Forced eviction pressure, reminiscent of a bubble… “Asset due diligence should be mandatory.”

Forced eviction pressure reminiscent of a bubble… “Asset due diligence should be mandatory.”

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Choi Lee-rak = The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on the 17th that malicious land purchase practices are on the rise again due to the recent surge in real estate prices, especially in redeveloped areas in downtown Tokyo, Japan.

Not only arson and violence, which were rampant in the past during the bubble economy when real estate prices were sky-rocketing, but recently, even intelligent methods such as exorbitant rent increases and traffic obstructions have been used, becoming a social problem.

According to the newspaper, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested six people, including employees of a real estate development company, on charges of setting fires in a residential area in a residential area scheduled for redevelopment in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward last February.

As a result of the investigation, it was revealed that they committed the crime to evict the indigenous people who did not respond to the purchase of land.

As of January this year, the publicly announced land price in the area was 2.28 million yen (approximately 21.5 million won) per 1 m2, up 1.8 times from 10 years ago (1.28 million yen).

It appears that the longer the project is delayed, the more the development companies, which must bear enormous loan interest, are rushing to unreasonable speed, resorting to extreme methods such as arson.

In addition to violent crimes such as arson, malicious methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

In 2023, in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, there was an incident in which complex iron fences were installed around houses that refused to vacate, preventing people from returning home, and even concrete was torn down from private roads (private roads) without permission.

Last year, when a sudden eviction lawsuit was filed against a resident of an old apartment complex in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, and it was dismissed, another lawsuit was filed, threatening to raise the rent by 1.5 times. After pressure, there was a case where the resident was forced out by paying moving expenses.

Professor Yasuhiko Nakajo of Meikai University said, "In order to prevent illegal activities and malicious land purchases, there is a need to consider mandating asset due diligence by experts to closely understand rights relationships, litigation, risks, etc. before transactions, only in redevelopment areas."