Hi everyone,
I’m looking for advice regarding a rental situation in Japan.
I recently signed a lease for an apartment. I have already received the keys and all utilities are active. Before signing, the agency showed me an Excel breakdown that included an “agency fee” of 88,000 yen.
However:
In the official Important Matters Explanation (重要事項説明) and contract documents, the brokerage fee (媒介報酬) is clearly written as 0 yen (tax included).
The exact wording in the document is:
契約成立時には媒介報酬として0円（税込）を支払うことを承諾しました。
The “0 yen” amount was written by the agency themselves.
I signed the contract with that amount stated.
I did not sign any separate agreement stating that I would pay an additional brokerage or service fee.
The management company was informed that the brokerage fee is 0 yen.
I explicitly told the management company that I had not paid any agency fee, and they still handed over the keys.
Now, after the contract has started, the agency is asking me via LINE to pay 88,000 yen directly to them in cash. They say that:
The 0 yen refers only to what the management company sees.
My financial relationship with them is separate.
If they don’t receive money from either side, they would have provided services “for free,” which they say is not reasonable.
However:
There is no written agreement signed by me agreeing to pay 88,000 yen.
There is no invoice.
No deadline has been given.
They specifically asked for cash payment.
From my understanding, in Japan brokerage fees must be clearly stated and agreed upon in writing. If the signed contract says 0 yen, can they legally demand a separate “brokerage fee” afterward without any signed agreement?
I’m trying to understand:
Do they have any legal basis to enforce this payment?
Is a verbal explanation enough under Japanese real estate law?
Should I contact the Consumer Affairs Center (消費生活センター)?
Has anyone experienced something similar?
I’m not trying to avoid paying something I legally owe, but I’m concerned because:
The official contract says 0 yen.
There is no signed document stating 88,000 yen.
They are requesting payment in cash after the contract is already in effect.
Any advice would be appreciated.
by Prlude
6 comments
Dodgy. If I walked up to you and just said you owe me 88,000… Would you give it to me?
Contracts are everything, no agreement to pay… No pay.
Extremely shady. They prepared the contract with 0 yen on it and had you sign it, so they can’t suddenly tell you pay them ESPECIALLY in cash AND without any kind of written proof anywhere it all. Absolutely do not pay.
The fact that you/they are using LINE for this worries me. And 承諾 means shit unless you signed something. A verbal commitment won’t hold up in court.
You used the agency to find the apartment? And they showed you at the start you need to pay 88,000yen fee for their services.?
Sounds like you need to pay them.
It’s pretty standard to pay an agency 1months rent for helping you find an apartment. That’s how they make money.
Potentially they don’t want to show the management company what they are charging but regardless they made it clear to you at the start you will be paying a fee for their services.
When you signed the lease and received the keys, the other side should have collected a their money already. I never worked with a real estate management company that would hand over the keys until the first payment was made.
I work as an agent. We edit that part manually. It might have been just a clerical error. Did you ask your agent directly? If they said there is an agency fee then there is an agency fee. We do not work for free. Unless, we stipulated or discuss with our client that we will not charge it.
Comments are closed.