Jeonse: My Cousin Pays No Rent — Epoche A2
Last month my cousin moved flats in Daejeon, and the move finally taught me how renting works in Korea. She pays no rent. Nothing at all, month after month. Instead she handed the owner a deposit — a huge one, 180 million won, more than half the price of the flat. The owner keeps this money for the two years of the contract. When she moves out, she gets every won of it back. The system is called jeonse . The owner earns from the deposit while holding it — in the bank, or in another investment — and that quiet earning takes the place of rent. My cousin borrowed part of the deposit; the interest she pays the bank is still smaller than a monthly rent would be. Families without such money rent the other way, wolse : a small deposit, plus rent every month. Before she signed, her mother checked the building's papers for the owner's bank loans. If an owner owes too much, the deposit can be in danger when the contract ends. The deposit is everything here, so everyone protects the deposit. I rented in Manchester for six years and got nothing back. She will get back everything. I keep doing that arithmetic, and it keeps surprising me.