Victims of a jeonse fraud case in Incheon react emotionally after the Supreme Court in Seoul sentenced the perpetrator to seven years in prison, Thursday. Yonhap

The government extended the maximum period of temporary housing for foreign victims of "jeonse" fraud in the country from two years to six, further enhancing emergency support for victims in need of housing, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said Thursday.

Jeonse is a type of home lease contract in Korea, whereby the tenant pays a lump-sum deposit up front, which the landlord is required to return in full when the contract expires.

The revised measure, set to take effect on Friday, applies exclusively to foreign residents of Korea.

The country's Special Act on Victims of Real Estate Fraud stipulates that emergency housing be provided to victims of jeonse fraud for a limited period. The Korea Land & Housing Corp. (LH), a state-run housing provision company under the ministry, arranges the housing for the victims.

Emergency housing becomes essential for jeonse fraud victims when they lose their deposits and their rented homes become auctioned off, forcing them to move out. The special act decrees that such victims need immediate housing support.

Previously, victims of jeonse fraud who have been granted emergency housing were able to live there for as long as two years. About 30 percent of their rented homes' concurrent market value is charged to the tenants as rent cost.

However, the ministry has renewed the measure exclusively for foreign nationals and Koreans with citizenship or permanent residency outside the country by extending the maximum duration of their stay.

"We have had discussions with various groups from the public regarding foreign tenants affected by jeonse fraud," a ministry official said. "We reached an agreement which has led to the new measure."

According to the ministry, there have been over 25,500 victims of jeonse fraud in the country who met the conditions of loss defined by the special act, as of December. Among them, foreign nationals accounted for 1.5 percent, or 390 individuals.

LH's regional offices nationwide are currently open for consultations regarding emergency housing for foreign victims.

Jeonse fraud involves perpetrators and their accomplices, mostly real estate agents, receiving deposits from those wishing to sign a jeonse contract and failing to pay the deposits back after the contract period expires.

The Supreme Court on Thursday sentenced a 63-year-old man to seven years in prison for jeonse fraud. The criminal defrauded tenants using 191 housing units in Incheon's Michuhol District from March 2021 to July 2022, accumulating deposits totaling 14.8 billion won ($10 million).

Four of the culprit's victims who could not recover their deposits took their own lives in 2023.