Landlord raising rent by over 10,000 JPY

Sorry if this has been asked, I'm still looking through old posts for matching situations

The company we're leasing our apartment from sent us a notice that they plan to raise our monthly rent by 11,000 starting in November. There's no reason given for the increase.

Do we have any recourse?

by KF_Lawless

12 comments
  1. If you have a long-term rent agreement:

    “No, thank you, I/we’d like to maintain our original rent agreement”

  2. What does your contract say? If your contract currently shows the price of monthly rent then he can’t legally change it unless you accept it.

    Have a copy of your contract, showing the amount of rent and how long that contract is valid for.

    That is provided that you have a contract or agreement of some sorts.

  3. If you’re going to move out due to the price increase though then it’s probably worth telling them it’s a bit much and attempting to find some sort of middle ground. They probably don’t want to go through the efforts of cleaning the place out and finding new tenants.

  4. Firstly, IANAL. You have one of two types of residential leases. You either have a “Standard Tokyo [or similar]” lease or you have a “Fixed term contract”. Standad Tokyo leases have (typically) autorenew provisons built into the language of the contract, while fixed term leases do not.

    If it is a “standard” then it is VERY difficult to raise rents without your agreement. Speak with the agent directly if you can. Burden of proof for reason for raise is on the landlord. If it is a fixed term lease, you’re SOL–well, you can still negotiate, but….

  5. It depends largely upon the type of tenancy agreement you have with your landlord.

    It might be helpful to read up a little about “法定更新” (statutory/legal renewal?).

    If your contract is one that allows renewal, *and* you are both unable to agree to the renewal terms by the end of the current contact, “法定更新” occurs and the contract is automatically renewed with the original terms, but without a specified period.

    [https://ielove-cloud.jp/blog/entry-03385/](https://ielove-cloud.jp/blog/entry-03385/)

    There is some useful information in this recent thread too:

    [https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/1d03bql/my_landlord_is_jacking_up_my_rent/](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/1d03bql/my_landlord_is_jacking_up_my_rent/)

    [https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/1e8jdmn/update_landlord_wants_to_increase_rent_and_asking/](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/1e8jdmn/update_landlord_wants_to_increase_rent_and_asking/)

    I would recommend consulting with a lawyer however, and not just rely on some random reddit/blog post.

  6. Hilarious how everyone complaining about relatively small increases in rent given how literally everything else is getting more expensive. Rent was always going to increase too, it’s an inevitability, either suck it up or buy a place for yourself

  7. Mine also asked for an increase of 6000yen. We negotiated at a 3000yen increase. Likely you can do the same. Note, i am on a 2 year contract.

  8. The important question is are you on a standard contract or fixed-term? That will determine if you are able to take action. Too many people in this comment section assuming one way or other as if they’ve seen the contract themselves.

  9. Mine asked 4マン last year, negotiated to drop down to 15k but I moved out. It was standard contract

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