I decided that I wanted to move into a share house so I tried to apply/reserve a room at one. They said they wanted to call to do an interview. I did and at the end of the phone call they said I could move in on the weekend of that week and scheduled a meeting to sign a contract. They wanted me to pay before I signed the contract. I thought that sounded a little weird so I ended up not paying and not signing the contract. They then sent me an email saying to pay the cancellation fee. Am I really required to pay it if I never even signed a contract or anything?
6 comments
No.
Wtf lol. This is a scam if there ever was one.
In Japan you alway pay the initial fees before you sign a rental contract. At the very least you pay in cash at the contract signing. So that part is not strange at all.
That said, if you cancel before you sign a contact there should be no penalty, no way to enforce a cancellation fee. If you pay, sign a contract and then change your mind before you move in, there can be a penalty, but that is not your situation.
If you are coming as a student and the university has an arrangement with a private sharehouse to provide student housing, they could have some cancellation fee for you. It is not the law that enforces this but the university or school, which can discipline you for making a reservation that you do not keep. Some housing providers for students have a problem with overbooking that is compounded when students try to use the sharehouse as a back up plan.
No
I swear, youngsters need to learn about blood and stones.
You can’t get much blood from a stone can ya?
Ofcourse not, you didn’t sign anything, so you didn’t agree on any “fees”