Jang Woo Hyuk Ordered To Pay Former Tenants $156,000: 'We Feel Wronged' H.O.T. Rapper's Lawyer Says

He may be a star in the world of K-pop, but in the world of rental property, he's just another disgruntled landlord.

Rapper and former member of the boy band H.O.T., Jang Woo Hyuk received a compulsory arbitration ruling on Friday, ordering the educational consulting company that rented property from the star in 2008 to pay him $28,000, according to the website allkpop.

Yet Jang allegedly feels he is entitled to a greater sum of the $184,000 security deposit his tenants initially put down for to rent the second, third, fourth and fifth floors of the building in Seoul's Gangnam district.

Taking into account the $28,000 the plaintiffs have been ordered to pay him, Jang will be forced to return $156,000 of his former tenant's $184,000 security deposit.

"We feel wronged about the compulsory arbitration ruling," said a lawyer for the star.

The South Korean court reportedly reached the verdict after the two sides failed to come to an agreement within the allotted time.

Back in March, at the time the lawsuit was filed, Jang claimed the consulting company unleashed major mayhem on his building.

"From the second to the fifth floor, there is a lot of damage to the floor and the walls," Jang said in an official statement issued through a legal representative.

"They should have put it back to its original state, but they kept saying that the damages came from natural wear and tear usage and did not repair them. [The tenants] only made small repairs such as replacing the door handle, but they didn't repair anything more costly such as the floor. It would cost us a lot of money to fix it."

When the consulting company moved out, Jang reportedly never returned their security deposit.

"In 2008, we signed a contract with Mr. Jang to rent the second to fifth floors of the Gangnam Shinsadong building that he owns with a [$184,000] security deposit and a monthly rental fee of [$11,500]," said a representative for the educational consulting company.

"We gave him back the property on February 1, when our lease ended."

The former H.O.T. rapper claims he tried to resolve the dispute with his tenants without going through litigation.

"We tried to find a middle ground through talks, but we're in a difficult position because they took it to court," Jang's rep explained.

H.O.T. was formed in 1996 and disbanded in 2001. That year, Jang and two other members of H.O.T. formed JTL, but they were never able to match the popularity of their former group.

In 2003, JTL broke up and Jang went solo. In 2011 he released the album "I Am The Future."

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H.O.T.
Jang Woo Hyuk
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