Residents in a Tokyo apartment building were shocked when, without warning, the building’s owner changed to a foreign company—reportedly Chinese-owned—and then:
- Tripled the rent (from about ¥72,500 to ¥190,000/month) to push out tenants
- Announced plans to turn units into short-term rentals (like Airbnbs)
- Stopped all management services like cleaning, garbage collection, and elevator maintenance
- Became unreachable — tenants couldn’t contact the owner or management company
One tenant said: “We’re still paying management fees, but we have to clean the building ourselves. It’s frustrating and upsetting.”
The building’s elevator temporarily stopped working, and even after restarting, it hadn't been inspected. A woman in her 70s on the 7th floor said she can’t climb stairs due to knee pain and fears getting heatstroke.
Some Residents Deciding to Move — But Can't Reach Owner to Finalize Departure
One tenant decided to move out by July 20 and even plans to leave Tokyo completely. However, she still hasn’t been able to notify the landlord—messages and calls go unanswered. She’s worried about being charged for unpaid rent or apartment damage after she leaves.
A legal expert advised tenants in this situation to:
- Send a registered letter to notify the landlord
- Document the apartment’s condition before leaving
- Consider placing the key in legal custody through the government
Could Tenants Be Forced to Pay the Owner's Property Taxes?
Tenants are now also worried they may be forced to pay the owner’s unpaid property taxes. But a real estate expert says:
- This law doesn’t apply to normal renters like them
- It's only used in extreme cases where the owner disappears but still uses the property
- The risk is low unless the government sees it as a serious abuse
What’s Next? A Group Lawsuit
The residents are now working with lawyers to prepare a class-action lawsuit against the building’s owner. They plan to demand:
- Proper building management
- Payment of property taxes
- Compensation for elevator outages
- Coverage of moving costs
They hope legal action will bring accountability and force changes to protect tenants in similar situations.
by MagazineKey4532
12 comments
Thought this case was resolved when the owner announced to not increase the rent but now, it just seems abandoned.
Japanese calling for stricter rules on foreigners buying properties is coming from cases like this. Seems like some rotten apples are ruining it for all.
This is the residential building in Itabashi right?!
Blame Itabashi city for this! Selling out to China🤦🏽♂️
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Chinese-owned firm this, foreign company that, etc.
How about placing some responsibility for the Japanese company/owners selling this in the first place? Why don’t they offer affordable and well-managed housing to their tenants? Or is the chase for yen more important? Every time with these kinds of news there’s a subtle undertone of the original sellers just being helpless who can’t help but maximize easy profits.
So many Last Samurais in the chat
This is why foreigner sentiment especially Chinese sentiment is really low. Locals are fed up!
I’d be all in favour of implementing restrictions on foreign ownership of property here, but like I said the last time this same story was posted here, the fact that this particular bad landlord is Chinese is mostly rage bait.
Don’t think a new owner should be able to triple the rent? Neither do I. Make proper laws preventing it. Don’t think they should be able to convert units into AirBnBs without permission of the tenants? Think there should be some minimum standards of upkeep & maintenance? Same answer.
I feel for the tenants and I’m sure the owner being a foreign entity makes it a lot harder to seek remedy, but the property could be sold to a domestic owner who does exactly the same thing. Don’t be surprised when landlords landlord.
Imo I think it would be bad to forbid foreign investment in any market, house market in this case, but more controls should be placed, and maybe a limit of things you can own if you’re new on the market to prevent fraud or something
I hope authorities won’t go down the hole of putting huge restrictions on foreign investments that could slow the economy, just because some bad actors abused the system
I know it’s easy to just take decisions that’s going to be the easiest to implement, but this might harm
Stop allowing foreigners to buy places that are not primary residences. End of problem.
Chinese style
72000yen for Tokyo rent? They we extremely lucky
>from about ¥72,500 to ¥190,000/month
That price spike is absolutely unhinged