One in Four Ads for Residential Lodging Facilities Promoting 'Residential Use' or 'Move-In Available' Found to Violate Regulations

On June 19, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it had detected 315 online advertisements that promoted residential lodging facilities as if they could be used for residential purposes.

This finding is the result of a seven-week government investigation conducted from late March to last month, targeting residential lodging facilities across the country that had not changed their designated use to residential (officetel). The investigation focused on 1,180 advertisements related to 912 facilities, out of a total of 3,595 residential lodging facilities nationwide as of the end of last year, that had not changed to residential use. The advertisements reviewed included those posted on online information service platforms such as Naver Pay Real Estate, Zigbang, and Dabang, as well as on blogs, online communities, and other social networking services (SNS).

Following the announcement of measures to support the legal use of residential lodging facilities in 2024, the government also requested that the legal procedures for such use be followed the following year. Approximately 27% of the advertisements examined were found to be suspected of violating regulations. By region, Gyeonggi Province had the most cases with 155, followed by Busan with 47, and Incheon with 25.

An advertisement suspected of violation posted on the information platform Zigbang. Although the building's use is a residential lodging facility (right in the photo), the advertisement indicated it as an apartment complex and officetel, which was identified as a violation. Courtesy of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

There were 162 instances where the actual use of a residential lodging facility was misrepresented in the advertisement as an officetel, apartment complex, or "residential use," or promoted with phrases like "move-in available," raising concerns that consumers could mistakenly believe the facility was available for residential use. In addition, there were 153 cases where the required disclosure of the building's number of floors was omitted or ambiguously indicated as "low," "medium," or "high" rise, rather than specifying the exact number of floors as required by law.

For the 315 suspected illegal advertisements identified, the Ministry requested that the relevant platforms modify or delete the posts. The Ministry also notified the local governments concerned so that administrative action and follow-up measures could be taken. Going forward, the Ministry stated that it would conduct regular and planned monitoring of online false property listings to prevent consumer harm caused by false or exaggerated advertisements.

Additionally, the Ministry plans to monitor all forms of market disruption, such as price collusion and market manipulation, through the Integrated Center for Reporting Real Estate Illegal Activity, and will cooperate with local governments to respond to such issues. Kim Gidae, Director of the Real Estate Consumer Protection Policy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "Residential lodging facilities can only be used for residential purposes if the proper procedures for changing the designated use have been followed, so it is essential to check both the building's designated use and the advertisement details before signing a contract."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.