Issue with rental: What would you do?

[Gareth]

One thing you might want to start doing is to keep a written record of the timeline of what’s been happening. And I would communicate with the estate agent in writing only rather than verbally. Building up a written case would definitely help with any negotiations.

Good luck!

[Teflon]

A random thought and probably unlikely. Could the landlord be in prison? We had a situation once where somebody was 'unreachable', 'not able to deal with admin at this time' etc for ages and I joked that maybe he was in prison. He was! More likely he is out of country, but not sure what you can do in a situation like that - seems quite odd and annoying.

Held indefinitely by this police without being put on trial is certainly possible, and is you don't have family or a lawyer to take care of stuff it would pile up...

Maybe I'm being too morbid here, but it had also occurred to me that he might be dead. I'm reminded of a Youtube documentary of "lonely deaths" in Japan which chronicled the increasing societal problem of elderly Japanese dying alone and no one noticing. Sometimes they go undiscovered for many years. It's very sad.

[jane doe]

As well as all the other suggestions about the landlord, my first thought is that this sounds like a very dodgy agency. The close relationship of some parts of the real estate business with ... ah ... antisocial elements, means to me that this agency might be associated with the ... um ... less social end of the spectrum. Surely, normally an "unreachable" landlord would be seen as a big problem to more above board agencies? And definitely so, if they seemed to react annoyed that you had spoken to the bank. On the other hand, they night not have wanted to be involved in forwarding mail to the landlord if they did know where he was, as that would be proof of their complicity in the whole situation. I would have thought that a legit agency that discovered the owner was genuinely unreachable would probably want to resolve the situation with you as soon as possible, e.g by offering you an alternative place commission free, arranging your removal for you and covering the costs. They could limit their own risk exposure in this situation fairly cheaply.

Who knows, the owner is maybe even a 'former' member of one of these anti-social elements who is doing some R&R inside.
Or maybe I have an overactive imagination, your landlord is late and they are just pocketing the rent...

I think most larger municipalities have a consumer advice service 消費者生活センター、or something like that, where you could get advice as a customer, about your liability for the electricity arrears.

[TokyoBoglehead]

I think the mostly likely situation is what other have mentioned:

They cannot reach the landlord, perhaps he has indeed passed away, or is abroad, etc. The property is is still making them a profit, so they have no desire to investigate, and perhaps no legal obligation?

They real-estate company would prefer nothing change, and since a new contract is not possibly, they do not want you to move.

The bank on the other hand probably does have some legal obligations here. I suspect they have (or should have a protocol). It would seem prudent that after X days or no contact the accounts should be frozen. Eventual they funds would be sent to the Legal Affairs Bureau, I suppose.

Prudent moves?

1. Put aside cash for moving expenses. Do not get blindsided. Do not expect to get any deposits back.
2. Get all your documents together.
3. Start a timeline and record names and addresses, etc. Perhaps record phone calls as well.
4. Set alerts at the various real-estate/rental websites for a property that would be suitable for your family
5. Legal advice: Probably not strictly necessary yet. But consultations can be cheap. See a real-estate specialist.

[Gulliver]

One thing you might want to start doing is to keep a written record of the timeline of what’s been happening.

This.

In addition, keep a precise record of every yen and minute wasted dealing with the problem. This will be especially useful with recouping the expenses of moving out (which I would do immediately). And don’t dillydally Initiating legal action. Japan has very short statute of limitations on certain civil claims.

The mystery landlord can be held liable and their bank account levied when an identity is determined.

Here’s a good place to start:

Questions and Answers on Civil Procedure
https://www.courts.go.jp/english/judici ... index.html