Cheongchul Law Firm (Attorney in charge: Park Jong-han, Bae Gi-hyung) recently represented a client who was a member of a local housing cooperative in a lawsuit to reclaim the advance contribution that was determined when the client signed a withdrawal agreement with the cooperative. They succeeded in obtaining a favorable judgment. Notably, this case is significant because it was won not only against the cooperative but also against the trust company that entered into a fund management agency contract with the cooperative, making them all defendants.
The client faithfully paid the member contributions after signing the local housing cooperative membership contract. However, recently, as the real estate market worsened, the cooperative’s apartment project was prolonged, and eventually, the cooperative modified the direction of the project regarding the construction company and methods of contribution payment. In the course of this, the cooperative allowed original members to withdraw from the cooperative if they did not agree to the revised project methods, and those wishing to withdraw, including the client, proceeded with the termination of the membership contract with the cooperative.
Subsequently, those who underwent the termination process requested the cooperative to return their contributions, but the cooperative claimed that according to the guidance for the termination process, contributions could only be refunded if 'new members were recruited,' and therefore refused to return the contributions.
Cheongchul Law Firm, on behalf of the client, filed a lawsuit for the claim against the counterpart regarding the agreement amount (return of contributions), emphasizing the following points:
The recruitment of substitute members corresponds to an uncertain duration,
The recruitment of substitute members is dependent on the sincerity and efforts of the defendant cooperative, and the client cannot influence that process.
According to the Enforcement Decree of the Housing Act, once a local housing cooperative applies for project plan approval, it cannot recruit additional members, yet the defendant cooperative applied for project plan approval without requesting additional member recruitment.
The defendant cooperative failed to make significant efforts to recruit additional members for a considerable period.
The plaintiff can exercise the right to claim funds from the defendant trust company on behalf of the defendant cooperative to preserve the claim for the return of funds from the defendant cooperative.
According to the contents of the fund management agency contract signed between the defendant cooperative and the defendant trust company, the plaintiff's claims in litigation must be considered to meet the requirements for the payment method under the fund management agency contract.
The court accepted Cheongchul's opinion entirely and issued a judgment in favor of the plaintiff client regarding the claim for the agreement amount (return of contributions).
In general, the probability of success for local housing cooperative apartment projects is only about 20%, and with the recent worsening of the real estate market, the likelihood of project success has diminished. As a result, those who faithfully paid their contributions are now seeking to terminate their contracts and wish to reclaim their contributions.
The problem is that in a situation where the project has already stalled, the cooperative has very little funding available, and even if one wins a lawsuit against the cooperative, the realistic possibility of recovering the funds is very low.
To avoid the aforementioned risks, Cheongchul not only targeted the local housing cooperative but also included the trust company managing the funds as defendants in the lawsuit. Cheongchul's strategic approach was successful, allowing the client to fully recover the claimed amount.
If you need a solution to related disputes, please do not hesitate to contact Cheongchul Law Firm.
