The legal weight of “I'll pay you once the next tenant moves in”

This is probably the sentence tenants hear most often from landlords a month or two before the lease expires, and even more so when the jeonse (전세) market has frozen. But the law attaches no such condition to the return of the deposit.

Returning the deposit and vacating the home are linked

When a lease ends, the landlord must return the deposit and the tenant must vacate the home. The two obligations are to be performed simultaneously. Finding a new tenant is only the landlord's own concern, not a condition that triggers the obligation to return the deposit. Even after the lease term ends, the lease relationship is deemed to continue until the deposit is returned (Article 4(2) of the Housing Lease Protection Act (주택임대차보호법)), so the tenant's status is also maintained in the meantime.

The simultaneous performance relationship leaves the tenant with homework too. If the tenant keeps living there without preparing to vacate, it is hard to hold the landlord responsible for the delay in returning the deposit. That is why you need to plan when to move and which procedures to follow together.

The first thing to examine is whether the lease has ended

Surprisingly, the first issue in deposit disputes is the end date. If the landlord does not give notice of non-renewal between six months and two months before expiry, or the tenant does not do so by two months before expiry, the lease is deemed renewed on the same terms (Article 6 of the same Act). After such an implied renewal, the tenant may give notice of termination at any time, and it takes effect three months after the landlord receives the notice (Article 6-2 of the same Act).

Where the landlord did not refuse renewal and the lease was renewed because the tenant exercised the right to request renewal of the contract (계약갱신요구권), the tenant may likewise give notice of termination at any time, and it likewise takes effect three months later. In the end, the end date can only be calculated accurately by checking how the renewal came about and when the notice reached the other party.

If you only said verbally that you would move out, a dispute may later arise over whether notice was given. Please give notice by a method that leaves a date on record, such as a text message or certified mail (내용증명).

If your moving date is fixed

If you have to move without getting your deposit back, apply for a lease registration order (임차권등기명령), confirm that the lease registration appears on the certificate of registered matters, and only then move your belongings out and transfer your resident registration. Once registered, your opposability and priority right to repayment are preserved, and you can claim the costs of the application and registration from the landlord (Article 3-3 of the same Act). Moving your resident registration when you have only applied is risky.

You can only apply for registration after the lease has ended. If you gave notice of termination after an implied renewal, you can apply once three months have passed, so it is safer to count backwards from the move-in date of your new home to decide when to give notice.

Waiting for a new tenant is a choice, not an obligation. If you decide to wait, it is a good idea to put in writing how long you will wait and what will happen if the deposit is not returned by then.