Job Discussion Forums

[whatthefunk]

Okay, heres the situation.

Im moving out of my apartment in 2 weeks. I informed my landlord about this 2 months ago. I contacted him again a few days ago to ask about getting my deposit back. He told me that I dont get my deposit back. I took a look at my contract, and it says that I do get my deposit back, minus fees for damages. I told him that my contract states that i do get it back, and then he told me that damages and fees usually amount to 90,000 yen, so he was doing me a favor by only keeping my deposit of 64,000 and then not charging me too much for damages.
A twist in the story. The guy before me died in the apartment and he never told me. I found out about 6 months later from someone who lives in my building. Is it illegal to not tell a tenent about the death of a previous tenent in the apartment?
Another twist in the story. Im almost positive that he did not replace the tatamis before I moved because there was candle wax on them when I moved in and the room didnt have that fresh tatami smell (it smelt like death, actually...).

So...heres what Im asking..
First, does a landlord have to tell a new tenent about a death in the apartment?
Second, who has to pay for the tatami? I read the post about that here, but Id like a law name or link to a site.

Thanks.

[Sweetsee]

Don't know the law but a friend rented a kodan apartment where the previous tenant had died and paid very reduced rent for two years.

[Like a Rolling Stone]

[wangtesol]

Here is the phone number for the Shinagawa Tenants Union (in Tokyo)

033 786 6047
They may know of a tenants rights association near you. Their English is okay but they may be hard to get a hold of.

By the way, a landlord cannot charge you for normal wear and tear.

If he is also your employer than under Labor Standards Law, an employer cannot deduct from your pay any penalties for room damage. You can go to the Labour Standards Office and make a complaint. But you must do so before your job ends.

Call your local "international association" to find out information as well. The international association can provide free interpretters and may know of a tenants rights group, but the international association people are not trained in legal issues. Here is the Nagasaki International Association to help get you started. By the way, the Labor Standards Office must be in the region where your school's head office is.

Nagasaki International Association
5-20 Suwa-Machi, Nagasaki City 850-0837
TEL: 095-823-3931 FAX: 095-832-2400
OPEN: 9:00am-5:30pm
CLOSED: Sat., Sun.
& National Holidays

[Yawarakaijin]

I think that costs in Japan can really shock you. I know that everyone is going to say that I got totally ripped off and I agree but sometimes you have to bite the bullet. I recently took over the apartment vacated by a previous teacher as it was quite a bit larger than the one I currently had. The place was in really nice condition, the only beef I had was that the wallpaper had turned an ungodly colour over the years.

The guy before had been there for about four years so I dont know if the landloard had completely retouched the place for him when he first moved in or not. For some reason which I really dont understand (perhaps because it was a takeover from someone in company?) My boss had to "ask" the landlord if we could get the place wallpapered again. It was totally shocking!! 70,000 yen! which my boss asked me to kick in 20,000.

So thats the going rate of just getting your place wallpapered again. So perhaps your landlord only sticking you with 64,000 of your deposit is actually doing you a favour. I imagine that if your landlord was to properly and completely put your apartment in mint condition for the next tennant it would cost much more.

On a side note, I found the job they did to be amazing. What is up with japanese wallpaper? It doesnt seem to be in "strips" like back home. I couldnt find a seem anywhere in the entire apartment and there were tons of right angles. Its almost like it is sprayed on or something, totally weird. Very professional though, the guys even took the time to hang the drapes properly as I handnt gotten around to it and they even tidied up all the wiring running from my tv/computer/sound system and so on. Say what you will, Japan certainly has customer service down to a tee.

[wangtesol]

Oh, here you go. If you live in Fukuoka...

[luckyloser700]

[JimDunlop2]

Please look at this thread: http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=27685&highlight=tatami

You may be able to glean some useful info from my own experience.

[Glenski]

Whatever you do, make darned sure you have cleaned that apartment utterly spotless before you leave. Take pictures. I have lived in 3 apartments since I arrived here, and I have gotten back 90-95% of my deposits.

[guest of Japan]

No matter what, the landlord will probably charge for cleaning fees and damages. They will usually say that you have to pay for tatami mats, but this is actually illegal if the mats are in good condition. People used to always pay whatever was charged, but recently people have been fighting back.

When I moved out of my apartment of two years a couple months back, my wife and I were told by the rental company that we would have to pay for cleaning, repairs, new tatami and a change of locks. This was actually in the contract but I balked. My wife was at first ready to just pay what is asked, but after I explained the law to her and the way the company was exploiting old tenents to make money on new tenents she did some internet research in Japanese and found I was correct. She then called the company and told them that our tatami mats were in excellent condition and that we were not willing to pay. Their response was, "Oh, our mistake. In our other apartments the outgoing tenants have to pay for tatami, but not your apartment. You don't have to pay for a change of locks either."

In the end we payed for cleaning, a little bit for minor damages which were marked in our presense on our last day their, and for the change o wallpaper in one room where my wife confined me during my quest to develop lung cancer. In all we paid about 50,000 yen for a 2LDK.

The moral of the story is that most landlords know what they are doing is illegal, but that it is an easy way to collect more money and reduce their outlay for readying the place to attract future tenants. If you object strongly enough, and show that you know the law, and it is insinuated that you will follow through, landlord will back down. Keigo will take you much further than yelling.

Note, the above applies for dealing with a big company. Individual landlords really might not know the law and just act as they always have. No matter which, I recommend you have a native Japanese speaker with a backbone assist you in closing things out.

[wangtesol]

Here's a tenants advocacy website, the Japanese Tenants Association...

Japanese Tenants Association
1-10-3 Higashikomagata
Sumida-ku Tokyo
130-0005
JAPAN
Tel +81-3 3622 1376
Fax +81-3 3622 1400
E-mail: [email protected]
http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~jptaa/


And here is the...

Land and House Lease Law (shakuchi shakuya ho) 借地借家法
http://www.houko.com/00/01/H03/090.HTM
(in Japanese but some Google transaltion available)

Some Civil Code sections apply to tenants rights. The Japanese Tenants Association touches on these but the English advice is not very clear and rather cryptic.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am just going to put in this link for future reference....

Consumer Contract Law (shohisha keiyakuho) 消費者基本法http://www.houko.com/00/01/S43/078.HTM
(in Japanese but some Google transaltion available)