your deposit consumes — the higher it is, the less room for anything to go wrong before the auction can no longer cover you.
Kkangtong jeonse · 깡통전세
“Kkangtong” (깡통) means an empty tin can: a home whose deposit is at or above its real value, so an auction can never return your money. Korea's mass jeonse-fraud cases of 2022–23 were built on exactly this pattern — landlords collecting deposits near 90–100% of value on hundreds of homes. That is why ratios above ~90% score as critical here.
Hard limit · 근저당 · 등기부등본
This score is computed from sale records only. It cannot see geunjeodang (근저당권) — mortgage liens the landlord has already registered against the home — nor unpaid taxes or earlier tenants. At auction those senior claims are paid before your deposit. The only document that shows them is the property registry, deungibu deungbon (등기부등본). A low score plus a heavily mortgaged registry is still a dangerous deal.
Step 1
Anyone can download it — no owner permission needed — for under ₩1,000. Check the eul-gu (을구) section for 근저당권 mortgage entries before signing, and again on moving day: liens registered before your move-in rank ahead of you.
iros.go.kr — Internet Registry OfficeStep 2
HUG's deposit-return guarantee pays your deposit back if the landlord defaults — foreign residents with an ARC can enroll. Usefully, HUG runs its own valuation: if the insurer refuses the home, treat that refusal itself as a red flag.
khug.or.kr — Korea Housing & Urban GuaranteeStep 3
A risky ratio sometimes just means an inflated deposit. See where the quoted figure sits against real transactions for similar homes — if it's far above the record, negotiating it down also lowers your risk.
Open the fair-price checkStep 4
Korea has real support for jeonse-fraud victims — emergency housing, legal aid, loan relief — but foreigner eligibility varies by program. Ondol documents which ones you can actually use, with sources and review dates.
Open the support navigator