Reporting System of Installment Sales for Commercial Buildings to Begin in September

As of September, the reporting system of installment sales will be applied to large buildings with installment sizes of more than 3,000 square meters (approximately 910 pyoung), with the exception of apartments.

The government passed a bill of legislative enactment on buildings for installment sale, including the above mentioned regulation, through a Cabinet council hosted by President Roh at Cheong Wa Dae on February 3. This bill will prevent buildings from being installed in situations of obscure business propriety like the “Good Morning City Gate,” and to prevent consumers’ payment for the installment from being misappropriated.

According to the bill, business proprietors should report the installment sale to city, county, or district offices after reporting construction work in the case of receiving installment guarantees from trust companies or installment guarantee companies. They should also report in cases where they are finishing two-thirds of the framework construction and acquiring land ownership in cases where they receive construction guarantees from more than two construction companies.

In cases where installment businessmen do not report installment sales or make false reports, they will be fined less than 200 million won or sentenced to less than two years’ imprisonment. In addition, in cases of installments not open to the public, they will be fined less than 100 million won or sentenced to less than one year’s imprisonment.

This bill is the first one to stipulate the installment time and method of large commercial or office buildings, and will become effective from September if the national assembly passes the bill.

In the meantime, the government passed a related provision for establishing a “Committee for an Aging and Future Society” directly belonging to the president in order to establish middle- and long-term plans for a future society preparing for low birth rates and aging.

Jong-Hoon Lee taylor55@donga.com