According to Money Today, a Korean newspaper, the Korea Association of Realtors is resisting the entrance of lawyers into the real estate business. Consumers are also interested in the matter in hopes of lowered commissions. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan.29 (Korea Bizwire) – According to Money Today, a Korean newspaper, the Korea Association of Realtors is resisting the entrance of lawyers into the real estate business. Consumers are also interested in the matter in hopes of lowered commissions.
The Korea Association of Realtors announced that it will be filing a suit against Trust Lifestyle, which provides legal advice on real estate matters. The association is claiming that the legal consulting actually includes real estate mediation, and is relevant to unlicensed, unqualified mediation behavior.
This is not the first time lawyers trying to enter the real estate market and realtors have clashed. In the early 2000s, lawyers made an effort to register themselves as real estate brokers.
After a long fight, the Supreme Court ruled that “law firms hold a different role from the brokerages designated by real estate laws, and real estate brokerages will not be included in normal legal services”, barring lawyers from providing real estate brokerage services.
As a result, the Trust Real Estate Office opened this month claims that it provides ‘legal consulting’ without any act of ‘real estate brokerage’. Although the company has options to ‘Register Property’ and ‘Find a Home’ on its website, connecting suppliers and buyers of real estate, the service offered is seen as part of ‘real estate transaction consulting’.
Trust posted the clause of advisory agreement on its homepage, notifying users that the commissions are for the legal services provided by the lawyers. The company makes it clear that commissions are free for any brokerage of real estate.
Transit fees which are posted on the homepage are explained as costs for legal advice, but are ‘expressed as transit fees to make it easier for users’. The additional explanation seems to be the company’s preparation for any kind of legal conflict with the Korea Association of Realtors.
Currently, 90 properties are registered on Trust’s homepage, and 450 properties are waiting to be registered.
The public eye is focused on the amount of ‘transit fees’. Trust is saying that it is only charging a two-part fee of 990,000 won and 450,000 won. This is much cheaper than fees with premium rates which at times can reach millions of won.
As complaints that transit fees are too expensive are continuously brought up, the government is also establishing a ‘half-price transit fee policy’ all over the nation, starting from Gangwon Province.
The intentions were to lower the burden on consumers, as transit fees have increased in line with soaring real estate prices since 2000. However, the policy has not had much effect because of the unrealistic system, and there have been realtors who received fees from lower prices.
By Francine Jung (francin.jung@kobizmedia.co.kr)
