How to Use the Deposit Alternative Premium Estimator
The U.S. has no direct equivalent to Korea's jeonse system or its deposit-return guarantee (jeonse boojeungeum banhwan bojeung), where a tenant pays a massive lump-sum deposit instead of monthly rent and insures its return through HUG or SGI Seoul Guarantee. Jeonse simply doesn't exist in U.S. rental markets, so there is no renewal "guarantee premium" recalculation to match. The closest loosely related product is a deposit-alternative service (such as Rhino, Obligo, or LeaseLock), which lets tenants pay a small recurring fee instead of a large upfront security deposit — but note the direction is reversed: it insures the landlord against damage or unpaid rent, not the tenant's deposit against landlord default.
This calculator estimates a deposit-alternative premium by applying a monthly rate to the deposit amount the service would replace, over your lease renewal term. Actual providers set individualized, risk-based rates (commonly cited in the roughly 0.5%-3.5% of coverage per month range) based on your credit and rental history, and not every landlord or state permits these products. Treat this only as a loose illustration of what a premium-based deposit alternative might cost, not as a substitute for understanding that Korea's jeonse guarantee concept has no real U.S. counterpart.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Jeonse — a lump-sum deposit worth a large share of a home's value paid instead of monthly rent, insured by a government or private guarantor — does not exist in the U.S. rental market. There is no 1:1 equivalent, so nothing here directly recalculates a jeonse guarantee premium.
It's a third-party product that lets a tenant pay a small recurring premium instead of a large upfront security deposit; the service instead insures the landlord against damages or unpaid rent. It protects the landlord, not the tenant's deposit, which is the opposite direction from Korea's jeonse guarantee.