This is an update of my previous post, linked below. If you prefer to read the detailed story, click the link below and then continue with this post after the link for the resolution. Otherwise, I'll provide a brief summary here:
I found a real estate agent for a 6-month rental of an apartment in Tokyo through the online real estate agency E-housing (e-housing.jp). As it later turned out, that agent was fired after we came into contact. The agent asked me to pay a lump-sum payment of deposit (worth two months of rent), agent fee (worth one month), and 6-months of rent for my rental agreement, which I did. However, he secretly had an agreement with the apartment’s owner that he would pay the rent monthly. He transfered the deposit and the first month’s rent to the owner, but once the second month arrived, he was not reachable through any contact forms anymore and did then in fact not pay any of the missing 5 months of rent. The agency and the owner blamed me for this, saying I had to get a new contract and pay the missing rent again.
After I made this reddit post, there were several developments.
As one commenter suggested, I went to the city hall of my ward to take advantage of the free legal consultations they offer. They said that I had very bad luck since such an incident is pretty rare in Japan. Moreover, they gave me an appointment with a Japanese lawyer who would provide a free consultation with a voucher they handed me.
Meanwhile, the owner pressed me for a decision: would I move out, or sign a new contract and pay again? I told him that I needed one more week to decide since I had a lawyer consultation scheduled. At the word “lawyer”, he all of a sudden backed all the way off and said that I could stay for free until the end of the 6 months. He said that he didn't want me to lose money on lawyers. Which is ironic, since he was fine with me paying double for the rent. Apparently, he was not so sure to be on the right side legally as he pretended to be. I went to the lawyer anyway, who told me that according to Japanese law, this whole thing was the fault of E-housing since they did not make sure that their agent did not keep any customers from his work at the company when they fired him. The lawyer told me they would have to cover the losses and go after the agent to get their money back. So I forwarded this info to the owner, telling him that he should demand the 5 months he was missing from E-housing (hoping that then he'd give me my deposit back) and tell them to sort out the problem with their ex-employee.
I enjoyed the remaining 3 months of my time in Tokyo. However, I had to return to the police office several times, and wvery time, I just felt confirmed in my belief about how incompetent they are at their work. I started to make peace with the fact that the guy was probably gone, and I would have a hard time getting the deposit back from the owner, who did not pursue the matter against E-housing, as far as I know.
Surprisingly, in the last week before I left Japan, I got an appointment at the public prosecutors' office, who told me that the agent had been arrested and was in police custody. It seems that the agent made the mistake of remaining/returning in/to Japan after having committed a crime there and thus was caught.
I gave the same statement I had already given the police in front of the prosecutor, and he said the assigned defendant of the agent would contact me for a settlement. Once i was contacted by the defendant, I asked for the deposit and the agent fee. In return, I would sign a statement of forgiveness. Now, I'm waiting for the money. When I moved out, I had a brief talk with the owner, where he told me that he asked for the full 5 months back since the deposit was his until he decided to pay it out. There are no damages to the apartment, which he acknowledged, so I find this behavior unjustified. I’d understand if he’d return the deposit and then ask for 5 months of rent. But if he plans to keep the deposit as a substitute for rent, he should only ask the agent for 3 rents.
My friends told me to ask for more from the fraudulent agent than just the exact amount I paid in because I suffered stress and lost a lot of time through the actions of this agent. But at this point, I am glad to even make up my losses, and I kind of feel bad for the agent since it seems that he got into financial trouble, and now his mother will pay (according to the defendant) for the settlement to keep him out of prison. Who I'm angrier with than with the agent are the owner and the agency, E-housing. Because they were in a position of power, and instead of using that power to go after the person who committed the crime, they chose what they saw as the easier way out, and pressured me, as the victim of the crime, to suffer all the damages, while they offered no help.
All in all, my time in Japan was very good other than these events and in the end I will be lucky to recover my monetary losses.
by One-Palpitation8004
20 comments
glad it worked out for you… hell of a story
Wonderful that you will get your money back. Glad you had a great time here despite that hussle!
And I always laugh at how a lot of Japanese here react to the word “lawyer”. Did this twice “I will get back to you – I have an appointment with a lawyer regarding what we discussed” and they backed off so quickly, it was weird. And the first time wasn’t even that serious, I as a foreigner just had no idea what to do because I don’t know the law 100% and wanted someone to explain it to me.
Hell ya brutha. Love you came out smelling like roses
Glad this worked out, at least somewhat for you!
E-Housing.jp puts out some pretty strange social / influencer content that seems geared toward young English and Russian speaking millionaires. I’d be curious how much real business they actually do in that world vs just aggregating normal everyday apartment listings. They pay for followers and engagement and really push this whole luxury lifestyle Tokyo thing.
Shit like this :
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWVsrxeke2t/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
The company was founded by Uzbeks in their twenties just three years ago. Since they deal with housing their license and company capital is easily found.
I am curious how many of their employees on their about page are actually real 🤣
Wow. Thank you for the post. Its crazy to know such things can happen on e housing. I was on the verge of considering purchasing from that platform!
Well done buddy.
This makes all of us in the foreign servicing real estate industry look bad, I’m glad you got a resolution but this never should have been an issue. Angry and happy at the same time!
Phew, reading this second part def made my day. So glad you sorted it all out and I really agree with your last statement.
The way they put all of that on to you despite you being the victim is insane.
Very glad you got your money back.
Unfortunately both the owner and the agency defaulted to try to go with the approach that’s easiest for them, but not the right approach.
The owner tried to pressure you for the money because you were weaker, and it wasn’t until the word lawyer came into play that he changed his tone.
The agency probably also just tried to pressure that it was your problem and not theirs.
It’s sad to experience these things and unfortunately there is a large number of companies and individuals that will straight up lie to you because you are the weaker party.
Good on you to get the lawyer and I’m happy it all seems to have worked out.
The worst thing about e-housing is that you can’t even visit the properties, and they pressure you by making it seem like the apartment is very popular, saying there are multiple applicants interested in it.
A friend of mine is currently living in an apartment he found through e-housing, and apparently the person in charge was not very familiar with the usual process (a new employee maybe?), and he could only see a few photos of the property before having to make a decision…
In what world is this system even legal? Personally, I would never live in a property that I haven’t been able to visit beforehand.
You can also get lawyers to speak to the police for you. Such as getting the police report. There’s less of the “negotiation” aspect then where they expect you to just give up and save them work. They know a lawyer is not simply going to give up. It’s the same with the landlord, they start with a ludicrous demand, expecting that then there is a negotiation where you either give up, or come to a lesser demand and they get better than nothing. Even with a lawyer thrown into the mix it can still be “negotiation” but they know you’re serious on your end at least and not giving up.
Same thing happens with insurance, employers, various fees. It’s a kind of haggling that nobody really talks about much. Not unique to Japan either, but more open elsewhere.
My wife (Japanese) has no problem haggling. She’ll even haggle the price of a microwave at Yamada Denki. The first time she did this I was aghast, but the sales staff knew the deal too. When we buy electronics we almost always get a discount or some kind of other product thrown in.
E housing sounds like a shitty company
>As one commenter suggested, I went to the city hall of my ward to take advantage of the free legal consultations they offer. They said that I had very bad luck since such an incident is pretty rare in Japan.
Love how they had to get the disclaimer in there
Wow. I hope the guy goes to jail. E housing sounds like a company that just wants to make Tokyo into the next Bali shopping out their luxury lifestyle bs.
I’ve actually met the owner. Big talker for sure. Seemed ok though. But you always have to remember worh real estate agents. It’s one of the only industries you can legally make big money these days without actually having to be highly intelligent and take a lot of risk. If they could be a fund manager, design à new pharmaceutical or file à patent for a new construction tool that fills a gap in the market, they would.
I’m glad it worked out for you. The Instagram page is full of false information and I guess you are just one of the victims so far for their false advertising
What a nice ending. And don’t feel bad for the mother. She could be a part of it. You never know.
As someone who was able to successfully find an apartment with the help of an agent from E-housing just Q1 of this year, this comes very shocking to me! I’m sorry this even happened to you, but I’m glad things turned up. This seems to be an isolated case, and I’m in no way on the side of E-housing for leaving you to deal with things yourself, but just to ground future apartment hunters that there have been success stories with them too.
I guess this is also a good reminder for everyone to do cross-checks especially situations that involve a huge amount of money. I guess in a way it pays to be a little sparing and thrifty..
Thanks for this info – time to unfollow & block these scumbags 💢
OP, DO NOT fall for the sob story about financial trouble and his mother paying. Unless there are consequences, they will do this again.
Ehousing has been fantastic with me. 10/10 specially Michael!
What was the name of the ex-agent? That person is a straight up crook and deserves to be outed too not just e-housing
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