Start with a rent ledger when reviewing termination risk
This calculator reconciles one Korean housing or commercial lease using rent charges, actual receipts and confirmed principal allocation.
It compares housing 2-period and commercial 3-period rent thresholds under verified 2026 Korean rules, preserving past observations separately from the current balance.
A count of late payments cannot explain partial payments or unpaid amounts spread across different months.
Several nonconsecutive unpaid portions can add up to two monthly rents.
Conversely, three late payments may each have been cleared without leaving three monthly rents outstanding.
The ledger follows when each principal amount became overdue and which receipt reduced which charge.
Save the ledger and notice checklist as a TXT report to review alongside evidence.
When this is useful
- A tenant has made a partial payment and needs to distinguish current arrears from past threshold history.
- A landlord is checking monthly charges and allocation before sending a termination notice.
- A family member is helping organize an older relative’s home or shop lease for consultation.
The Korean 2026 housing and commercial thresholds
Housing: Civil Act Article 640
For leases of buildings and other structures, Article 640 provides a termination threshold of arrears reaching two rent periods.
Article 652 restricts agreements that violate specified protections to a tenant’s disadvantage.
This monthly ledger compares overdue principal with the verified contractual monthly rent multiplied by 2.
Commercial: Article 10-8
Article 10-8 of the Commercial Building Lease Protection Act uses arrears reaching three rent periods.
Article 2(3) extends this provision to leases exceeding the statutory converted-deposit limit.
Verify the lease’s actual use and statutory coverage rather than relying on its label alone.
The verified current versions of the Civil Act and commercial Act took effect on 2026-03-17 and 2026-05-12 respectively.
These are whole-statute effective dates, rather than the dates on which these thresholds were first introduced.
Commercial Article 10-8 was introduced on 2015-05-13; the current text was checked on 2026-10-13.
The past-arrears renewal-refusal rule in Housing Lease Protection Act Article 6-3 is a separate issue.
This calculator does not decide whether refusal of a renewal is lawful.
Match each input to actual evidence
Lease type and cutoff
Select housing, commercial or coverage unknown, and enter the date through which balances are to be reviewed.
The cutoff determines which receipts and notice records are considered.
Leave the complete-history confirmation unchecked if older arrears remain or the ledger is incomplete.
Arithmetic can be shown while threshold review remains pending.
Monthly rent history and charges
Enter the confirmed contractual monthly rent and its effective date in the rent-basis history.
Separately enter each due date and the rent principal charged.
A prorated invoice or agreed exemption can differ from the full monthly rent; do not substitute that invoice for the one-period basis.
Keep management fees in the excluded-fee field.
The first effective rent date must cover every record, and charges with the same due date must be combined.
Receipts and notice
If a transfer covers fees, costs, interest and rent, enter only its verified rent-principal allocation.
Choose a specific charge when the receipt or agreement designates one.
Record notice sending and arrival dates only when supported by evidence; leave an unconfirmed date blank.
An entered date does not establish the notice’s contents or legally effective arrival.
Formulas and end-of-day observations
Amount comparison
Overdue principal A = unpaid rent principal on charges whose due dates have passed
Threshold T = monthly rent B effective on that date × 2 for housing or 3 for commercial
An end-of-day observation reaches the threshold when A ≥ T
Additional arrears to the current threshold = max(0, T − A)
The agreed due date is treated as the last timely payment day; arrears start on the following day.
A charge due on 2026-09-05 first enters overdue balances on 2026-09-06.
Payment on the due date reduces principal without creating a day of arrears for that charge.
Verify any contractual time-of-day, business-day or grace-period terms separately.
Date-only inputs cannot establish the precise first instant at which a termination right arose.
If a possible first threshold and a payment share a date, leaving the closing balance below threshold, the ledger shows both the pre-payment and closing balances and requests timestamp review.
Once an earlier closing observation has reached the threshold, subsequent payments do not erase it.
For rent changes, current comparisons use the rent effective on the cutoff date and historical observations retain their original rent basis.
The legal effect of a change on previously accrued rights requires separate review.
Why payment allocation matters
Civil Act Articles 476, 477 and 479 address designated allocation, statutory allocation and the order of costs, interest and principal.
This calculator’s oldest-due-first option implements an allocation agreement confirmed by the user.
It does not determine every statutory factor, including maturity, benefit to the debtor and proportional allocation between equivalent debts.
If the designation, costs or interest are disputed, leave allocation confirmation unchecked and verify the actual reduction in principal.
Designated allocation
A receipt assigned to a specific charge reduces only that charge’s remaining principal.
A verified designated prepayment can reduce that future charge before its due date.
Any amount exceeding that charge remains unapplied; it is not moved to another charge automatically.
Agreed oldest-due-first
A receipt reduces charges already due on the receipt date, starting with the oldest due date.
Multiple receipts on one date follow their input-row order.
Excess receipts and undesignated prepayments do not roll forward to future charges, so unreconciled amounts create a pending review item.
Step-by-step use
- Prepare the lease. Verify coverage, monthly rent, due dates and amendments.
Separate rent from management fees.
- Enter charges and receipts separately. Record each rent principal amount, receipt date and confirmed principal allocation.
Identify designated charges or the agreed order, and check for missing months and older arrears.
- Add notice evidence and calculate. Leave unknown arrival dates empty.
Read pending items when coverage, allocation or setoff remains unresolved.
- Read current balances alongside history. Compare each observation’s original threshold and arrears with the receipt allocation.
Supplement timestamps when a possible first threshold shares a date with a receipt.
- Save the TXT report. Bring it together with the lease, bank records, allocation agreement and notice evidence to a consultation.
The numbers do not establish termination, renewal refusal or an eviction demand.
Worked example: partial payment after a commercial threshold
Assume monthly rent of KRW 1,000,000 and separate management fees of KRW 100,000.
Rent due on 2026-07-05, 2026-08-05 and 2026-09-05 remains unpaid.
On 2026-09-10 the tenant pays KRW 1,500,000 toward rent principal using the agreed oldest-due-first order.
These fictional closing balances were checked against the shared pure calculation function; they are neither market rent estimates nor a legal determination.
Commercial rent example showing arrears after due dates and subsequent payment| Closing observation | Overdue rent, KRW | Threshold, KRW | Interpretation |
|---|
| 2026-07-06 | 1,000,000 | 3,000,000 | One period overdue |
| 2026-08-06 | 2,000,000 | 3,000,000 | Below commercial threshold |
| ★ 2026-09-06 | 3,000,000 | 3,000,000 | First closing threshold observation |
| 2026-09-10 | 1,500,000 | 3,000,000 | Later payment; history retained |
| 2026-09-15 cutoff | 1,500,000 | 3,000,000 | Current 1.5-period balance |
The KRW 300,000 total management fees are excluded from the rent threshold.
After allocation, July principal is zero, August principal is KRW 500,000 and September principal is KRW 1,000,000.
For the same ledger under housing rules, the first closing observation of the KRW 2,000,000 threshold would be 2026-08-06.
The example’s notice sending date 2026-09-08 and recorded arrival date 2026-09-12 are separate fictional evidence fields, rather than a finding of effective termination.
Moving below threshold does not guarantee prevention of termination
Strictly below in integer KRW
If current arrears A are at least threshold T, the arithmetic minimum principal application is A − T + 1 KRW.
At arrears and threshold both equal to KRW 3,000,000, that amount is KRW 1.
At KRW 3,500,000 arrears and a KRW 3,000,000 threshold, it is KRW 500,001.
At KRW 2,999,999 arrears, the additional amount is zero because the balance is already below threshold.
Zero does not mean no arrears or a secure lease.
Supreme Court case 2024Da320215, decided on 2026-06-24, addresses a commercial termination right arising when arrears reach three rent periods.
The landlord exercised the right while at least three periods were overdue; before the complaint containing the notice reached the tenant, the tenant unilaterally paid part of the arrears without the landlord’s consent.
Absent special circumstances, that later payment did not extinguish the termination right.
A reduced current balance does not automatically undo previously accrued rights or an effective termination.
Exercise-time arrears, consent, waiver, notice contents and arrival require separate factual review; do not generalize this commercial case to every housing situation.
Practical scenarios and consultation preparation
A tenant reconciling partial payments
Match each allocation to receipts and transfer descriptions.
Check the balance’s equivalent rent periods and preserve any past threshold observations alongside it.
Discuss agreements and the landlord’s response to payments rather than assuming a smaller balance resolves the issue.
A landlord reviewing a notice
First check whether management fees or other costs have been mixed into the claimed rent threshold.
Prepare allocation and notice evidence, distinguishing the past observation from the balance when the right was exercised.
Use related calculators for litigation budgets or deposit reconciliation when needed; this ledger does not estimate success in court or an eviction deadline.
Pending items and records outside scope
- Unconfirmed coverage or incomplete history: arithmetic is available, but threshold interpretation needs confirmation.
The calculator cannot reconstruct the first threshold outside the supplied ledger.
- Disputed allocation or setoff: deposits and asserted setoff are not automatically deducted.
Verify agreements and actual charge-specific reductions.
- Unapplied receipts: excess payments and undesignated prepayments do not automatically become future rent payments.
Confirm allocation before revising the entries.
- Possible first same-day threshold: closing arrears below threshold may hide an earlier balance on that date.
Check bank and notice timestamps and agreements.
- Historical exceptions and future years: the 2020 temporary commercial exception in Article 10-9, arrears from before 2026 and records after 2026 are outside scope.
Exclusion from a termination threshold differs from the landlord’s ability to recover a debt.
The limits are 12 rent bases, 24 charges and 60 receipts, each using integer amounts no greater than KRW 1 billion.
Duplicate due dates or effective dates, missing designated charges, invalid calendar dates and arrival before sending produce input errors.
Receipts after the cutoff and charges not yet overdue are counted separately and do not reduce or increase the current overdue balance.
Frequently asked questions
Do three late commercial payments automatically mean three rent periods?
No.
Compare accumulated overdue principal with three rent periods using the applicable basis.
Record each payment date and principal allocation separately.
Must the unpaid months be consecutive?
The ledger compares unpaid principal at each observation date rather than requiring consecutive months.
Nonconsecutive partial arrears can reach the threshold.
Verify statutory coverage and individual agreements separately.
How do I enter receipts containing fees or VAT?
Separate management fees, costs and interest from principal.
If the treatment of VAT within contractual rent is disputed, verify the lease and legal basis and leave allocation confirmation unchecked.
The calculator does not decide VAT classification.
Does a sufficient deposit count as payment?
The existence of a deposit alone is not entered as automatic rent payment.
You need a verified settlement, deduction agreement or actual principal-allocation basis.
A deposit balance is not a deduction input here.
Can a small payment below three periods prevent termination?
The arithmetic amount is not a guaranteed termination-prevention payment.
Review past commercial rights, notices, landlord consent and waiver.
Record later payments without erasing historical observations.
What happens if I pay on the possible first threshold date?
The ledger flags the date because a smaller closing balance may obscure the pre-payment balance.
Date-only records cannot establish the exact sequence.
Supplement receipt and notice timestamps.
Does a rent change rewrite the old threshold?
Current comparisons use the rent effective on the cutoff.
Past closing observations retain their original rent and threshold.
The calculator does not decide the legal effect on prior debts or rights.
Can I share the report for a consultation?
The TXT report includes the cutoff, rent changes, charges, receipts, observations, notice records and pending items.
Bring it alongside the lease, bank records and allocation agreements.
It does not replace a court finding or a legally sufficient termination notice.
Official sources, effective dates and maintenance checks
Statutes and precedent were checked directly through the National Law Information OPEN API on 2026-10-13.
The verified versions are Civil Act ID001706 / MST284415, effective 2026-03-17; commercial Act ID009276 / MST279651, effective 2026-05-12; and housing Act ID001248 / MST276291, effective 2026-01-02.
A precedent search returned 2024Da320215, decided on 2026-06-24, ID622917, followed by direct detail retrieval.
Recheck article text and effective dates after statutory or allocation/termination precedent changes.
For each contract, verify coverage, older arrears, rent amendments, principal allocation, notice content and arrival, consent, waiver, costs, interest and setoff.
Do not assume the 2026 rules apply unchanged in later years.
Reconcile the rent ledger alongside evidence
Replace remembered late-payment counts with a record of charges, allocations and notice evidence.
Read the current balance, historical observations and pending items together, then prepare evidence for consultation before acting on termination.
Return to rent ledger inputs