Despite Fines and Suspensions, Repeat Offenses Continue... Seoul Real Estate Brokerages Caught Up to 12 Times

Seungchan Boo of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, Democratic Party of Korea

Some real estate agencies in Seoul have repeatedly violated display and advertising regulations even after receiving administrative penalties. It was confirmed that one agency received administrative sanctions as many as 12 times over the past five years.

Seungchan Boo, member of the Democratic Party of Korea. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

According to data submitted by the Seoul city government to Assemblyman Seungchan Boo, a member of the National Assembly’s Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, as of the 16th, Agency A was subject to a total of 12 administrative actions from 2022 to 2026, mainly for violations related to display and advertisement. A significant portion of these were fines issued for violating the regulations regarding the display and advertising of properties.

Agency B also received 11 penalties, including violations of display and advertising rules, failure to fulfill the duty to verify and explain, and repeated violations that resulted in business suspension. Real estate corporation C received 10 fines for violations of display and advertising regulations.

In the case of Agency B, it received business suspension orders twice for repeated violations in December 2024 and May 2026. Nevertheless, it was penalized again between those periods for additional violations, including failure to verify and explain, as well as display and advertising infringements.

The current Certified Real Estate Agents Act stipulates that fines are to be imposed for violations related to the display and advertisement of properties and that additional measures, such as business suspension, may be taken if similar offenses are repeated within a certain period.

Assemblyman Boo stated, "If a real estate agency is caught more than ten times and still repeats violations, then I have to question whether the fines are being accepted not as a penalty but merely as a cost of business. We need to review whether enhanced penalties for habitual offenders are actually being enforced and improve the system to effectively prevent repeated violations."

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