Pre-completion apartment unit sales as brokering a building

1. 01Question

   Does 'building' in Article 3(ii) of the Certified Real Estate Broker Act include a specific building yet to be built, so that brokering the sale of an apartment unit after a purchaser has been selected or a subscription contract concluded, but before the unit is completed, amounts to brokering a building?

2. 02Holding

   It does. Article 3(ii) of the Certified Real Estate Broker Act covers not only buildings already standing but also a specific building yet to be built, so once a purchaser has been selected for, or a subscription contract concluded on, a particular apartment unit, brokering its sale before the apartment is finished is brokering a building. The Supreme Court accordingly held that the subscription right, whose unit was fixed when it was brokered, was a building listed in Article 3(ii), and that brokering its sale was a brokerage transaction within Article 2(i) of that Act.

   Points at issue, verbatim

   아파트의 특정 동·호수에 대하여 피분양자가 선정되거나 분양계약이 체결된 후 그 특정 아파트가 완성되기 전 이에 대한 매매 등 거래를 중개하는 것이 ‘건물’의 중개에 해당하는지 여부(적극)

   Unofficial English translation

   Whether, after an allottee has been selected or a subscription agreement has been executed for a specific building unit and number of an apartment, the brokerage of a sale or other transaction concerning that specific apartment before its completion falls under the brokerage of a "building" (affirmative)

3. 03Disposition

   Partly reversed and remanded Stated in the decision

   원심판결 중 피고인 2, 피고인 4에 대한 부분, 피고인 3에 대한 다른 사람의 성명 또는 상호 사용 중개업무로 인한 공인중개사법 위반 부분을 파기하고, 이 부분 사건을 서울남부지방법원에 환송한다. 검사의 피고인 1, 피고인 5에 대한 상고와 피고인 3에 대한 나머지 상고를 모두 기각한다.

   Unofficial English translation

   The judgment of the court below is reversed as to the portions concerning Defendant 2 and Defendant 4, and as to the portion concerning Defendant 3 relating to the violation of the Certified Real Estate Agents Act arising from brokerage business conducted using another person's name or trade name, and this part of the case is remanded to the Seoul Southern District Court as to those portions. All appeals by the prosecutor as to Defendant 1 and Defendant 5, and the remaining appeal as to Defendant 3, are dismissed.

4. 04Form of the test

   Elements stated Stated in the decision

   위 제3조 제2호에 규정된 ‘건축물’에는 기존의 건축물뿐만 아니라 장차 건축될 특정의 건물도 포함되므로

   Unofficial English translation

   Since "building" as provided in the aforesaid Article 3, subparagraph 2 includes not only existing buildings but also a specific building to be constructed in the future,

5. 05Factors

   • 공인중개사법상 ‘중개’의 의미
   • 공인중개사법 제3조 제2호에 규정된 ‘건축물’에 장차 건축될 특정의 건물도 포함되는지 여부(적극)
   • 아파트의 특정 동·호수에 대하여 피분양자가 선정되거나 분양계약이 체결된 후 그 특정 아파트가 완성되기 전 이에 대한 매매 등 거래를 중개하는 것이 ‘건물’의 중개에 해당하는지 여부(적극)

   Unofficial English translation

   • The meaning of "brokerage" under the Certified Real Estate Agents Act

   • Whether "building" as provided in Article 3, subparagraph 2 of the Certified Real Estate Agents Act also includes a specific building to be constructed in the future (affirmative)

   • Whether, after an allottee has been selected or a subscription agreement has been executed for a specific building unit and number of an apartment, the brokerage of a sale or other transaction concerning that specific apartment before its completion falls under the brokerage of a "building" (affirmative)

6. 06Relation to precedent

   Follows earlier decisions Stated in the decision

   대법원 2005. 5. 27. 선고 2004도62 판결 등 참조

   Unofficial English translation

   See, e.g., Supreme Court Decision 2004Do62 decided May 27, 2005

   Decisions referred to

   대법원 1990. 2. 13. 선고 89도1885 판결(공1990, 702), 대법원 2005. 5. 27. 선고 2004도62 판결(공2005하, 1098)

7. 07Burden of proof

   Not addressed Not in the decision

8. 08Open question and revisit condition

   If no unit has been assigned at the time of brokering, and the subscriber's eligibility is later cancelled, is brokering the sale of that subscription right still brokering a building?

   The retrial judgment on remand at the Seoul Southern District Court will show how the restored brokerage finding bears on the name-use offences under Article 19 and on sentencing. Any amendment to Article 3(ii) of the Certified Real Estate Broker Act or to its Enforcement Decree, or a later Supreme Court decision on unassigned subscription rights, would require this entry to be read again.

Read 2026-10-26 · Cross-read 2026-10-26. All quotes matched against the official text. The Chinese-character placeholders the court used for anonymised parties are given in their Korean readings, and parenthetical Chinese-character glosses are omitted.

Every entry is published only after all quotes have been matched character by character against the official text, and audited by an independent second reading from a different model family across all eight axes. Both agreed axes and text-grounded interpretive divergences are recorded openly. The ledger is a research record, not an assessment of the court or advice on any matter.