Apartment Renewal Fee

[Recycled Cat Litter]

Does anyone here know the Law in regards to the Reikin Fee.
(Apartment contract renewal)

I know everybody says you should pay it, But does anyone know what the LAW says.

Thanks in advance.

[hakuman]

There was an article in the Japan times within the last two months that was talking about some guy (Japanese I believe) who refused to pay it even though he had said he would in his contract, challenged it in court, and won.

If you decide you dont want to pay it however, you are looking at long hard battle, potentially involving going to court.

I would suggest trying to track down the article to find out more. It was in the Tuesday edition, on the page they run with articles pertaining to being a foreigner living in Japan. I believe the article was about the difficulties for foreigners of renting apartments.

You could also try calling the tokyo lifeline, they may be able to tell you more.

[kamome]

I'm not sure what the law says, but you will have to pay reikin when you initially rent an apartment. Upon renewing the contract, you will have to pay a renewal fee which is separate from reikin. If they are asking for reikin as well, you can negotiate with the real estate company to reduce or eliminate the second payment of reikin (usually by threatening to move out).