Seoul City announced on the 13th that it will open a ‘Local Housing Cooperative Damage Counseling Support Center’ at the Seosomun 2 building of the city hall as cases of inappropriate operation by local housing cooperatives continue to occur.
The local housing cooperative damage counseling support center is one of the ‘Seoul-type local housing cooperative management plans’ released by the city in June, and will provide diverse support for measures to protect the rights of cooperative members.
As most victims of local housing cooperatives are experiencing difficulties due to lack of knowledge of related laws and regulations, the city has established a victim counseling support center to provide accurate information, minimize damage to cooperative members, and help them respond appropriately to the situation.
In reality, many local housing cooperatives continue to engage in inappropriate practices such as false and exaggerated advertising when recruiting members, opaque fund execution, long-term business, restrictions on arbitrary withdrawal, and non-refund of contributions. However, there have been situations where legal action or member rights cannot be exercised due to the lack of a consultation window.
The victim counseling support center will operate every Tuesday and Thursday from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Legal experts related to local housing cooperatives will be available for face-to-face counseling, and cooperative members who have difficulty visiting in person will be able to receive counseling via landline.
The city plans to actively utilize the accumulated consultation content and cases through the operation of the damage counseling support center in the future on-site investigation of local housing cooperatives and to focus on conducting inspections centered on cases that are intensively received.
In addition, a ‘Local Housing Cooperative Guide Page’ will be newly established on the Seoul Metropolitan Government website so that local housing cooperative members and citizens interested in the project can more easily obtain relevant information. It will provide information on local housing cooperative system procedures, qualifications for members, damage cases, and precautions, and will continuously disclose the progress status of 118 local housing cooperatives currently being promoted in Seoul.
Han Byeong-yong, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government Housing Bureau, said, “We expect that victims of local housing cooperatives who have not had a proper place to seek legal advice will no longer have to suffer in silence, such as receiving legal advice at their own expense, thanks to the establishment of a new window,” adding, “We will continue to work to increase the transparency of local housing cooperative projects and create an environment in which cooperative members can fairly be guaranteed their rights.”
Photo by Reporter Kim Jeong-hyeon, provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government
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2024-08-14 22:27:16