| Word | Description |
|---|---|
| Lease Agreement | The document which is written the agreement covenants in between the Lessor (lender) and the Lessee (borrower) regarding to the rental properties.Written the details of the subject property and conditions in clearly, and clarify the lease term (lease period), the process for cancellation, and the prohibited matters. |
| Contract | The action to start the lease agreement and make the terms effective.as of sign on the lease agreement, and the settlement of the required money and documents. |
| Lease Term / Lease Period | The period that designated on the lease agreement which is ensured the rights of lessor and lessee.Generally, it requires for more than 2 years. * DID-GLOBAL’s lease term is for more than one month or for more than one year. |
| Short term lease | * DID-GLOBAL say the lease of less than one year is “Short term Lease”. It is possible to rent for more than one month. |
| Rent (Chinryo) | Rent for the house or apartment. Paid monthly. Generally it shall be paid by the 25th of the previous month. |
| Maintenance fee / Management fee / Administration cost (Kyoeki-hi) | The fee used for maintaining the cleanliness of the public area of the building, such as hallway, stairs, elevators, and garbage station. It also pays for the light bulbs and other things to keep the place attractive.Also for the common-use electrical facilities, etc., this is added to the rent, and paid monthly. Maintenance fee differs from building to building. Usually, buildings with janitor or auto lock entrance have higher maintenance fee. |
| Security deposit (Shikikin) | The money which paid to the lessor upon contracting, to ensure the properties returned in good condition without liabilities of unpaid rent. And it will be returned to the lessee after the termination of the contract.The money be used to compensate unpaid rent or/and repair cost for damages or dirt upon evacuation. If the property is returned with damaged beyond normal wear and tear, the cost of repairing that damage may be charged against the deposit, and part (or all) of the refundable deposit will be deducted. |
| Key Money (Reikin) | This money is different from security deposit. A mandatory payment to the landlord that is often the same as one to two months of rent. This money is considered a gift to the landlord and is not returned after the lease is canceled.This is one of a strange customs regarding the real estate deal in Japan. It is started, when many students came to a big city to work or study, they gave money to the landlord to thank him for letting them rent a room. The landlord took the money as a promise to take care of them. It is an old custom, and it is still used today. * Most of DID-GLOBAL’s apartments do not have “key money”. |
| Renewal fee (Koushinryo) | In Tokyo and Kyoto it is very common customs. Usually it is not required in Osaka.In these required district, contract renewal fee will be required when the contract period has ended. When the contract period has ended, and you would like to renew the contract, renewal fee needs to be paid. The amount is usually about a month or one-and-half month of the rent. * DID-GLOBAL’s apartments don’t require this renewal fee. |
| Renter’s Insurance | Casualty insurance focused for the lessee of the rental housing, which perform the compensation of own household goods and the compensation of liability to third parties and landlord. Usually it compensates damages caused by fire, Lightning strike, Rupture and explosion, Wind disaster, Water stained, Violence, Theft, Water disaster etc. (It depends on the commodity of the insurance.) |
| Clean Up Fee | Fees of the Room cleaning which will be done after tenant’s vacating.Usually it is payable at the contracting. |
| Lock Smith Fee | Fees for changing the entrance door of the property. It is changed for the security purpose. |
| First month rent | The first month rent you pay at the contract signing (This is always included in the initial payment). If you are moving-in in the middle of the month, the current month rent will be prorated by the number of the rest days.And, for the General Apartment contract (not DID-GLOBAL’s apartment), the next month rent (full payment) may be required as the first month payment. Be aware that it may go over the monthly payment if you move in the middle of the month. * DID-GLOBAL’s apartments require the next month rent, only if the moving is at around the end of the month. |
| Agency fee | The money (commission) that paid to the real estate agent who found a room for you. Usually, it is equal to a month of rent + tax (8%). * We won’t need the agency fee for DID-GLOBAL’s apartment tenants. |
| Guarantor | A person who takes responsibility and pays the rent to the landlord when the tenant cannot pay it for some special circumstance. Jointly responsible for any and all obligations of the lessee. It shall be a Japanese person.* DID-GLOBAL’s apartments don’t require a Guarantor. |
| Guarantee Company | A company that acts as a guarantor on behalf of a tenant. It usually costs 50%~100% of the total of monthly payment as of rent, management fee, and fixed water charge, and the payment is made at the time of contracting (signing the lease agreement). And some guarantee companies require the renewal fee, too.Recently, more landlords prefer a guarantee company than a guarantor person. Also, in some cases, the landlord may require joining to a guarantee company in addition to the guarantor person.* DID-GLOBAL’s apartments don’t require to join to the Guarantee Company. |
| Emergency contact | Emergency contact is someone who will be contacted in case of tenant’s emergency. They do not have any responsibility to pay anything. If the landlord or guarantor company cannot contact with the tenant, the emergency contact will be contacted. To be an emergency contact, it is preferred with co-worker or friends who live in the same city. |
| Application | The first process to rent the property. After finding a favorite property, in order to reserve it, the lessee has to apply to it with required information and documents. Usually at the application, the application deposit will be required. (It will be appropriated into the total cost of the contract.) |
| Contract | Act for the lease start, which of signing the lease agreement, submit all required documents, pay the balance etc. |
| Move in | After the contract, Tenant receive the key and move to the property. |
| Vacating | Tenants leaving from the property when the lease terminate. Upon vacating, the inspection is taken by the landlord or the representative of the landlord in order to check the property condition. |
| Tenancy Examination | From the information on the application, the Lessee judges the tenant’s worthiness and trustable.The key point of this check is to assure that landlord to receive rent every month, and whether the tenant treat the property courteously. In some case, there is a chance that they turn down the application. If you are using a guarantor company, their check also will be taken at the same time. |
| Tenant responsibility | The tenant is responsible for keeping the property’s condition as same as it was rented. When the property has a serious dirt or damages and required some kind of repairs, it is the tenant’s responsibility to fix it. Most likely, the landlord charges the repair cost and subtract it from the security deposit. Normal wear and tear is excluded. |
| Cancellation | The termination of the lease agreement by the lessor or the lessee for reasons of their own within the contract period. The party who wishes the termination must notify other party in advance in accordance with the provisions. |
| Cancellation penalty | Penalties which is required when lessee cancels before expiration of the lease period. Most likely, the amount is two times of the monthly rent, but it depends on the lease condition. Should be aware of it when searching the property. |
| Compulsory cancellation | Cancellation by the lessor within the contract period caused by the lessee’s violation of any of the provisions. In this case, the lessee must evacuate the house with payable of the penalties. |
| Restoration | Repairs done upon vacating in accordance with the provisions, to return the property to the same condition upon moving in. |