Why do Japanese rental companies ask for so much personal ad invasive information?

Whats your parents names? When were they born? What’s their email addys and phone numbers? Do you have full time employmet? How many people work at your company? Whats the compay telephone number and email address? How long have you worked there? You have a girlfriend? She’s your fiance?

7 comments
  1. Because they can.

    You could like not answer and then they could like not rent to you.

    Additionally, culturally, trust in organisations is pretty high, so there you have it.

  2. As in housing rentals? In Vancouver landlords ask for personal references, proof of employment, paystubs to prove income, credit check and sometimes a criminal check. The questions in Japan are pleasant in comparison.

    I’m assuming the parents part is facetious? I’ve never been asked that.

  3. Because if a customer skips a payment, they know all about you and will, if the customer tries to blow them off, have the info to contact everyone you know as you wrote it on the contract and thereby usually is. Clause they can contact anyone to find out where you are. Since they are not asking a third party to pay, it skirts the law, but some companies use wording that is really close.

  4. The rental process is complicated as hell. When I studied in America it was so easy and here in Japan they even called my mom and my friend to make sure they were “real people”.

  5. All I was asked for was a letter of proof of employment and an emergency contact in japan. It was a smooth process the entire way through

  6. For my wife and I to rent an apartment together, even though we were both working, we still had to get a guarantor (her mom). They’re just paranoid about renting to the wrong person.

    A lot of landlords don’t handle anything but let intermediaries collect rent and pay them. These intermediaries will pay the landlord even if you don’t pay, but consequently they screen harder.

    Eviction apparently takes about a year, and the landlord has to pay for the tenant’s goods to be confiscated and stored for a few months. A good system imo, but the drawback is paranoid landlords.

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