The other day, we received an application to rent a property at renovated Kyo-Machiya, where we manage the building. It is a renovated townhouse that was purchased by the owner last year. The house had been occupied since early fall of last year, but the tenants moved out this spring. Due to the effects of the COVID-19, the property has been vacant since then, but we were able to get an application the other day.
The contractor is an individual who lives in Tokyo, but he is going to start a new business in Kyoto while he keeps his current job. This time we will use 4C'S Co., Ltd. as a guarantor on contract. Today, we would like to introduce this company, which is also our partner company.

Company Name 4c’s Co., Ltd.
Business Real estate guarantor service

​Headquarters
〒105-0004 4c's Shimbashi BLDG. 5-13-7, Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Japan
〒530-0001 Osaka Ekimae Daiichi BLDG 5F. 1-3-1, Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Japan

Customer Support Center
〒812-0013 4c’s Hakata BLD. 1-9-5 Hakataeki Higashi, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka
TEL ： +81-92-433-3725
FAX ： +81-92-441-3726
Open Hours ： 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (Except New Year holidays)

4C’S GUARANTEE SYSTEM
4c’s guarantee system is the service that 4c’s will pay rent instead of tenants who made contract with 4c’s when they cannot pay their rent. Each country has different rules to rent a room. Today, it is general to use the guarantee system when people lease a room from a real estate agent in Japan. Most of landlords expect tenants to sign up the contract of guarantee system, and it is one of the important conditions to lease a room from real estate agents in Japan. In order to ensure untroubled living conditions for both of landlords and tenants, our guarantee system is necessary. 4c’s understand that it is hard to get used to different cultures and customs, so let us support you when you try to start new life in Japan. The following inset shows you how 4c’s guarantee system is concluded among landlords, tenants and 4c’s.

1. Tenants go to real estate agents to look for a room after they find a room which they like.
2. Real estate agents ask 4c’s to guarantee the room they decided.
3. After 4c’s receive the application from the real estate agent, 4c’s examine tenants based on the information on the application.
4. 4c’s inform the estate agent of the examination result.
5. Tenants sign up for the lease after they pass the examination.
6. 4c’s guarantee system among 4c’s, real estate agent and tenants is concluded.

*If tenants cannot pass the examination, 4c’s cannot guarantee tenants or the room. After 4c's confirm all documents which are needed to conclude the guarantee system, the contract starts. If 4c's cannot confirm them, it is possible that the contract ends in failure. Please understand some important things about 4c’s guarantee system listed below. Those are highly important part to make a contract, so we would like you to read them carefully and understand them certainly.
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1. Object of contract

• Objective condition-Almost every leasing property. Including residential properties such as flat and house as well as business use properties such as office and shops.
• Contract Basis-To take out fire insurance. Basically, it is required to take out fire insurance when you rent a real estate property in Japan. 4c's would not ask tenants to join fire insurance as long they already got one.

2. About Application

• It is impossible that tenants try to apply for the system individually. The contract has to be made through real estate agents. There is information about real estate agents using our system on the homepage. If there is no information about 4c’s at the real estate agent that tenants already found, it is recommended that tenants tell the real estate agent that they would like to use 4c’s.

3. Help desks Please call 4c's Customer Support Center if you have questions.

• TEL: +81-92-433-3725 / FAX ： +81-92-441-3726 Business Hour: 10:00-17:00 (Except New Years holidays)

4. Documents Required

• Alien registration certificate or residence card
• Student ID (If you are a student)
• Health insurance card (If you have a full time job)
• Seal (You need personal seal for making the contract)
• Copy of corporate registration and certification of registered company seal in case the contract party is a company

*It is possible that we will require some extra paper works case by case.
5. About guarantee system and warranty scope

• Monthly constant expenses (Monthly rent, common-area charge, etc…)
• Monthly variable expense (Utility)
• Expense after the end of the lease contract until the tenant is out of the room
• Cost of proper legal process
• Custody charge of chattels and personal property (10,000 yen/month)

6. Contract Term From the date of the beginning of lease contract till chattels and personal property are out of the room completely.
7. About guarantee charge (initial cost) In order to use 4c’s guarantee system, it is necessary to pay guarantee charge. Basically, the charge amount is equal to the monthly rent (minimum charge is 35,000 yen); however, there is a few discount service.

• 30% of monthly house leasing fee (Minimum charge is 35,000 yen)
• 50% of monthly house leasing fee (Minimum charge is 35,000 yen)

8. About renewal fee The period of contract is basically a year. The contract will be renewed automatically. Annual renewed fee is depending on how many times tenants fail to pay rent per year.

• If tenants pay their rent by due date every month or failed just once, 10,000 yen.
• If tenants failed twice, 30,000 yen.
• If tenants failed three or more times, the charge would be the same as a month rent.

9. About overdue payment When tenants fail to pay rent, tenants will have an obligation to pay expenses listed below.

• Month guaranteed amount
• Delay damages (bear interest of 14.6% a year)
• Bank transfer fee

The above are the contents of the guarantor company and the details of payment. When you sign a lease contract in Japan, a guarantor company is required in most cases nowadays.
Therefore, you will need to use one of the above mentioned companies or a similar company, please contact your brokerage for more information.

Rent management is one of the tasks of building management. Rent management is to check whether the rent of the building entrusted by the landlord is paid monthly by the lessee, receive the rent, pay the necessary expenses, and transfer it to the landlord. If the rent has not been paid, we will petition for demand for payment, request payment and keep the rent properly. If the rent is not paid even if a demand for payment is made, a request for a replacement is made to the guarantee company, the renter's rent will be reset and paid, and the rent will be received.

Typically, rent is paid in advance, and June rent is paid at the end of May. The rent is paid to the management company by the end of the month, and the rent payment is confirmed at the beginning of the month as a management task. If the last day of the month is a Saturday or Sunday like this month, we will confirm the payment on the following Monday, and if the payment has not been made on the first day, we will contact each tenant and remind them to transfer the rent. If we do not receive a transfer of the rent by the transfer request of the telephone, a reminder is issued by the letter. But in most cases, it's only forgetting of the transfer. we receive the rent immediately. 

If the rent cannot be paid even if we send the reminder letter, we will request the guarantor company for the advance payment. The guarantor company will pay the rent on behalf of the lessee.
The guarantor company first informs the lessee that the rent has not been paid, but if the rent is still not paid, the rent is remitted to the management company. The guarantee company will receive the rent for the advance payment directly from the lessee. 
The role of the guarantor company is to perform a tenants screening at the time of moving in and to reimburse late rent. The main income of the guarantee company is the guarantee fee received from the lessee at the time of contract and the annual guarantee contract renewal fee. Basically it will be a recurring revenue model, and the more the number of guarantees increases, the more stable fees will come. However, if the economy becomes excessively depressed and rents are often delayed, the amount of money in hand will decrease as a result of the advancement. Even after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the warranty company suffered enormous damage.

However, the use of a guarantee company is now mandatory for most rental contracts, regardless of whether you are Japanese or an international student. By using a guarantee company, the landlord will find it easier to rent a room, and the tenant will find it easier to rent a room by using a guarantee company, or by not needing a guarantor. This is now a common business practice in Japan for lease agreements.