I found a rental property on Suumo that was advertised as no deposit, no key money. I need to sublease with a Japanese company. I’m moving from abroad and don’t have my residence card yet or an emergency contact in Japan.
The sublease company gets back to me saying the property owner had requested key money and it’s non-negotiable. They said that Suumo information was a general public offering and that initial costs can be different depending on the screening status of the property (??).
Is this allowed? To advertise a place as no key money, then request key money?
I feel like the company is being shady and know that I don’t really have alternatives. Or maybe because I’m a foreigner and some owner’s prefer not to rent to foreigners that the key money is just a way to look like a more desirable candidate?
It is also a sublease with the Japanese company and there are also guarantor fees. It seems like that would be more than enough to be a good candidate from abroad. I don’t know. Thoughts on this?
=
Separate possible shady thing:
The start-up cost invoice included an “agency fee” of 0.5 month’s rent. I also received a general rules contract and other standard information. And then there was this other invoice also called initial start-up that included some but not all the fees in the original invoice BUT a “brokerage fee” of 1 month’s rent.
It looks like it could be a summary of some of the start-up fees, except the brokerage fee was supposed to say 0.5 month’s rent. OR are they trying to say the brokerage fee is separate from the agency fee (which doesn’t make sense to me).
I’ve found this online:
“an agent in a rental transaction cannot receive a double-commission. At most, they can only receive 100% of the rent + tax.” and
“The Real Estate Law stipulates that the brokerage fee for rental transactions is equivalent to a maximum of 1 month’s rent.” and
“This fee is commission that’s paid to the real estate agency that served as an intermediary for the contract agreement. This fee is restricted by Japanese law to being no more than 1 month’s rent. In some cases, it is half a month’s rent or not charged at all.”
I’m just confused about this second invoice document that includes some fees/costs from the first invoice and a different agency/brokerage fee.
I am going to email the company asking to explain this second invoice document.
Thoughts on this?
Thanks for your advice!!
1 comment
This is a copy of your post for archive/search purposes.
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**Shady? Advertised as no key money but now requested key money?**
I found a rental property on Suumo that was advertised as no deposit, no key money. I need to sublease with a Japanese company. I’m moving from abroad and don’t have my residence card yet or an emergency contact in Japan.
The sublease company gets back to me saying the property owner had requested key money and it’s non-negotiable. They said that Suumo information was a general public offering and that initial costs can be different depending on the screening status of the property (??).
Is this allowed? To advertise a place as no key money, then request key money?
I feel like the company is being shady and know that I don’t really have alternatives. Or maybe because I’m a foreigner and some owner’s prefer not to rent to foreigners that the key money is just a way to look like a more desirable candidate?
It is also a sublease with the Japanese company and there are also guarantor fees. It seems like that would be more than enough to be a good candidate from abroad. I don’t know. Thoughts on this?
=
Separate possible shady thing:
The start-up cost invoice included an “agency fee” of 0.5 month’s rent. I also received a general rules contract and other standard information. And then there was this other invoice also called initial start-up that included some but not all the fees in the original invoice BUT a “brokerage fee” of 1 month’s rent.
It looks like it could be a summary of some of the start-up fees, except the brokerage fee was supposed to say 0.5 month’s rent. OR are they trying to say the brokerage fee is separate from the agency fee (which doesn’t make sense to me).
I’ve found this online:
“an agent in a rental transaction cannot receive a double-commission. At most, they can only receive 100% of the rent + tax.” and
“The Real Estate Law stipulates that the brokerage fee for rental transactions is equivalent to a maximum of 1 month’s rent.” and
“This fee is commission that’s paid to the real estate agency that served as an intermediary for the contract agreement. This fee is restricted by Japanese law to being no more than 1 month’s rent. In some cases, it is half a month’s rent or not charged at all.”
I’m just confused about this second invoice document that includes some fees/costs from the first invoice and a different agency/brokerage fee.
I am going to email the company asking to explain this second invoice document.
Thoughts on this?
Thanks for your advice!!
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