A Tokyo man has been successfully sued by his building's owners association after he was caught illegally letting out his apartment for short-term accommodation. 

After listing his apartment on Airbnb and offering 'minpaku' style accommodation, the Tokyo District Court ruled that the owner had violated the building's bylaws and ordered him to pay 970,000 Yen (USD8,700) to cover the owners association's legal fees. 

The owner purchased the apartment in late 2015 and began advertising it on Airbnb for 13,000 Yen per hight. 

When neighbouring residents began to complain about noise and garbage, the owners association held a special meeting to ban short-term letting in the building's bylaws. The meeting was held in April 2016 and garnered over 75% approval for the bylaw amendment. 

Over the span of two months in late 2016, the management company repeatedly asked the infringing apartment owner to stop operating the Airbnb out of his apartment. 

According to both the Mainichi Shimbun and the Nikkei Shimbun, the man explained that he had stopped advertising the apartment online and was simply honouring any pre-existing bookings. However, the listing page continued to be updated with guest reviews which led to the owners association filing a lawsuit in June 2017. 

In the court ruling, the judge said that the chance of the owner continuing to operate an Airbnb out of the apartment was high and thus issued the ban. 

As at February 2018, only 0.3% of owners associations across Japan have approved the operation of short-term letting in apartment buildings. 

Sources: Japan Property Central, The Mainichi Shimbun (August 10, 2018), The Nikkei Shimbun (August 10, 2018).

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