I’m renting an Airbnb long term in Tokyo (6 months to a year). A couple of days ago I received an email from my Airbnb host stating that I had to leave. I haven’t done anything wrong throughout my stay or received any complaints, but they told me I have to go and threatened a lawsuit if I didn’t.
I was wondering if there’s any legal obligation for them to keep me in the apartment seeing as I rented it in advance until July, or do I have no rights in this situation ? Moving my couch, desk and four suitcases of stuff would be a total pain.
Thanks in advance for reading.
7 comments
You will only be bound by the T&C of Airbnb, and not any tenancy legal system in Japan. You should check your booking conditions and the Airbnb policy to answer your question(s) for this.
What does Airbnb customer service have to say?
You prepaid through July? Even if they can kick you out, a refund is in order.
An Airbnb booking is probably not on the same legal standing as a rental contract, and you are on the mercy of the website and the property host. They probably want to keep it a short-term rental. I’d suggest looking for actual long accommodations with a contract that can give you rights as a renter, or, if you insist on using airbnb, communicate thoroughly with the hosts about your intention to stay long term to make sure there’s no misunderstanding.
If you are staying in the one Airbnb, maximum they can operate is 180 days in a year in Japan (approx 6 months). Perhaps they just realized this and want follow the rules?
>I’m renting an Airbnb long term in Tokyo (6 months to a year)
By law, the longest possible rental for an Airbnb in Japan is 180 days per year (counting from April 1st iirc). It’s quite strange that you were able to go with a “long term”, and if that’s what hit you, well, not much that can be done.
AirBnBs are not rental properties so You’re not a tenant so you’re not protected by the ‘Act of land and building leases’
Instead it’s overseen by the “Minpaku law” (private lodging business act).
Which by law The owner can only offer the property as a business for 180 days a year. Likely they have just realized this.. or been forced to follow the law, and want to maximize their profits by either renting out the property as an actual rental property, or they won’t to maximize AirBNB returns with More short stay guests, especially now tourists can come back to Japan. because long term guests like you tend to get a better deal the longer you stay.
Ultimately, you don’t have much rights to protect you from eviction because in reality, on paper you’re not actually being evicted and would have to commute with the host/AirBNB
Airbnb is a rental property and the laws of Japan for rental properties apply regardless whether it’s Airbnb or something else.
> Eviction from a rented apartment may occur before the end of the contract period.
If the lessor refuses to renew the contract with the lessee or wants to cancel the contract mid-term, the eviction is not permitted without justifiable reason.
Full details here:
https://haruta-lo.com/column/rent-eviction-contract-renewal/