Home
Back

Dear visitor, if you know the answer to this question, please post it. Thank you!

Note that this thread has not been updated in a long time, and its content might not be up-to-date anymore.

Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/22 17:33
Hi,

I want to move to Okinawa and I contacted a few real estate agents. They kept on telling me that I need
2x 身元引受人 from Okinawa (they would not accept anyone outside of that prefecture!!!). It is not the same as rent guarantor. It seems that it is sometimes asked if elderly needs to rent a place in retirement home. I don't understand why I need this.

Anyone renting came across this 身元引受人 when renting? Is there a company I can use to be my 身元引受人? Normally I wouldn't have any problems with that, but since I'm moving to a new city, I don't know anyone there.

Thanks
by hevene  

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/23 04:29
It's always a bigger risk for them to get into contracts with foreigners who can just ditch them and leave country and escape payments and what not so they're probably wanting to make sure they have a secure back up,
by guest (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/23 10:05
Thank you for your response. But this is different to rent guarantee, I will still be paying for rent insurance which is about 2% of the rent I think every month. This 身元引受人 is more like character reference. Any other foreigners in town had experienced this requirement?
by hevene rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/23 10:16
If they said 身元引受人 AND it is for a retirement/senior home, they are asking for someone who will be liable for any rent and other payment (the same as guarantor), and in addition who will be responsible for taking care of everything SHOULD anything happen to the resident. That is why they want someone local - who would come in person, arrange for, um, sorry to be blunt, but for funeral, paying up any remaining amount due, and clearing out the room as well. There are companies that offer such service for a fee, but I am not aware of one in Okinawa.
by ... (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/24 11:45
They are asking for 身元引受人, but it's not a retirement home. I am a healthy 30 year old, just looking to rent an apartment to live in with my husband. They actually said it is not related to financial liability. They said it's to do with e.g. if we are not sure about rubbish disposal rules, they will be responsible for educating us etc.
by hevene rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/24 13:39
Sorry for misunderstanding. I had never heard that term used in regular apartment rental (vs. senior homes). If that is the purpose, I can understand they want someone local/in the same city or prefecture. I guess the only thing I can think of is to ask at the city hall (if they have some help desk for non-Japanese) or try the guarantor company.
by ........ (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/26 10:49
if you are working .. explain your situation to your boss or look international centre office .. i think they can help you.

this stupid action in japan towards foreigners .. is always paining me even if you have PR... in my city alots enty houses here .but if you intend to rent it they will refuse. unless local interven.
the housing agents always dont trust foreigner unless local comes in . they dont mind leaving the house enty
by chike20 rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/26 12:49
Two things I can think of why it is so difficult:

1) Often foreigners think that they live about the law, just leave when ever they want without paying the debt. Same is for credit card companies or loans.

2) Communication is difficult and most contracts are in Japanese.
by justmyday rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/26 12:59
I don't think it's a stupid action at all.
It's quite rational that they don't want to take too much risk.
by . (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/26 14:37
They said it's to do with e.g. if we are not sure about rubbish disposal rules, they will be responsible for educating us etc.

I live in Yokohama, not Okinawa, but I've known locals here in my city who were/are guarantors for foreign residents, and they need(ed) to visit the apartments quite frequently because the landlords call them for various language/culture barrier problems.

I wouldn't say that the system comes from distrust or discrimination. Rather, it's a way to have a go-between so that distrust or discrimination would not occur out of simple misunderstandings.

As for ways to find guarantors (or whatever they call it), I agree with the other posters. I also think that, even if you're a Japanese person trying to live in another city in Japan, you should get to know the area first or have an agent who can help you to do so. A lot of Japanese citizens try to live in the countryside after retirement, but cultural barrier and communication breakdown is among the major problems they face if they try to jump into that area without knowing the neighborhood.
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/26 15:27
"It's quite rational that they don't want to take too much risk."
May I ask why "rational" and "don't want to take too much risk" is equal ?
by ken (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/26 16:06
the problem comes from Japanese historical court judgments in which renters has more advantage than owners.
(in Japan, "liberal", "left", and "standing on poor sides (or think about poor people)" are almost identical.)
in Japan, it is not easy for owners to push away the renters who don't pay the fees.
from the owner's side, selection of renters is the sole way to protect themselves and their properties.
this problem is NOT RESTRICTED to foreigners. all poor Japanese encounter the same problem.

if you have a chance to read Japanese newspapers, you will know many problems occurs when the renters are missing or they died, with no relatives and 身元引受人(of course, including Japanese. i.e. in most of cases are Japanese renters.).

"they would not accept anyone outside of that prefecture!!!"
generally speaking, most of Japanese don't have friends and relatives in Okinawa. thus, most of Japanese can't rent that property. probably, they have a specific reason to do so. there is no way to solve that problem. move on to other properties.
by ken (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/26 17:37
there is no risky .. they have all your deposit.. key money and airgatou gozaimasu money .. you pay house insurance too .

there is no risk of giving foreigner house .

by chike20 rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/26 19:55
chike20,

Like I wrote, it's not about payment. It's more about language/cultural things like discussing maintenance in detail, or making sure they put out their waste properly, or making sure they understand the Japanese lifestyle that may be different from that of their home country. And a lot of landlords' concerns do come from experiencing that culture gap with past foreign residents. Ignorant landlords actually don't take "risks" and they just shut out all foreigners. The reasonable landlords accept foreign residents as long as there is reassurance such as having guarantors.
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/26 22:44
to UCO
by what reason, do you know that the owner ask that condition only for foreigners ?
I understand, from the post, the owner request that for all persons, including Japanese.

I know there are many cases where the owner request a guarantor (human), in addition to a guarantor company.
たぶん、賃借人が不要な荷物を置いてドロンするのが多いから、困っているのじゃない?
沖縄は仕事をする場所ではないだろうから、特にありそうな気がするけどね。
by ken (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/27 03:00
Ken, I'm not at all saying that the owner ask that condition only for foreigners.

なぜそういう理屈になったかなあ。「原因はドロンだろう」という意見に対して「外国人だからといってドロンするという考え方は偏見だ」的な反論があるようなので、私は「沖縄のことは知りませんが、支払いとはまったく関係ないところで、外国人特有のトラブルが現に私の周りではあるので、それを避けて、外国人と円滑に共生するための手段ではないでしょうか」と書いたまでです。

ところで、kenというお名前のユーザーさんは複数いらっしゃるようですが、「人がリスクを避けたいと考えるのは理にかなっている」という意見が不可解だとお書きになったのはあなたでしょうか。私には関係ないご意見でしたが、意味がよくわからなかったもので、ちょっと気になりました。
by Uco rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/27 10:27
the company in japan that can rent house to foreigner without problem is UR company. https://www.ur-net.go.jp/chintai/

but most of there houses are old house and government houses.
by chike20 rate this post as useful

Re: Problem with renting an apartment in Okinawa 2017/6/28 13:32
Thank you for all the response. I have contacted another agent who is willing to use someone outside of the prefecture. They told me that the rent guarantor company will not pay for any missing rent, but will chase me or my guarantor person for payment if there is missing rent. So I need to have a guarantor person and pay for the rent guarantor company. The rent guarantor company does not actually guarantee any rent!

They will not budge on this as it is their corporate policy. All the real estate agencies I talked to in Okinawa are actually subletting the apartment they rented from the original owner or they own the building itself.
by hevene rate this post as useful

reply to this thread