There was a leak in the room next to mine. I noticed it in the shared corridor on Tuesday and told the building manager. It turns out it was a blocked waste water pipe. It wasn’t stopped until Thursday. In that time the water had soaked into the room next door, into the subfloor and up into my room. Half is tatami so those are all soaked through. The other half is cushion floor and had some pooling water. Items placed on the floor were damaged.
The building management company came round yesterday. They said that everything will need to be replaced. Floors, walls, bathroom, kitchen. I have two rooms full of a furniture (sofa, table, desk, sofabed, kitchen shelves, TV + stand) as well as the contents of my kitchen cupboards, closet etc.
Speaking to my building management company has been like getting blood from a stone. They um and ahh and say “Oh, we’ll have to speak to insurance companies” or “Oh, this is the responsibility of the building management company, not the room management company”. They have said that “If you stay in a hotel or a monthly mansion then insurance will probably cover it”.
I can’t really move 2 rooms worth of furniture into a furnished monthly mansion or a hotel. It’s not realistic. I am staying at a friends place until I can find somewhere to stay. I am hurrying to find a place to move (great timing for that by the way…) and not having great luck. I am at my wits end. When I mention moving to the building management company they suck their teeth and say “Oh, I don’t think we’ll be able to pay for that”. Meanwhile they can’t even tell me how long the maintenance work will take, so I don’t know how I long I need to be out of there.
I don’t feel great. I feel like my safe place to live just evaporated and the company responsible doesn’t give a damn.
Does anyone have any advice? How much (financial) support should I be able to get from insurance? In addition to the damaged items I’ve already missed two days of work because of this. Of course moving is expensive too. What steps should I be taking next?
3 comments
I mean I know this is typical but: if the management company won’t respond, then 1) go rent a hotel room for a few days and 2) GET A LAWYER. At the very least the owner owes you a place to live while they fix the damage (at their cost), not just to their building but to your stuff; they probably have insurance and you might have some too, but the lack of response means a well-placed phone call from a lawyer will get things moving nicely. And I’m sure you can ask for them to cover the legal fees, too. Tenant rights in Japan are ridiculously strong, so have fun!
under Japanese law, all your belongings and the cost for relocation are covered by the owner of the room unless you haven’t breach the rules(like ignorance of the advice in advance of moving out).
I recommend you to consult with Houterasu, or legal advice center run by Ministry of justice
https://www.houterasu.or.jp/en/index.html
At the very least, I think the landlord / management company should be finding you temporary accommodation for a while, if not covering your costs to permanently move. Needless to say, you should also be compensated for any damaged items.
It’s going to take weeks to a few months sort out the mess. They will need to move all your stuff out, strip all the floors, clean up and disinfect. Then it needs to be left to let the structure dry out (maybe with an industrial dehumidifier to help). After that, all of the floors etc. need to be reinstated.
First of all, I think they need to get you a local trunk room big enough to hold your stuff to but still allow access to things you need (and a moving company to transfer everything), then get you set up in a hotel, weekly mansion or something while you look for an alternative place. As the weather warms up, mold will quickly become an issue so your stuff needs to be removed as soon as possible.
You could try your local city office to see if there are any departments who could help and put pressure on your landlord and building management. The environmental health angle could be worth exploring (basically your room is now uninhabitable and unsanitary because of waste water flooding).
As mentioned by the other comments, a free or cheap legal consultation through your local bar association or elsewhere can help you to understand your legal rights. Take along your lease contract and copies of communications etc. You can then truthfully state that you are ‘taking legal advice’, which can be enough to frighten people into action.