Hello JL Members,
I have found a property of interest and have been in discussion with the owner for a long time. Although he wasn’t originally planning to sell his vacant family home that he grew up in(he also lives somewhere else now), he has changed his mind and has decided to do so. When his parents passed away, they didn’t change the inheritance name to his name. But now that we are talking about selling, he has hired a shihoushoshi to look into the matter.
And that has exposed a huge number of legal problems.
It turns out the property has multiple names attached to it.
The overall land is under his father’s name.
However, the main building and sub buildings(kura, car shed, etc.) are under other family names with kin attached. It seems that those kin do not know about it as they have never been to the property where the owner grew up. He also does not know who they are. The split happened during his grandfather’s generation due to some bickering between brothers so one family line got the land(the owner’s line) and the other got the buildings, but the latter family line, no longer lives in the area anymore and have dispersed to other places.
Those people would have to allow houchi and let go of the buildings but that is an unknown variable, as if you suddenly found out you owned a building, you would want to get something out of it rather then let go of it, especially if a buyer is already interested.
Also, can the owner of the land, legally sell to me? If I legally have the land transferred to my name, what happens to the buildings and the owners of the buildings?
If anyone can shed some light into this conundrum, that would be much appreciated.
Thank you,
RW
6 comments
Have an initial consultation with a bengoushi who deals with inheritance issues in order to see if the situation is likely to be easily solved. If it isn’t then you could end up with a situation which drags on forever so may be best to get out before you too far in.
Get a lawyer and listen to their advice.
>_It seems that those kin do not know about it as they have never been to the property where the owner grew up._
If it’s in their name, they’d be getting hit with the yearly taxes. So they would definitely know.
>_He also does not know who they are._
So tell the old dude who wants to sell you the land to go to the city/town hall/yakuba and get an official copy of the current property valuation. It should include the names of everyone who owns a piece of the property, the kind of property they own (housing land, building, shed, farm etc), the percentage of the property they own, and it’s value according to the town it’s located in.
Just my guess but if he owns the land, you’ll be fine. Would be an issue if it were the opposite. This is assuming the other people are not paying taxes or using the buildings.
FTR, I own a few acres in the countryside and I realized that after I moved, the local office apparently has not way of being notified without you going down there in person to change your address registration….fun fun. You’d think they’d make it easier for you to pay them taxes…
Doesn`t sound promising. Unless a lawyer can figure out a way for you to buy the land and for the other family members to relinquish the structures, you`re going to be stuck with land that you can`t do anything with. This is a big problem in Japan.
You don’t need a lawyer. A lawyer is someone who will help you extract yourself from a trouble you are already in. What you need is a licensed real estate broker. A licensed broker must show knowledge of inheritance laws and complex property ownership entanglements in order to get licensed. They are the ones in charge of due diligence.
1. If you want to know who owns land and buildings go to your local Legal Affairs Bureau. The law has changed recently and everyone has a duty to report deaths and changes of address, but the information may be up to 2 or 3 years old.
2. You can ask a real estate agent for tax documents and they will ask the owner for a copy of them, but to get a property tax document from the government you need to be an owner of the property or their designated proxy. If someone is paying taxes from a distance on part of the property, you cannot request that information without starting an official inquiry into an abandoned property.
3. There are laws in place that allow you to take over ownership of land after occupying it for a few decades. If you are brave and young you can just occupy the land until the statue of limitations runs out and you are recognized as the official owner. This is highly practical in cases where a small share of land adjacent to your property has an unknown owner.