Case018: court acknowledged the validity of cancellation based on 2 months’ non-payment but ordered the lender to compensate for damages because of an illegal self-enforcement

C O N T E N T S

Judgement of the Tokyo District Court on August 31, 2007 (Case Number: 2006-WA-16068)

Tokyo District Court acknowledged the validity of cancellation of building lease contract based on 2 months’ non-payment but ordered the lender to compensate for damages because of an illegal self-enforcement.

Claim by former tenant to compensate for damages because of the lender’s illegal self-enforcement

As the tenant delayed payment of the rent around two months frequently, the lender cancelled the building lease contract.
The lender not only cancelled the contract but changed the key, entered the building and dis-posed household goods without the tenant’s consent.
The tenant argued that cancellation was invalid. The tenant also claimed the lender to compensate for damages because of its illegal self-enforcement.
The court judged that the relationship of mutual trust between the lender and the tenant had been dissolved because the tenant frequently delayed payment of the rent around two months; and acknowledged that the lease contract was validly cancelled based on two months’ non-payment of the rent.
However, the court judged that it was an illegal self-enforcement that the lender changed the key and disposed household goods without the tenant’s consent; and ordered the lender to compensate 3,990,962 yen.

This is one of the cases that cancellation of building lease contract based on two months’ non-payment was acknowledged and compensation for damages because of an illegal self-enforcement was acknowledged.