How much of a Korean court-auction sale reaches each creditor?
A strong auction sale price does not mean that every creditor recovers the face amount of a claim. Enforcement and sale costs are paid first, and the remaining proceeds move through priorities established by Korean law and the specific court record. Once a senior rank exhausts the pool, lower ranks may receive nothing. If several claims share one rank, the available amount is divided in proportion to their claim amounts.
This calculator accepts expected sale proceeds, enforcement costs, and up to six claims with user-confirmed ranks and distribution-demand statuses. It reports an estimated distribution, recovery rate, and unpaid amount for every claim. It also compares three treatments for disputed rights: exclude them, move them to rank 6, or include them at the entered rank. The resulting range helps a tenant, employee, secured creditor, tax stakeholder, or general creditor identify which unresolved senior right matters most.
The model never decides legal priority. It does not infer opposability, a fixed-date effect, a tax statutory date, a protected small-deposit amount, wage or retirement-benefit priority, or whether a distribution demand was legally required. Enter only a rank and amount confirmed from the court record or by a qualified Korean adviser.
What the calculator does
Deducts enforcement costs first
Separates the amount used for enforcement and sale costs before any creditor allocation.
Runs a rank 1-to-6 waterfall
Distributes by the rank that the user confirmed, not by a category label guessed by the software.
Allocates same-rank claims pro rata
Uses claim amounts as weights and reconciles every remaining won so allocations equal the available pool.
Shows a target recovery range
Highlights one selected claim and displays minimum and maximum recovery across all three scenarios.
Checks the entered demand deadline
Compares two calendar dates and labels the deadline open, due today, or expired without deciding legal eligibility.
Explains exclusions
Marks a claim excluded by the user, a missed required demand, or a scenario-specific disputed-right treatment.
Calculation method
Step 1: Create the distributable pool
Expected sale proceeds and enforcement costs are rounded to whole Korean won. The cost paid from proceeds is capped at the sale amount. If entered costs exceed the sale price, the distributable pool is zero and the excess cost appears separately.
Distributable proceeds = max(sale proceeds − min(costs, sale proceeds), 0)
Step 2: Apply confirmed ranks
Eligible claims are processed from applied rank 1 through rank 6. A rank receives full payment if the remaining pool covers its total claims. If it does not, that rank shares the remaining pool and later ranks receive zero. Selecting a category such as lease deposit or secured right never changes the entered rank.
Step 3: Reconcile same-rank allocations to one won
Each claim receives the remaining rank pool multiplied by its claim amount and divided by the total claims at that rank. Initial allocations are rounded down. Any remaining won goes to the largest fractional remainder, with original row order used only to resolve an exact tie. This prevents the displayed claim allocations from exceeding or falling short of the actual pool.
Three disputed-right scenarios
Treatment of disputed and distribution-demand-uncertain claims in each scenario| Scenario | Treatment | Planning meaning |
|---|
| Exclude disputed | Exclude a disputed legal status or uncertain demand status | Upper recovery case if the asserted senior claim does not participate |
| Move disputed last | Include the disputed or uncertain claim at calculation rank 6 | Middle arithmetic case in which participation remains possible but entered seniority is not used |
| Include as entered | Include the disputed or uncertain claim at its entered rank | Conservative target-recovery case if the asserted senior priority is accepted |
The middle scenario does not mean that a Korean court legally assigns rank 6. It is only a sensitivity assumption. The three results are not probability-weighted expected values, and the spread is not a prediction of litigation success.
Inputs and evidence to prepare
Auction distribution inputs, supporting records, and cautions| Input | Useful record | Important boundary |
|---|
| Expected sale proceeds | Sale-date result, appraisal, or comparable auction outcomes | The calculator does not forecast a winning bid. Test a lower value as well. |
| Enforcement and sale costs | Court enforcement record and cost statement | Enter the amount paid before creditor distribution, not a senior claim. |
| Claim amount | Claim statement, judgment, lease, wage record, or tax collection request | Do not confuse a mortgage maximum amount with the confirmed secured debt. |
| Confirmed rank | Registry, draft distribution schedule, and Korean legal review | Do not infer a number from the category name alone. |
| Legal status | Right report, objection, pending action, or deposit record | Keep an unresolved right disputed and compare all scenarios. |
| Demand status | Court deadline notice, demand filing receipt, and case docket | Confirm both whether demand was required and whether filing was effective. |
Step-by-step use
- Enter proceeds and costs. Before a completed sale, use a conservative proceeds estimate. After a sale, use the confirmed price and cost record.
- Copy the court-ordered deadline. The displayed day count is a calendar reminder only. Check any extension or amended notice.
- Enter each claim and its confirmed rank. Rank 1 distributes before rank 2, while identical rank numbers share pro rata.
- Separate legal status from demand status. Whether a right is disputed and whether it needed a timely distribution demand are different questions.
- Select your target claim. The target row receives a star and drives the minimum-to-maximum recovery card.
- Review every scenario table. If the range is wide, make the disputed senior right and its documents the first issue for court or professional review.
Worked example: KRW 120 million to KRW 150 million
The default example starts with KRW 300 million of expected sale proceeds and KRW 10 million of enforcement costs, leaving KRW 290 million. A confirmed rank-1 claim of KRW 40 million and a confirmed rank-2 lease-deposit claim of KRW 100 million stand before a target rank-3 secured claim of KRW 180 million. A disputed tax claim of KRW 30 million is entered at rank 2, and another disputed priority claim of KRW 20 million is entered at rank 4.
Target secured-claim recovery in the default example| Scenario | Key treatment | Target recovery | Recovery rate |
|---|
| Exclude disputed | Tax and other disputed priority excluded | KRW 150,000,000 | 83.33% |
| Move disputed last | Both disputed claims move to rank 6 | KRW 150,000,000 | 83.33% |
| Include as entered | Tax remains rank 2 and the other claim remains rank 4 | KRW 120,000,000 | 66.67% |
One disputed rank-2 tax claim changes target recovery by KRW 30 million. A cautious cash plan would therefore use KRW 120 million as the lower edge until the relevant statutory date and priority scope are checked. Taking a simple average would hide the legal fact that drives the difference.
Use cases by creditor type
Residential or commercial tenant
A tenant may need separate confirmed amounts for a super-priority protected portion and a fixed-date priority portion. Do not assume that the entire deposit has one rank. Opposability, possession, move-in or business registration, the fixed date, the auction commencement date, and the demand record all matter.
Employee
Confirmed amounts may differ for the final three months of wages, accident compensation, the final three years of retirement benefits, and the remaining labor claim. Separate rows can model different confirmed ranks. The tool does not calculate the qualifying period or recognized wage amount.
Mortgage or other secured creditor
Use the confirmed secured debt rather than automatically using the registered maximum amount. Place confirmed senior tenant, tax, wage, and other rights ahead of the target claim. Scenario spread then shows how an unresolved senior assertion changes secured recovery.
General creditor
A judgment or payment order establishes an enforceable claim but does not guarantee auction proceeds. Senior claims can consume the pool. Use the demand-status field to separate recovery in this auction from later enforcement options that require a different analysis.
Distribution-demand deadline and participating creditors
Article 84 of Korea’s Civil Execution Act provides for the court to set a distribution-demand deadline before the first sale date, publish and notify it, and extend it when necessary. Article 88 addresses distribution demands by creditors holding an enforceable title, certain post-commencement provisional seizure creditors, and creditors with a statutory priority claim. Article 148 lists creditors entitled to receive a distribution, including applicants and demand creditors who acted by the deadline and certain pre-commencement registered rights.
Do not abandon a claim based only on the date alert
Whether a particular claim needed a demand, whether an earlier registration permits participation, whether the deadline changed, and whether a filing was valid depend on the case record. The calculator only subtracts calendar dates. Contact the enforcement court division or a qualified Korean professional promptly when the entered deadline is near or has passed.
Korean legal sources checked for 2026
The current versions below were checked through Korea’s National Law Information Center on August 21, 2026. They explain why the calculator requests confirmed inputs instead of generating a legal rank. Current provisions can contain ownership, date, registration, tax, and transition-rule exceptions that a short form cannot resolve.
Current Korean statutes and provisions relevant to real-estate auction distribution| Source | Current version | Relevant provisions | What is not automated |
|---|
| Civil Execution Act | Law ID 009290 · MST 268837 · effective 2026-02-01 | Articles 84, 88, 145 and 148 | Legal participation and priority |
| Housing Lease Protection Act | Law ID 001248 · MST 276291 · effective 2026-01-02 | Article 8 | Protected-deposit eligibility and amount |
| Commercial Building Lease Protection Act | Law ID 009276 · MST 279651 · effective 2026-05-12 | Article 14 | Opposability and protected-deposit eligibility |
| Labor Standards Act | Law ID 001872 · MST 283457 · effective 2026-08-20 | Article 38 | Recognized wage and compensation amount |
| Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act | Law ID 009883 · MST 284455 · effective 2026-07-01 | Article 12 | Recognized retirement-benefit amount and rank |
| Framework Act on National Taxes | Law ID 001586 · MST 288571 · effective 2026-08-11 | Article 35 | Statutory date, property-tax character, and exceptions |
| Framework Act on Local Taxes | Law ID 011177 · MST 283257 · effective 2026-02-05 | Article 71 | Tax-specific priority, statutory date, and exceptions |
Interpretation and planning tips
- Do not equate a registered maximum mortgage amount with recovery. Confirm the actual secured debt, covered interest and expenses, and the scope of the security.
- One legal relationship may require more than one row. If an adviser confirms that parts of a deposit or labor claim have different ranks, enter separate amounts and set unused rows to zero.
- Stress the sale price. Replace expected proceeds with low, base, and high values to see where the target claim begins to lose recovery.
- A missed required demand stays excluded. The model excludes a claim marked required but not completed from all three scenarios; it does not quietly restore it in an optimistic case.
- Remaining proceeds are not an automatic ownership conclusion. Missing claims, additional distribution, costs, deposits, and objections may still affect the court schedule.
- Save the assumptions with the result. A recovery number is meaningful only when the supporting ranks, amounts, statuses, and source records remain visible.
Frequently asked questions
Does the calculator read a registry and decide priority?
No. Registration time alone cannot resolve every relationship among leases, taxes, wages, retirement benefits, secured rights, and other statutory priorities. Enter a rank confirmed for the actual case.
Why is the protected small-tenant amount not calculated automatically?
Region, deposit amount, security creation date, opposability, auction timing, and transitional rules can all matter. Confirm the amount applicable to the case and enter it as a claim.
Does the first row win when two claims share a rank?
No. A short pool is allocated in proportion to claim amounts. Row order is used only to resolve an exact tie in the unavoidable final one-won remainder.
Does move disputed last mean that a court assigns rank 6?
No. It is a middle sensitivity assumption, not a legal classification, prediction, or probability of winning an objection.
Does an expired deadline always eliminate recovery?
The date alert cannot answer that question. Confirm whether the claim required a demand, whether a pre-commencement registration permits participation, whether the deadline changed, and whether filing was valid.
Why can the official distribution schedule differ?
The court schedule uses the final sale price, actual enforcement costs, valid demands and collection requests, deposits, objections, and legal findings. Those official facts control.
Can this calculator estimate bidder profit?
No. This page is for creditor recovery. Use the auction profit analysis calculator for acquisition costs, occupancy transfer, repairs, borrowing, and resale economics.
Build the numeric range, then verify the right that drives it
Replace the example with the sale proceeds, costs, claims, and confirmed ranks from your case. Find the senior disputed right that creates the largest change in target recovery. Organize the registry, statutory-date, opposability, fixed-date, demand, and claim records behind that row before speaking with the court or an adviser.
This is a planning calculation based on sources checked on August 21, 2026. It is not legal advice, a filing, a rights analysis, or a court distribution schedule.