FINAL UPDATE: Neighbor’s father asking for compensation for “emotional distress”

Hi! I’m back, and currently trying to recover. There were a number of developments in this case, but I’m going to try and keep it as brief as possible and cut out the more irrelevant bits. I think some of this info might be useful to others who find themselves in similar situations.

Quick summary of the basic events that occurred after my last update, in order:

1. Had someone check out the installation and the leak was coming from the handle of the tap. They tightened up the handle and told me to run the machine. I’ve been using the machine and there has been no flooding since. This brings into question who is at fault for the flood, but post-lawyer consultation I don’t believe is particularly relevant to me any more.

2. My employer paid the neighbor the cost of the new futon they had bought plus about 7,000 yen. They did this without asking me, but at this point I felt it might settle the requests from the neighbors so I prepared to pay my employer back.

3. Through my supervisors, the neighbors then claimed that their old futon was worth 130,000 yen. However, they had no receipt. My supervisor wanted me to go buy them a new futon for a similar price. I’m sure you can see a lot of potential issues with that solution. I declined to do this.

4. My Japanese contacts advised me to consult with a lawyer at this point. I scheduled a free consultation.

Lawyers. Go to them. That. Cleared. Up. A lot.

If you meet certain requirements, you can be eligible for free legal consultations in Japan. Still, arranging to speak to a lawyer with an English interpreter was a bit of a complex process.

Essentially—there are law firms online that offer interpretation in multiple languages over the phone. I called the multilingual line of one of these firms and asked for interpretation in English. They put me through to an English interpreter, who then connected the call to a branch of this firm in my area. It was a three way call: I spoke in English, the interpreter interpreted, and the receptionist spoke in Japanese.

They asked me some questions about my living situation, income, and savings, and determined I was eligible for a free consultation. I explained a brief synopsis of the issue. They scheduled me for an appointment the next week.

The biggest issue is that they asked me to bring someone to their office with me to do interpreting from Japanese to English. Luckily, there is a government branch office in my area that has a department specializing in consultations and assistance for foreign residents. Usually they deal with visa and residence issues. I had messaged them earlier for advice about my problem, but they said they did not offer legal advice. However, they said they could provide free interpretation from out of their office if I needed in the future.

I contacted this office again after making the consultation appointment and they were available to help. I switched the consultation to a phone appointment so I could call the lawyer from the interpreter’s office. I explained the latest updates to the interpreter by email, and they asked me some clarifying questions. They were fantastic! They were extremely supportive and translated my emails into Japanese.

I met the interpreter at their office 30 minutes before the phone appointment. We talked through my questions and the situation, and prepared.

Thank. Heaven. For. Interpreters. When the lawyer called, the interpreter was able to very quickly and clearly explain the nuances of my issue because we had discussed it beforehand. I was able to follow along with the discussion and answer questions, but I could not have done it without the interpreter. I would have wasted a lot of time trying to describe the situation myself in Japanese.

When everything was described, the lawyer told me exactly what I was responsible for. Some of it was confirmation of advice I received on my last post (thank you so much!). It was a relief to hear directly from a lawyer as well. I will list the advice I received here, but I definitely recommend consulting with a lawyer for specific scenarios.

-My insurance is responsible for determining who is at fault for the situation. If it was my fault, my insurance needs to make the payment. If it was the landlord’s fault, my landlord’s insurance needs to make the payment.

-I am not responsible for the father’s travel costs. I am also not responsible for reimbursement of ‘emotional distress’.

-The only thing I am responsible for are the damages—in this case, the damaged futon. If I am at fault, my insurance is responsible for making that payment. They are not responsible for the new futon, although insurance already said they would cover that. However, the neighbors are responsible for producing evidence of the value of the old futon. Without evidence, I am not responsible for paying the value they claim.

-There is indeed a depreciation lifespan on futons. The neighbors were claiming that their 130,000円 futon was 2 years old—if this was the case, it would be worth 1/3 of that cost (around 4.3man). But again—they need to produce a receipt.

-I am not responsible for paying back the money my employer sent. However, for the sake of my relationship with my employer the lawyer thought it might be a good idea, and I intend to do so. Hopefully, my insurance will end up covering most of that.

I’ve been in contact with my supervisors throughout this. They have recently agreed I should not to do anything and I don’t have to worry about paying the damages out of my own pocket.

And that’s that! I’m so grateful for the advice I received here, the support pointed me in some good directions. I will be paying back my employer and will let insurance handle the rest. My supervisors don’t want me contacting insurance myself, so that’s a bit stressful, but if I need to in the future, the wonderful people at the foreign resident consultation center say they are able to help.

tl;dr: I went to a lawyer! lawyer good.

bye!