How To Check If A Japanese Condo Has Unpaid Management Fees

Why a buyer can inherit a stranger's unpaid management fees

The Act on Building Unit Ownership, etc. (建物の区分所有等に関する法律) gives a condo's management association a statutory lien (先取特権) over a delinquent owner's unit and the movables inside it, for claims arising from common-area costs, the building's grounds, or the management association's bylaws or general-meeting resolutions — which is how monthly management fees and reserve fund contributions are billed. Article 7 states that this lien "is deemed to be a statutory lien on the expenses for common benefits, with regard to its order of priority and its effect." Article 8 then extends the underlying claim itself, not just the lien, to whoever acquires the unit next: the management association's claim "may be exercised against the specific successor" of the delinquent owner. A buyer is a specific successor. In practice, this means that if the seller owed six months of management fees and reserve fund contributions when the sale closed, the new owner can be billed for that arrears — on top of their own payments going forward — even though they had nothing to do with it and even though nothing on the registration record hinted at it.

The disclosure duty this creates for the seller's agent

Because this liability is real and can be substantial, the Real Estate Brokerage Act (宅地建物取引業法) requires it to be raised before you sign. For a unit-owned building, Article 35, paragraph 1, item 6 requires the seller's agent to explain, as part of the mandatory pre-contract disclosure (重要事項説明), matters concerning the building's and the land's management — with the specific required items set out in the implementing ordinance (施行規則 第16条の2), including the repair reserve fund's accumulation rules and balance and the identity of the management company. Real estate industry guidance built on top of this duty treats the existence and amount of any management fee or reserve fund arrears as something the agent must also confirm and disclose, since the buyer inherits that liability under Article 8; an agent who fails to raise a known arrears can be held liable for the resulting loss. In practice, the agent gets these figures from the building's management company by requesting a document called the 重要事項調査報告書 (Important Matters Investigation Report) — a report itemizing the current management fee and reserve fund contribution, the reserve fund balance, and any arrears, prepared specifically for a sale. Getting one typically takes one to two weeks, and the management company charges a fee for issuing it that varies by company.

Arrears are a different problem from an underfunded reserve

A unit with zero arrears can still sit in a building whose reserve fund is inadequate for the repairs it will actually need. Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) publishes non-binding guidance (マンションの修繕積立金に関するガイドライン) with reference ranges for what a building's monthly reserve contribution per square meter should be, based on the building's scale and height, precisely because many older buildings collect less than that. A reserve shortfall does not show up as an "arrears" figure — every owner may be current on what they are billed — but it raises the odds of a large one-off special assessment (一時金, ichijikin) being levied on every owner, including a buyer who closes the week before it is announced, when the building's next major repair comes due. It is worth checking separately from the arrears question.

A voluntary certification worth checking, not relying on

Since 2022, municipalities that have adopted a management-improvement plan under the Act for Promotion of Proper Management of Condominiums (マンションの管理の適正化の推進に関する法律) can certify individual buildings that meet baseline governance standards — including separate accounting for the management fee and reserve fund, a general meeting held at least once a year, and an up-to-date management agreement — through the マンション管理計画認定制度 (Management Plan Certification System). A certified building has cleared a real bar and the certification must be renewed every five years, but it is opt-in: plenty of well-run, fully paid-up buildings have simply never applied, so its absence is a reason to check further, not a red flag by itself.

Here is a practical way to check before you commit to a specific unit:

1. Ask the agent directly, early, whether the seller has ever fallen behind. This should be routine, but confirm it is actually being checked with the management company rather than taken on the seller's word.
2. Request the 重要事項調査報告書 from the building's management company. Your agent typically requests this on your behalf; budget one to two weeks for it to be issued, and expect a fee (paid to the management company, not to your agent) that varies by company. It should itemize the current monthly management fee and reserve fund contribution, the reserve fund's balance, and any arrears tied to the specific unit.
3. If there are arrears, get the exact figure confirmed by the management company, not just the seller. Then make sure the closing structure actually resolves it — typically by having the seller clear the arrears out of the sale proceeds before or at closing, or by negotiating a price reduction or an escrow holdback for the confirmed amount. Do not rely on a verbal assurance that "it will be paid" with nothing written into the contract.
4. Compare the reserve fund contribution and balance against the building's size, age, and repair history. Ask for the long-term repair plan (長期修繕計画) and recent general meeting minutes (総会議事録) if available — a contribution well below MLIT's reference range, or a reserve fund that has not kept pace with a plan calling for major work soon, points to a possible special assessment even if arrears are currently zero.
5. Check whether the building holds Management Plan Certification (マンション管理計画認定), if your municipality participates, as one governance signal among several — not certified does not mean poorly run, since the program is voluntary and relatively new.
6. Still order the unit's registration record separately. It will not show any of the above, but it remains the way to confirm the registered owner and check for a mortgage or other encumbrance against the unit — a parallel, not a substitute, check. See How To Check Condo Ownership In Japan for that workflow.
7. Bring in a judicial scrivener (司法書士) or local professional for anything unresolved — a disputed arrears figure, a seller who will not commit to clearing it before closing, or a management association mid-dispute with a former owner are all worth a professional opinion before you commit.

The most common mistake is assuming that because a registration record and a title search came back clean, there is nothing left to check on the financial side of a condo unit. The registry and the management association's books are two entirely separate systems, and only one of them tells you whether you are about to inherit someone else's unpaid bill.

What the registry can and cannot tell you here:

• What it shows reliably: the registered owner of the unit, and whether a mortgage or other registered encumbrance sits against it.
• What it does not show: the management fee, the reserve fund balance, whether either is in arrears, or whether the reserve fund is adequately funded for the building's repair needs. None of this is filed at the Legal Affairs Bureau; it lives with the building's management company and management association.
• How to check it instead: through your agent's request for a 重要事項調査報告書 from the management company (standard practice, with a company-set fee and a one-to-two-week turnaround), and, where available, the building's long-term repair plan and recent general meeting minutes.
• How to order the registry side, in parallel: On Japan Property Research, a condo unit's registration record is ¥1,500, billed as a building record — the same rate as a house's building record. It confirms ownership and any registered mortgage while you are separately chasing the management figures through your agent.

Neither check on its own is sufficient. A clean registration record says nothing about the building's finances, and a clean management report says nothing about who legally owns the unit or whether it is mortgaged. Our Japan property due diligence checklist covers where both fit alongside the rest of a condo purchase's review.

FAQ

Do unpaid management fees show up on a Japanese condo's registration record (touki)? No. Management fees and repair reserve fund contributions are billed and tracked by the building's management association and management company, not filed with the Legal Affairs Bureau. The registration record will not show an arrears balance either way.

If I buy a condo unit in Japan, am I responsible for the previous owner's unpaid management fees? Generally yes. Article 8 of the Act on Building Unit Ownership lets the management association pursue the underlying claim against a unit's "specific successor" — which includes a buyer — regardless of whether the new owner caused the arrears or knew about them going in.

How do I find out if a condo has unpaid management fees before I buy? Ask your agent to request a 重要事項調査報告書 (Important Matters Investigation Report) from the building's management company. It itemizes the current management fee and reserve fund contribution, the reserve fund balance, and any arrears for the specific unit. Expect roughly one to two weeks and a company-set fee to obtain it.

Is the seller's agent required to tell me about arrears? The Real Estate Brokerage Act requires the agent to explain management-related matters for a condo unit before you sign, including the reserve fund's rules and balance under the implementing ordinance. Because a buyer inherits arrears liability by law, industry practice treats confirming and disclosing any existing arrears as part of that duty — but confirm it was actually checked with the management company rather than assuming it was covered informally.

Is an underfunded repair reserve the same problem as arrears? No. Arrears mean specific past bills were never paid. An underfunded reserve means every owner may be current, but the fund itself is not on track to cover the building's next major repair — which raises the odds of a large special assessment landing on whoever owns the unit when the work is approved. Check both separately.

Related guides:

• How To Check Condo Ownership In Japan
• What Is Touki In Japan
• How To Check If A Japanese Property Has A Mortgage
• Japan Property Due Diligence Checklist
• How To Order A Japan Property Registration Record In English

• Act on Building Unit Ownership, etc. (建物の区分所有等に関する法律), Article 7 — statutory lien for common-area and management association claims — Ministry of Justice, Japanese Law Translation
• Act on Building Unit Ownership, etc. (建物の区分所有等に関する法律), Article 8 — claims enforceable against a unit's specific successor — Ministry of Justice, Japanese Law Translation
• Real Estate Brokerage Act (宅地建物取引業法), Article 35, paragraph 1, item 6 — mandatory pre-contract disclosure of condo building and land management matters — Ministry of Justice, Japanese Law Translation
• 宅地建物取引業法施行規則 第16条の2 — items required under Article 35(1)(6), including repair reserve fund rules and balance, and management company details — Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
• 管理費・修繕積立金の滞納があるマンションの仲介 — agent's duty to confirm and disclose management fee and reserve fund arrears, and the 重要事項調査報告書 practice — All Japan Real Estate Association (公益社団法人 全日本不動産協会)
• マンションの修繕積立金に関するガイドライン（令和6年6月改定）— reference ranges for adequate reserve fund contributions — Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
• 住宅：マンション管理計画認定制度 — the Management Plan Certification System under the Act for Promotion of Proper Management of Condominiums — Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

A note on scope: the statutory lien and successor liability under Articles 7 and 8 apply nationwide, and so does the Article 35(1)(6) disclosure duty. How thoroughly an individual agent or management company confirms an arrears figure before closing is a matter of practice, not statute — always confirm the actual figure and closing treatment in writing rather than assuming a clean verbal answer is enough. For a disputed arrears amount or a management association mid-dispute with a former owner, confirm the path forward with a judicial scrivener (司法書士) or the building's management company directly.