Professional evictors target working poor

New people spawned by new times breed new terminology. “Working poor,” borrowed from American English, is now solidly entrenched in Japanese. Then there are the types who prey on the working poor—“oidashiya,” for example. Professional evictors.

Friday (July 31) introduces them and the hardship they cause to people whose lives are pinched enough to begin with.

The descent from temporary work into unemployment accelerated last year in a tailspinning economy. Gaps in Japan’s safety net have left many in a desperate plight. A parallel phenomenon is a weakening of human relationships that makes it difficult for apartment renters to produce a personal guarantor. Filling the void are profit-oriented companies that provide the service. By Friday’s count, 29 companies dominate the field. It’s a new, risky business, largely unregulated. The line between it and the “oidashiya” is a fine one, not clearly drawn.The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry says it is working on regulations. That’s too late for “Mr. A,” one of several “oidashiya” victims the magazine speaks to.

He’s 25 and living in Tokyo. Last year he quit his temp job, which was leading him nowhere, and enrolled in university on a partial scholarship. The scholarship money plus earnings from a part-time job would enable him to pay his 75,000 yen monthly rent, he assured his real estate agency. Since the scholarship money came in two weeks after the rent was due, arrangements were made allowing for late payment.

For three months, things went smoothly, but in January and February, his job earnings fell off and he slipped into arrears. He intended to make up the difference in March but came home on Feb 13 to find the lock changed and a notice pinned to the door advising him his rental contract had been terminated. The note was from his corporate guarantor, a company Friday identifies as “JCOC.”

Mr. A called them, but his explanations counted for nothing. “Why don’t you pay?” his interlocutor kept demanding. Finally Mr. A was grudgingly granted a month’s grace.

His rent, as per their agreement, was due on the 15th, but March 15 was a Sunday, which seems to have been the excuse for JCOC’s next action. When Mr. A came home on March 23, the apartment had been stripped bare; all his belongings had been removed.

A local consumers’ consultation center, with a lawyer’s help, managed to get his stuff back. Some of it had been damaged. Mr. A is currently suing the real estate agency. As for JCOC, its response to a query from Friday was, “JCOC has closed down. We have nothing to say concerning this incident.”

“You cannot terminate a rental contract simply because a tenant is late with the rent,” comments a lawyer the magazine speaks to. “Clearly it is illegal to unilaterally throw the tenant out without proceeding through the courts.” Moreover, “forcible seizure of the tenant’s belongings may well amount to theft.”

Those regulations the Land Ministry promises won’t come a day too soon.

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Latest 15 of 31 Total Comments Show All

motytrah at 04:41 AM JST - 24th July

Seems the issue is the guarantor doesn't actually want to live up to it's obligation to guarantee the deal. So the obvious solution is to sneak in and evict the tenant illegally in order to minimize the losses. It's rough economic times and the guarantor should have had reserves set aside to handle the losses. Obviously that's not the case.
noborito at 08:58 AM JST - 24th July

with renting an apartment so hard, why doesn't the government get involved? Bribery I am sure is high on the reasons why. And the spew about "Japanese culture" crap.
nisegaijin at 09:50 AM JST - 24th July

I think tenant has 3 months grace. Moreover guarantor firm doesn't have the right to do any of this. I feel for this guy, but he has to try hard to find a better part time job. He is young and bright, it can't rain every day - hope he gets this message.
kanadamanada at 11:34 AM JST - 24th July

My 1st apartment here in Sapporo was with "Mstsui Biru" who said "gaijin dame" in our initial meeting. Well, the apartment got rented in my ex-girlfriend's name with the full understanding of the company that I would live there. They said it was fine, as long as she provided 2 guarantors and I paid 50,000 a year to one of these "professional" guarantor companies. I wondered to myself who would actually end up paying if I'd defaulted and was certain that it could be challenged in court. They gouge you any way they can.

I don't feel bad for some of the landlords on here and any tales of woe. If you're not willing to deal with riffraff, don't get in the rental business.
knowitall at 11:49 AM JST - 24th July

The article does not state it, but this looks like a case where the property was not officially "rented" to the user. The new trend is to charge a "usage fee" instead of "rent". That way, the renter (user) is not entitled to the normal rights guaranteed by law to an apartment renter. It is basically the same agreement one would make to use a pay-by-the-hour conference room. Eviction in a legal domicile rental agreement is a very time-consuming process.
RandomTask at 11:49 AM JST - 24th July

The guarantor companies are a joke, I would rather pay a guarantor fee directly to the real estate agent that would be refunded when I leave... Stupid stupid system. The housing market is such a scam in Japan.
telecasterplayer at 03:06 PM JST - 24th July

Maybe this ought to be under "crime".
nisegaijin at 04:55 PM JST - 24th July

RT -> you do this anyway. the guarantor rubbish is on top of that.
jbro888 at 06:24 PM JST - 24th July

i sympathize with you all. im looking for an apt at the moment and i start to get headaches thinking of the introduction fee, reikin, shikikin, 2-year insurance (that for some reason gets nullified when the person before me moves out...?), lock fees, 2-year renewal contract fee, guaranteer fee, kanrihi、contract cancellation fees(sometimes)

omg! so much crap!
Klein2 at 09:31 AM JST - 25th July

Well, it is simply a matter of who accepts risk. Guarantors are a necessary evil in a country where lawyers are expensive and legal processes work very slowly. I hated using them, but I do not have to anymore because I am not riff raff. If someone wants my business, they have to look at my paper and not my skin color. Probably most foreigners are still in the riff raff category, so you have to pay the riff raff tax.

So if the renter does not pay for the guarantor, who must accept the risk? It would be the owner, right? That would mean higher key money, higher rents, more rules, more hassles. Eventually, the market would collapse because people would rather bulldoze their buildings than complicate their lives. That is what I would do. My guess is that a lot of buildings are clearing less than their mortgage payments as it is.

And if you really think that the guarantors are making out like bandits, look at what their liability is. They are basically guaranteeing faceless riff raff to X amount of yen for a one time fee of Y. Only in Japan would this seem like a GOOD DEAL to the guarantor and the renter. And foreigners? Forget it. Who would guarantee the typical JT poster?

If you don't like renting, then buy. If you can't buy, why are you complaining?

In terms of social issues, having governments act as guarantors rather than putting up public housing seems like a good solution, but we know that will probably never happen, and it still leaves foreigners out in the cold.
TravelingSales at 07:00 AM JST - 26th July

This guy is a deadbeat. The landlord had every right to get rid of him. The landlord should be forced to let him live in their place for free?

Be responsible, work hard, pay your bills & debts when due, don't sponge off the hard work of others.
lordomni at 04:57 PM JST - 26th July

Eviction wihtout notice is illegal, and I hope he wipes the floor with this group as well as his landlord. Yes, the landlord has right. However no warning or notice was posted, as far as he knew the agreements were still fine.
onewrldoneppl at 11:17 PM JST - 26th July

“You cannot terminate a rental contract simply because a tenant is late with the rent,” comments a lawyer the magazine speaks to. “Clearly it is illegal to unilaterally throw the tenant out without proceeding through the courts.” Moreover, “forcible seizure of the tenant’s belongings may well amount to theft.”

recently most landlords want not to evict those who're late to pay. new tenants are hard to come by
dr_jones at 12:12 PM JST - 27th July

What's the difference between this practice and Yakuza practices?
timorborder at 01:49 PM JST - 27th July

Heard a story from my brother-in-law about the brother of one of his work mates.

This guy (a student at the time) was really loose with his money and sometimes would forget to pay the rent. As luck would have it, one month his missed his rent deadline and instead went out pub-crawling with his brother (my brother-in-law's friend) and a couple of other young chaps. They came home next morning half-drunk to find some very unsavory characters evicting this guy (well removing all his possessions from the flat). Anyway, the guy's brother told these chaps in no uncertain terms to put the possessions back in the flat. They refused. He said fair enough, YOU'RE NICKED! Sometimes it can be an advantage to have a brother who is a policeman.