Getting Your Deposit Back, Organize KakaoTalk by Date

When a deposit return is delayed, your KakaoTalk chats with the landlord can show what was said and when. This page only covers how to organize the chats, not the procedure for claiming a deposit back.

Not legal advice. This page is general information. Whether a court admits or relies on a chat is for the court; convokeep does not promise admission or any outcome. Ask a qualified lawyer about your case. In Korea, for example, you can also ask the Korea Legal Aid Corporation (☎132).

Which chats should I collect?

Collect chats from before and after signing the contract, chats where you told the landlord you were moving out, chats that mention the return date and amount, and chats about repairs or settling accounts. If the landlord changed or an agent was involved, keep those chat rooms as well.

What should I use instead of screenshots?

Export the chat room as .txt and build a PDF where every message carries a date and time. You can then read what was said on which day and at what time as one flow. You can choose just the period you need.

What matters for showing that a return was promised?

The flow of dates, amounts and the other side's replies matters. It is better to show the surrounding conversation than to cut out a single line. Decide with your lawyer which part shows which fact.

What else should I gather for a deposit dispute?

You also need material outside the chat, such as the lease, transfer records and anything showing your move-out date. How to claim the return and the related tenancy-registration systems differ by case, so check with the Korea Legal Aid Corporation or a lawyer. This page does not explain those systems.

Does making a PDF give it legal effect?

The PDF itself does not create any effect. It only makes the chat easier to read, and with a hash you can show that it has not changed since the export. A later copy whose SHA-256 hash matches the recorded hash has not changed since that hash was recorded. This does not show that the original chat is authentic or complete. Whether it is admitted is for the court.

Privacy

Reading the file, building the PDF and calculating hashes all happen in your browser. No chat or attachment is uploaded and there is no account. See the privacy policy and the disclaimer.

Related guides

Ready to try it?

Drop your exported .txt file on the convokeep app for a free preview. The first 3 pages are free (watermarked, no integrity page); saving the full PDF is a one-time paid feature. No chat or attachment is uploaded: the file is read in your browser. To check later that a file is unchanged, use the hash checker.

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