You're advised to check the 'property registry' (등기부등본) before signing a lease. What is the key thing this document reveals?

The property registration certificate, deungibu-deungbon, obtainable through the official registry site iros.go.kr, is the authoritative record showing who legally owns a property and disclosing any mortgages, liens, or seizures registered against it. Checking it before signing confirms you're actually contracting with the real owner and reveals whether the home carries so much existing debt that your deposit could be at risk if the property is later foreclosed.

Feng shui scores and previous-tenant ratings are not things any official document tracks; they're playful distractors rather than real categories of information found in a legal registry.

Because mortgage amounts are listed cumulatively, tenants are often advised to add up the deposit plus existing loans against the home and compare that total to the property's market value — a quick gut check for how exposed a jeonse deposit really is.